One of my favorite days of the year is when I lead second-graders on a church tour as part of their preparation for First Eucharist. I like to show them and their parents things in the church they might never have noticed or things they may see all the time but not fully understand what they are or why they are there. Before one such tour last spring, I launched into my usual welcome speech. […]
Welcome to the first post in my series on How to Be a More Evangelizing Catechist. In my introduction to the series, I talked about how marketing efforts often rely on nine formulaic strategies for persuading people that they need to purchase the product or service being advertised. They kick off their efforts by emphasizing that something is missing from your life or that something in your life, as you live it now, is broken […]
One of the biggest frustrations that catechists and Catholic school teachers have is the lack of Mass attendance of those they teach (and their families). Recently, I shared a story of a parish that made some significant, albeit short-lived, gains in Mass attendance—64% to be precise. That post has generated a lot of attention. First, thanks to the many folks who engaged in conversation at the end of that post. (Please take the time to […]
Too often we think the only time to teach about the saints is during November or the end of October as we lead up to All Saints Day. While that is indeed a great time to talk about all the saints, opportunities to learn about the saints exist all year long. As we settle into the new year, let’s look at some of those opportunities. In January, many people like the tradition of picking a […]
With Lent being just about a month away, many parishes are looking at utilizing small faith groups, one of the most effective formats for adult faith formation and a reality that I have written about previously. Too often, we think that we have to find a “permanent” resource for small faith groups—something that they can use continually without change. This flies in the face of one of the best things about small faith groups, which is […]
As we put away the Christmas decorations and enter Ordinary Time, things might seem just a bit drab. This isn’t just a bland waiting-period for Lent. These weeks are an opportunity to focus on the public ministry of Jesus through the readings of the new cycle’s Gospels. Ordinary Time is about spiritual growth. Just as in Ordinary Time during summer and fall, engaging in family prayer, having a home altar or a prayer centerpiece on […]
It is estimated that there are about 500,000 volunteer catechists in the United States and that, each year, one-third of them—150,000—”turn over.” I’m sure that sometimes it feels like all 150,000 catechists who leave are from your parish! The truth is, it takes a lot of hard work to retain catechists. In her new book, Cultivating Your Catechists: How to Recruit, Encourage, and Retain Successful Catechists, Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy shares four principles for retaining catechists. Support […]
Strengthening parish staffs has always been a cause of mine. I have ministered within a school and a parish setting, and in both cases was a part of the parish staff. I have rejoiced to be a member of a parish staff that lived vibrancy. I have also been saddened to be a member of a staff that struggled greatly and needed strengthening in order to exercise its mission and its existence effectively. Living out […]
Who is this good-looking young man peeking around the corner of Catechist’s Journey? Why, it’s none other than Leo, the star of the new children’s book Leo’s Gift, written by Susan Blackaby and my friend and colleague (actually, she’s my boss!) Joellyn Cicciarelli and beautifully illustrated by my colleague Carrie Schuler. Leo is creative, shy, and in search of a special talent he can share with the world. He wonders how he’ll know what his […]
When it comes to supervising catechists, it helps to make a clear distinction between managing them and leading them. Managing what your catechists do and how they perform their duties is important. To help them flourish, an effective catechetical leader helps them understand why they serve as catechists: to help bring about the Kingdom of God. To be honest, learning to balance management and leadership took years for me to figure out. But I am […]
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