Catechetical Leaders Archives - Page 19 of 22

Where Have You Gone, Thomas Groome? The Role of Experience in Catechesis

When I was a mere “babe” in the catechetical ministry (early 1980s), I was introduced to the notion of the catechetical process. At the time, those 2 words could not be spoken without also mentioning the name of Dr. Thomas Groome and his groundbreaking work, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision . At the heart of Groome’s approach is an unmistakable connection between lived experience and the faith Tradition of the Catholic Church. […]

Fidelity Oaths for Catechists?

Joe Paprocki

One of the stories in Catholic news recently is the issue of some dioceses requiring catechists and religion teachers to take an oath of fidelity. In particular, the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, has been in the news after some teachers and catechists quit rather than submit to taking the required oath of fidelity. The oath, which is to be signed and publicly administered on Catechetical Sunday, basically asks catechists to state that they, “with firm faith, belive […]

Another Plea for Help

Joe Paprocki

OK, friends, another colleague of ours has sent out a plea for help! This one comes from a catechetical leader named Steve. Please offer your advice, thoughts, comments, and questions in the box below under Leave a Reply and thanks in advance for so generously sharing your wisdom. Joe, Last year I had several problems with some middle school kids who were unable to change behavior on their own. In several instances I had a parent […]

Thinking of Becoming a Catechist?

Joe Paprocki

I have an exciting new page to share with you titled Becoming a Catechist which consists of numerous links to posts, videos, articles, and other resources from my blog that can help someone to discern if they wish to accept the call to serve as a catechist. The page includes my popular Top Ten Reasons to Become a Catechist, stories from current catechists about their calling and dedication to this ministry, videos from my Catechists […]

Positive Approach to Recruiting Catechists

Joe Paprocki

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve had an outpouring of response here on Catechist’s Journey to a plea for help from a catechetical leader named Barbara that I posted the other day! Thanks so much to everyone for offering such good advice, not only for Barbara’s benefit, but for all of us. In particular, I wanted to highlight a response from Mary Ann in which she not only provides some advice but also shares some examples […]

A Call for HELP!!!

Joe Paprocki

I received the following email from a volunteer catechetical leader named Barbara who is in need of our help and support. Please offer your suggestions by leaving a comment at the end of this post (click be”Leave a Reply”). Thanks! Hi Joe:I am DRE in a very small parish in the Diocese of Allentown, PA. We have approx 100 children in CCD. The parents are lackadaisical at best regarding their children’s faith formation.We hold CCD […]

What is the Year of Faith?

Joe Paprocki

As many of you know, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Church will celebrate a Year of Faith beginning this October, 2012, through November, 2013. Recently, I had a little time to wrap my head around the guidelines for this upcoming event and I’ve written a very brief summary of what the Year of Faith is all about. I thought this might be helpful to you in the months to come. Enjoy. What is the […]

Catechist Formation and Certification – Rochester (NY) Style

Joe Paprocki

On my recent trip to the Diocese of Rochester, NY, to do a couple of presentations, I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of long car rides with Jonathan Schott, the Coordinator of Adult, Family, and Catechist Formation. Our conversations were wide-ranging: sports, movies, TV, and, of course, catechesis! In particular, we talked about catechist formation and I was particularly impressed with the online approach that the Diocese of Rochester takes for catechist formation. Their […]

Fr. Barron On How to Use CATHOLICISM in Catechesis

Joe Paprocki

By now, I’m sure you have heard about Fr. Bob Barron’s Catholicism series which has been airing on PBS around the country and is available as a DVD series. This epic series tells our story with great depth and beauty and will serve as a valuable resource for evangelization and catechesis for years to come. I invited Fr. Barron to share some thoughts on how Catholicism can be used in catechesis and he was kind […]

An Interesting Update

Joe Paprocki

Some time ago, a catechetical leader shared her comments here about the total revamping of the catechetical program at her parish. I invited her to update us which she has done. Some interesting and innovative approaches: Dear Joe, I shared with you how we completely revamped our religious ed. program. You invited me to share more, so “here goes.” I had been a catechist for about 16 years before I became the Director of Faith […]