CCD Program is Expensive!

[LauraFS22]

Hi everyone
Any advice or (name removed by moderator)ut would be appreciated; I just received the new price list from my church for the CCD program and I am a little upset. I want to mention first that the teachers are NOT paid, they are high school students volunteering…I had my son in CCD last year and it cost $230 just for him and now my daughter is going in and it will cost $445.00 for the both of them. Then in 2 years when my youngest will need to go I have to come up with $550.00 to send all three of them!! I feel this is a lot and want to say something but I don’t know if maybe this is just what it costs to attend Catholic Sunday school program…I can’t imagine my parents affording that as I grew up a little bit poor. It also comes right at the start of regular school when the kids need new clothes and shoes…please let me know what you think and if I would be right to say something or not…any advice or (name removed by moderator)ut is appreciated Thank you!
UPDATE: I just called the rectory and they told me they have no idea why its so expensive and they can’t tell me where the money is going and no they do not pay their teachers. They also told me they are cheaper than some other parishes in the area and they can put me on a payment plan…gosh, I feel like I am dealing with a car dealership! LOL

 

[Annie]

I am surprised. I have never heard of CCD being so expensive. But it sounds like your CCD teachers are being paid, which might make it an exceptional program. Most CCD classes are taught by volunteers, with vast variety in quality.

However, I imagine that there must be some sort of aid for the parents, so you might ask the CCD Director or the pastor.

 

[LauraFS22]

Hi Annie,

Thanks for replying No the teachers are not paid! They are High School students! I don’t know how they justify the cost. I edited my post to include that info.

 

[Annie]

There may be some reason that we don’t know about, so I would suggest looking into it before going coming to a conclusion.

But it does seem very odd.

 

[Gorgias]

Hi, @ LauraFS22! Welcome to CAF!

Those numbers do seem a bit high, but without knowing the situation of your parish, it’s difficult to see why they are where they are.

Maybe there are resources that the CCD program uses that have ‘hard costs’, rather than just the ‘soft costs’ of running the parish building?

Maybe the finances of the parish are tight? Maybe this is the means that the pastor is using to be able to afford to employ a Director of Religious Education and his/her staff?

 

[LauraFS22]

Hi Gorgias! Thank you
I guess I should call and try to find out the details, but I am starting to think it is just what the “going rate” is where I live (we have some very affluent families) as people tend to have money around here (not me lol) Regardless of the why my husband is saying he won’t put them in and now I am facing them not receiving their sacraments because of the cost? That shouldn’t be …I also don’t want to be the local charity case lol…I am gathering from your response and Annie’s that this pricing isn’t really normal for the rest of the country (I am in Staten Island NY).
I feel like I am in a difficult position now. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut

 

[Gorgias]

I also don’t want to be the local charity case

I would recommend that you schedule a meeting with your pastor to talk about it. Rather than perceiving yourself as a “charity case”, maybe you could talk with him about the possibility of being charged a reduced rate.

On the other hand, perhaps there might be the possibility of you home-schooling your children for their religious education. Would you be willing and/or able to take on that responsibility?

 

[TC3033]

That is pretty spendy. For us, we have to pay $125 per kid and sacrament years more. We have one going for first communion this year and I think he was $160…it was $160 or $180, so we’re in for about $285 this year (with a 3rd starting in 3 years). We used to not have so much of an issue with the price because the kids were bused over from school for class every Wed, they got a snack had class and then we had dinner at the church.

Two years ago they switched to the “family formation” program, the prices stayed the same but the parents now go to class one Wed a month and have to teach the lesson to their kids. They lost a lot of families from the RE program due to the change (and the price staying so high). From what I’ve found, they’re the most expensive parish in our area.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

In my view, faith formation should not carry a cost. At the same time, I guess you have to compare it with other expenses. How much does it cost thou to send your kids to sports, music lessons, and other activities? Maybe this isn’t such an outrageous charge in comparison.

 

[Annie]

Some people use free and low-cost activities because they can’t afford private lessons and stuff like that.

Plus, parishioners already contribute to the parish, no?

 

[Gorgias]

In my view, faith formation should not carry a cost.

The thing is, there are costs associated with running a faith formation program, and many of them aren’t obvious: utilities, materials, copies, training and formation for catechists, salaries for DREs and their staff…

Plus, parishioners already contribute to the parish, no?

Ask at your parish whether their income fully funds all the activities of the parish. Around here, we’ve been told that fully 50% of our parishes are operating in the red. So, parishioners contribute… but not sufficiently in order to fund all parish activities.

If you think CCD is expensive, wait till you see what happens when there isn’t a faith formation program for our children…

 

[TheLittleLady]

: I just called the rectory and they told me they have no idea why its so expensive

This is just plan odd.

Make an appointment with the pastor. He had to approve this charge.

The next call is to the Religious Ed/Faith Formation office at the Diocese.

Unless they are feeding a meal every week or running a bus to and from class, this cost is completely off the chart.

 

[poche]

That looks expensive. If you are unable to afford this program then I recommend that you speak to the priest at your church and see if some or all of these fees can be waived.

 

[babochka]

SuscipeMeDomine:

In my view, faith formation should not carry a cost.

The thing is, there are costs associated with running a faith formation program, and many of them aren’t obvious: utilities, materials, copies, training and formation for catechists, salaries for DREs and their staff…

Those costs are part of the cost of running a parish, not specifically running a faith formation program. Ideally, a parish would also have ongoing Faith formation for adults. Does the parish charge similar fees for RCIA?

And if a fee-for-service model is acceptable to cover the expenses of a parish, do we have a specific charge for receiving the other services of parish? Anointing of the Sick? A small fee can help defray the cost of Father’s trip to the hospital, but if you can come to the parish for the sacrament, the fee can be reduced as it just needs to cover the lights and heating for the building. Coming to confession? It costs an awful lot to open up the building for that one hour each week. Do you want a parish bulletin? That will be 50¢ to cover the cost of printing and help with the cost of the parish secretary’s salary.

Even training costs are not specific to children’s catechetical programs. The parish covers all sorts of training for all kinds of volunteers and employees. I have never heard of a fee being imposed on those who are training to be lector, altar servers, or extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The parish gladly covers the costs associated with such training, including materials, utilities, salaries, Etc. Nor do we charge fees to the rest of the congregation for utilizing the services of the trained volunteers.

I understand more than most that parishes need to cover their costs. I am in a parish with fewer than 20 families. ( Which, by the way, has never charged for faith formation classes. Not even a charge for the book.) Unfortunately, it seems as though these specific charges for catechism and receiving sacraments are, for the most part, only levied against families with children and couples getting married.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Some people use free and low-cost activities because they can’t afford private lessons and stuff like that.

Plus, parishioners already contribute to the parish, no?

Oh, trust me, I agree with you. Particularly in the age of the nones, the Church needs to support parents in every way possible to pass the faith on to the next generation. I was trying to add another perspective.

 

[blackforest]

It does seem odd. Our diocese covers all RE programs. There’s no charge at any parish.

 

[twf]

If more Catholics contributed properly to their parish, additional fees wouldn’t have to be levied. I can think of so many evangelical churches that offer free programs up the bazoo because the members contribute big bucks Sunday after Sunday.
We are no longer required to tithe (tithing has been mandated by the Church at certain points in history), but i get the impression that a lot of families are giving less than 1% of their income…

 

[Gorgias]

Those costs are part of the cost of running a parish, not specifically running a faith formation program.

Be that as it may, they’re still the costs associated with CCD. If there weren’t a program, then there wouldn’t be these costs.

Ideally, a parish would also have ongoing Faith formation for adults. Does the parish charge similar fees for RCIA?

Are you seriously comparing RCIA with CCD, given that the latter typically serves 50 to 100 times more people?

And if a fee-for-service model is acceptable to cover the expenses of a parish, do we have a specific charge for receiving the other services of parish? Anointing of the Sick?

C’mon, now… you know that fees cannot be charged for sacraments. Apples and oranges, here…

Coming to confession? It costs an awful lot to open up the building for that one hour each week.

Nah. It doesn’t.

Do you want a parish bulletin? That will be 50¢ to cover the cost of printing and help with the cost of the parish secretary’s salary.

Just wait. Bulletins will become things of the past. By the way, the bulletin publishing companies generally don’t charge parishes for the bulletins; they use them as revenue-generators for their advertisements.

I have never heard of a fee being imposed on those who are training to be lector, altar servers, or extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.

If the training program for catechists in your diocese isn’t more extensive than that offered for an EMHC, I weep for the future of catechesis in your diocese…

Unfortunately, it seems as though these specific charges for catechism and receiving sacraments are, for the most part, only levied against families with children and couples getting married.

The question, then, is the funding model, and how we can pay for the ministries we provide. For whatever reason, folks seem to think that it doesn’t cost real dollars to run a parish and provide its ministries!

If more Catholics contributed properly to their parish, additional fees wouldn’t have to be levied.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Give that poster a kewpie doll!

 

[powerandglory]

Though the CCD teachers are typically volunteers, the tuition fees go towards the cost of supplies as well as the salary of the faith formation minister(s). My parish offers scholarships for families that might need it. Check with your faith formation minister or pastor to see if they can offer you a scholarship.

 

[maryjk]

I’ve been a CCD teacher and an EMHC.

Teaching included a background check, numerous mandatory education classes, meetings and at least one trip to our deanery parish. There were also additional classes to become “certified.”

To be an EMHC, I attended one meeting, with others “in training.” That was it.

The cost difference is vast.