CCD Program is Expensive!

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You might want to call around to other parishes and see what they charge. It might not be out of line for NY suburb.

It’s been a while for me, but IIRC, it was $100 for the entire year about 10 years ago. You could also try to get permission to home school the years when they are not receiving sacraments. You would have to work closely with the DRE to make sure you are following their teaching requirements–I can’t imagine this being a problem if their teachers are high school tteachers!. Frankly that is very concerning to me! Most of the parishes in STL, require the teachers, even if volunteers, to take some religious ed classes so they are trained in content. The program is supported by many parishes at no cost to the volunteer.
 
JanetF said:
make sure you are following their teaching requirements–I can’t imagine this being a problem if their teachers are high school tteachers!
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I think Laura wrote that they’re high school students, not teachers…
 
Yes I had said high school students 🙂 Not teachers…thank you Gorgias. Having trouble following this thread now! lol SO many comments but yes I spoke to them and I took a payment plan and I will see about the homeschooling for the years between communion and confirmation…very good ideas, thank you 🙂
 
She did, I mis-typed. What I meant, was that if she chooses to homeschool in the “in-between years”, she should have no problem meeting the teaching requirements if their current teachers are HS students.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
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I homeschooled the sacraments (Reconciliation and First Holy Communion) with buy-in from my parish using workbooks from a local bookstore.
 
Around here, someone under age 18 cannot teach a CCD class without an adult present.
 
Pretty sure it’s the same in my city. I think they are mostly parent volunteers who have gone through the diocesan Paul VI education program (or something comparable).
 
That is why it seems odd that a parish would have teenagers teaching RE/CCD. Helping the class as service hours, sure, but to turn them loose with a class of kids seems foolhardy at best.
 
LauraFS22 said:
I spoke to them and I took a payment plan and I will see about the homeschooling for the years between communion and confirmation…very good ideas, thank you
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Cool! Glad to hear it’s sorting itself out! I’ll keep ya’ll in my prayers!
TheLittleLady said:
Around here, someone under age 18 cannot teach a CCD class without an adult present.
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Yep. Same situation around here, too…!
 
I think that the more we imbue teens with a sense of responsibility , the more they can prove themselves capable. This culture has been infantilizing teenagers for the past 3-4 generations. That said, I care that regardless of age, teachers are well qualified.
 
I was 18 years old when I was a senior in High School. It depends on if your born earlier in the year…so they are technically adults, that is likely what they are doing. I still think its a bit young to teach others but I guess if the person is mature enough…
 
I’m glad to hear you were able to work out a payment plan. That does seem so high! My parish charges $45/year for CCD, which mostly covers the cost of the workbooks and other materials. The sacrament years are higher – I think $75 or 100? – to cover the extra things like the cost of the retreats, the cakes and refreshments at the party for the first communicants or confirmandi, etc. Either fee can be waived with approval of the DRE and the pastor. The amounts you mentioned seem so very high to me! Unless those fees are meant to cover the entire cost of the DRE’s salary or something, I have no idea why they’d need to be so high.
 
LauraFS22 said:
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!!
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that’s a lot cheaper than sending them to a Catholic School. I’m not even sure our church charges for CCD.
 
blackforest said:
Until recently, (we moved), I was attending the second largest parish in our state, complete with plenty of paid staff positions.
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Just out of curiosity, approximately how many clergy vs paid lay staff would you say there were? Living in BC, Canada, I’ve never encountered a Catholic parish with a large lay staff (unless you count all the teachers/staff at the associated parish schools)…its always been a “Evangelical” thing for me, and something that sets Catholic parishes apart from Evangelical churches (something I’ve noticed as a convert). The Cathedral has 7 Sunday Masses and there are 6-7 priests in residence and 2 deacons, but only maybe 4 or 5 lay staff. That’s the biggest example I can think of. Most parishes I’ve known have one or two lay staff.
 
My parish has 6 lay staff and we will probably add a 7th one at some point in the near future.

I could easily write job descriptions for another half dozen positions I would like to see at our parish. 🙂 In an ideal world, each parish would have a Director of Stewardship to cultivate volunteers and a Publicist to assist in communication within the parish. This is in addition to the more typical roles of DRE, Youth Minister, Finance Officer, Secretary, Music, Liturgy, etc.

My in-law’s parish is probably 2-3 times the size of mine and they have over a dozen lay staff. They have a separate DRE for elementary, and middle/high school.
 
Not counting the teachers and staff at the parish school, there were two priests, one deacon, one parish secretary, one R.E. director (who doubled as a school teacher), and one guy who coordinated all of the community service and social outreach ministries, (e.g. food pantry). I’m not sure how you define “large,” but it seems like a lot of staff compared to most parishes I know. But then again, this parish is atypically large.

Believe it or not, I’ve moved and now attend an even bigger parish! There are two R.E. coordinators, two priests, a huge swath of deacons, and I don’t even know who else! I’ve long preferred small parishes but will work with what I have.

On that note, I no longer grumble about crowded parking lots and sardine-style seating arrangements; instead I’m grateful for this sign that there are so many faithful Catholics!
Joe_5859 said:
My parish has 6 lay staff and we will probably add a 7th one at some point in the near future.
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Just curious - how big would you say your parish is?
 
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Never seen a paid youth minister in a Catholic parish. Very much a Protestant thing in my world.
Paid music director? Only in cathedrals.
I guess US parishes are a totally different ballgame.
 
Paid youth directors and music directors/musicians are the norm around here.
 
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