Adult catechesis

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chadmyers

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I’ve recently been asked to teach an adult catechesis course for my parish. It’s a good, orthodox parish and the priests and deacons there are wonderful, holy men and Catholics. It is a great honor to be asked by them and I am greatly humbled by this opportunity. So, of course I don’t want to mess it up 🙂

Can anyone point me to any lists, indexes, syllabi, advice, anything that will aid me in formulating a syllabus (I think there are about 27 30-minute session).

Any advice or anything anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
 
I developed a program that we did in our parish called Catechism Express. We did these classes for parents during the hour their kids were in Religious Ed classes. It involved 20 minutes of presentation followed by 20 minutes of discussion. I based it upon the Catechism chapters. Each week we did a chapter. I used the universal Catechism and the US Adult Catechism. I also had different staff members teach each session so that the people would hear different voices. It didn’t get a lot of people but it did increase the second year. We went through the whole Catechism in two years. This year we are going to be doing it lectionary based. I took all the readings for the Sunday’s following the class day and determined which doctrine was prominent in the readings and that will be the topic for our discussion. It was a lot of work on my part but, as I said, I will not be the only one presenting. A 20 minute (or 27 minute) talk is not long so you can’t get into too much detail. Just hit the important points of what you are focusing on. Usually the discussion clarifies and brings out finer points. The adults like this discussion model. Just make sure you are confident enough to be able to answer. Better to try to anticipate what questions might be asked so you are prepared. Then again, someone always throws in a winner question. All the instructors I use have degrees in theology, although this year I have some good parishioners who have a good deal of formation in scripture and will be able to handle the classes.
 
Joannm,

Can you share any of your materials for Catechism Express? We are starting adult catechesis this year and I have to provide scope and sequence to the DRE in a few weeks. We will be having the parents once a month during the regular CCE class time and I’ll have about 50 minutes for each session.
 
what is your class expected to cover and who are the expected participants?
how long is the course expected to take?
what topics must you cover?
is it primarily a catechism class on doctrine, a practical class on how to prepare for sacraments, teach etc, or a bible study?

did your adult education advisors on parish council do any kind of survey to see what adults have been asking for?

adult confirmation or RCIA? parent-sponsor meetings for sacraments? basic faith formation for catechists or other ministries and apostolates?

what is the requirement or syllabus prescribed by the diocese for what you are doing? that is your starting point.

I am not saying of course to stop what you are doing before all this happens but asking the questions will help you plan better.

a great resource on teaching doctrine is the US Catholic Catechism for Adults, the bishops have a study guide on line, as does the Our Sunday Visitor, which can be broken down into shorter lessons.

In this diocese the lay ministry institute has come up with a Basic Faith Formation 12-week 24 hour class based on the Compendium of the CCC required of catechists and all others in lay ministry in this diocese. So of course we recommend everyone take it from them, and invite them to offer the class in this parish once a year.

However not everyone can do that. I am responsible for catechist training, preparing catechists, parent-sponsor sacramental meetings and adult confirmation of practicing Catholics (among other things). So because I am lazy I created my own Basic Formation class on the Institute’s model, which is good for this parish, and exceeds the diocesan requirements for all these programs. It is presented each semester 3 times in English and Spanish, and once in the summer, English and Spanish. Virtually all adults with children in CCD end up taking the entire 12 sessions. Because it coincides with CCD sessions each class is 1.5 hours. With the appropriate retreats, they are ready for what they need, and have the required hours of instruction. There is also a video-DVD prepared by the Diocese that is supposed to be viewed at home before each class, and each participant is given a copy, and outside reading (about 1/2 hour for each hour of class time).

topics are
1.Orientation that covers their purpose for taking the class–CCD, sacraments etc.
2.Fundamentals of the Faith
3.Salvation History
4.Sacraments and Grace
5.Christian Initiation-Baptism and Confirmation
6.Sacred Scripture & the Mission of Christ the Redeemer
7.Eucharist
8.Full active participation in the Mass
9.Moral Life in Christ
10.Sacraments of Healing & preparing for Confession
11.The Holy Spirit and the Church
12. Christian Prayer and discipleship.

the compendium works very well for this, but for cost reasons since over 200 adults take this course each year, I have been using Outlines of the Faith from Leaflet Missal because it comes in English and Spanish and is kind of a “power-point” on these topics. It has the prayers, rosary, order of Mass, commandments, examination of conscience and how to confess etc. so it is a great resource they can take home at the end of class, they also are given a low-cost paperback bible, and option to purchase a Catechism or other books.
 
Our program also used the Compendium of the Catechism, along with the US Adult Catechism and the full Catechism. It was up to each presenter which book he wanted to focus on. Since we were never sure who would show up we didn’t assign a text but used Catholic Updates and other handouts that were often made up by the presenter, sort of an outline.

This year we are using RCL’s RCIA series as a presenter resource because it is Lectionary based and does give the doctrine contained in the Scriptures for each Sunday’s readings
 
Thanks everyone for your help!

Sorry I wasn’t more specific. There will be about 27 30-minute sessions in English and 30-minute sessions in Spanish (I only speak English, though, someone else is doing the Spanish).

These are for the parents of children who are attending religious ed in preparation for their First Holy Communion. So the parents are from about every possible background and level of faith from almost no belief to more than me.

Before I saw your replies, I put together this outline. I’m thinking of refining it further, but I wanted to get your takes:

Topical Themes
  1. Why be Catholic?
    …a. God is Love
    …i. Existence of God
    …ii. The Trinity
    …iii. Jesus and the plan of Salvation
    …b. Peter, the Rock, and the Church
    …c. Scripture, Tradition, and Church History
    …d. A radical call to conversion, holiness, and love.
    …e. Mary, The Mother of God
  2. Sacraments
    …a. Eucharist, The Real Presence, Eucharistic Adoration, Holy Hour, and Eucharistic miracles
    …b. Confession and examination of conscience
    …c. Baptism and Confirmation
    …d. Matrimony and living out the married vocation
    …e. Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick
  3. The Domestic Church
    …a. Prayer, Devotions, and Faithful Stewardship
    …b. Husbands and Fathers
    …c. Wives and Mothers
    …d. NFP
    …e. Fostering vocations at home
    …f. Teaching the Faith to Your Children
  4. Living the Catholic Faith in America
    …a. Saint, Angels, and Sacramentals
    …b. Life issues (abortion, in-vitro fertilization, euthanasia, stem-cell research, and cloning)
    …c. Sin and the Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell)
    …d. Growing in faith: Resources for learning more about the Catholic faith (radio stations, podcasts, blogs, books, magazines, websites)
    …e. Apologetics, evangelizing, and charitably relating with people of other faiths
    …f. Apologetics II: Common questions from non-Catholic Christians
    …g. Apologetics II: Common questions from non-Christians
    …h. Primer on the new Mass translation
 
chadmyers said:
Thanks everyone for your help!

Sorry I wasn’t more specific. There will be about 27 30-minute sessions in English and 30-minute sessions in Spanish (I only speak English, though, someone else is doing the Spanish).

These are for the parents of children who are attending religious ed in preparation for their First Holy Communion. So the parents are from about every possible background and level of faith from almost no belief to more than me.
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Chad,

This is almost exactly what we are trying to do. We are going to have one meeting a month during the regular CCE year. English and Spanish but I am doing just the English. Our DRE is making it mandatory for parents of FC kids and recommended for other parents.

The overwhelming majority of these parents are non-practicing Catholics with minimal education - Catholic or otherwise. I hesitate to use something like the US Catechism for adults since we are starting from ground zero. I suggested to the DRE using Outlines of the Faith.

My big problem is finding a balance. The content can’t be too comprehensive or it will go right over many peoples heads. On the other hand, I don’t want to deliver “Catholic Lite” material.
 
chadmyers said:
I’ve recently been asked to teach an adult catechesis course for my parish. It’s a good, orthodox parish and the priests and deacons there are wonderful, holy men and Catholics. It is a great honor to be asked by them and I am greatly humbled by this opportunity. So, of course I don’t want to mess it up 🙂

Can anyone point me to any lists, indexes, syllabi, advice, anything that will aid me in formulating a syllabus (I think there are about 27 30-minute session).

Any advice or anything anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
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I would suggest the CatechismClass.com Adult Package:

The Adult Package contains 6 in-depth series on the Catholic Faith. Here are the six:
  1. The Life of Christ and the Rosary Mysteries
  2. The Old Testament
  3. The Creed of our Faith
  4. The Ten Commandments
  5. The Sacraments
  6. The Mass
catechismclass.com/lessons

Or, the series can be purchased individually if you only wanted material for your program on a few of those topics: catechismclass.com/series?page=2
 
Seminarian_Matt said:
Why? What browser/operating system are you using?
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Oh, it’s not buggy or anything like that. I’m referring to usability of the site.

It’s just organized poorly (there’s no way to see just packages, or to drill into what’s in a package – at least not easily).

When viewing the contents of one of the lessons, where the preview beings and ends is ambiguous.

You should probably emphasize which packages this lesson is in (you mention it, but it’s not obvious, etc).

I think you might get more business if you had some marketing folks look at your web site. I recommend spending a little money and get a better web site design and maybe some marketing assistance.

You do seem to have decent SEO, so that’s good!

Your home page wastes lots of space and doesn’t say much. You need better hero messages. For example, you should be trumpeting that you got an “Excellent” rating from CatholicCulture.org (awesome!) and that Fr. Tragillio and Jason Evert are among your reviewers (say something like "you may know them from the popular Catholic Answers Live! radio program or This Rock magazine and the Catholic ‘For Dummies’ books), etc.

I’m not a marketing expert, but I do know that you’re not promoting your product (which is a good product and worth promoting) as good as you could and should.
 
We will keep all of your suggestions in mind. We are actually still undergoing refinement as this is a work-in-progress. We just launched the website on August 1st and are still doing updates. Our emphasis is less on the shopping and marketing experience than on the focus of students taking the lessons.

While I am working on marketing and do marketing work, my primary work for the past few weeks is on making the best and most Faithful Catholic content available to my students. Marketing and improving usability will be improved in time.

Though I absolutely recommend the content of the Adult Package to you! 👍
 
Seminarian_Matt said:
We will keep all of your suggestions in mind. We are actually still undergoing refinement as this is a work-in-progress. We just launched the website on August 1st and are still doing updates. Our emphasis is less on the shopping and marketing experience than on the focus of students taking the lessons.

While I am working on marketing and do marketing work, my primary work for the past few weeks is on making the best and most Faithful Catholic content available to my students. Marketing and improving usability will be improved in time.

Though I absolutely recommend the content of the Adult Package to you! 👍
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Matt,

I have to agree with Chad. What you offer looks very promising in terms of content, but I found it difficult to navigate the website to really get a handle on the breadth of all you have to offer.

I would suggest that a “Contact Us” tab is essential. I know you have the “Support” tab, but that appears to be only for troubleshooting requests from those who have already purchased your materials. If I had some questions I wanted answered before I buy, I wouldn’t know how to get a hold of you.

Do you have any Book Summaries completed yet? That part really peaked my interest, but I couldn’t find any info on which books have been summarized, whether or not there was a cost associated with it, and where exactly to go to download them. As an aside, do you need permission from the book’s publisher to put out an 8 page cliff notes version of one of their books? I’m not sure how that all works from a legal perspective, but you definitely want to cover your bases in that regard.

I understand you just went live a few weeks ago, so it takes some time to get all this stuff in order, but I hope you take the constructive criticism to turn your great resource into something even better. 👍 I would recommend perusing the sites of some of your “competitors” to see what types of things you might want to incorporate into your own site. I really like the layout of mycatholicfaithdelivered.com, for example, though I think they could also stand to make some improvements in their design.
 
Joe_5859 said:
I know you have the “Support” tab, but that appears to be only for troubleshooting requests from those who have already purchased your materials. If I had some questions I wanted answered before I buy, I wouldn’t know how to get a hold of you.
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For the record, I had some questions a tried the Support tab and it worked. I was replied-to promptly and I was given lots of good information. I went back and forth a few times with the representative and he was very helpful and responsive.

I agree with Joe, though, that Support is a little confusing for pre-sales questions. Perhaps having a “Contact Us” that just, behind the scenes, does the same thing as support would be a quick-win with low effort, IMHO.
 
Glad to see the domain name is back in use and has not been co-opted, I do agree with some of the questions to improve the site, which we could afford a parish subscription for adult ed but not yet in the budget but I definitely see this format as a wave of the future, but cannot justify the expense at this time for the one or 2 people who would use it. but I will be following this site closely, when I see something solid and reliable it is something to shout about
 
Joe_5859 said:
Matt,

I have to agree with Chad. What you offer looks very promising in terms of content, but I found it difficult to navigate the website to really get a handle on the breadth of all you have to offer.
Click to expand...
We are hoping to launch a wave of improvements either tomorrow or Saturday that should make navigation much easier.
Do you have any Book Summaries completed yet? That part really peaked my interest, but I couldn’t find any info on which books have been summarized, whether or not there was a cost associated with it, and where exactly to go to download them. As an aside, do you need permission from the book’s publisher to put out an 8 page cliff notes version of one of their books? I’m not sure how that all works from a legal perspective, but you definitely want to cover your bases in that regard.
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Yes, we have a list of book summaries that are all ready for purchase. You can see a list here: catechismclass.com/category/8
I understand you just went live a few weeks ago, so it takes some time to get all this stuff in order, but I hope you take the constructive criticism to turn your great resource into something even better. 👍 I would recommend perusing the sites of some of your “competitors” to see what types of things you might want to incorporate into your own site. I really like the layout of mycatholicfaithdelivered.com, for example, though I think they could also stand to make some improvements in their design.
Click to expand...
I have taken all of them into consideration. CatechismClass.com has been around since 2004 and I know that in the past three months we have made huge strides. We will definitely make more progress as I continue to refine the website.
 
chadmyers said:
I’ve recently been asked to teach an adult catechesis course for my parish. It’s a good, orthodox parish and the priests and deacons there are wonderful, holy men and Catholics. It is a great honor to be asked by them and I am greatly humbled by this opportunity. So, of course I don’t want to mess it up 🙂

Can anyone point me to any lists, indexes, syllabi, advice, anything that will aid me in formulating a syllabus (I think there are about 27 30-minute session).

Any advice or anything anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
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A good start to put a syllabus together is Peter Kreeft’s "Catholic Christianity"
 
chadmyers said:
Excellent! Great suggestion, thanks!
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I (even) think it can be the only thing you need, along with The Universal Catechism as your own reference.

OH OH OH another book: Kreeft’s “Apologitics.”
 
dcastlen50 said:
I (even) think it can be the only thing you need, along with The Universal Catechism as your own reference.

OH OH OH another book: Kreeft’s “Apologitics.”
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Not sure what you mean by “Universal Catechism.” Do you mean the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or is there something else I’m not aware of?

I have Kreeft/Tacelli’s “Handbook of Catholic Apologetics” (green cover).

What about the Handbook of Christian Apologetics (the former work, beige cover)? Do I need that, too?
 
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