Does your Parish or Church Charge Families for CCD, Religous Education or Sunday School?

[Bennie_P]

One of my pet peeves concerning my parish is that for Parish Religous Education Classes, (CCD) we charge the families of the Parish to allow thier children to attend.(no child is refused based on ability to pay). It is mainly for the families who send thier children to public school and would not receive religous education otherwise.

Is this common practice for parishes around the US, and elsewhere?

This question is for Catholics, but I would like Protestants to comment on thier religous education/Sunday School practices also.

In HIs Name.

 

[Sr_Sally]

My parish does charge for the books used in CCD. We are a very large parish with 100’s of children in the program (we have about 200 confirmed every year). Since we use real textbooks (Faith and Life series) it seems reasonable to me for the parents to pay. No one is turned away because of cost, but the books do have to be paid for somehow. If none of the CCD parents were charged, the cost would have to come out of the general collection and so that amount of money wuldn’t be available for other uses.

As a revert, I can also comment on how Sunday School materials were paid for at the Lutheran church we attended. First the program was MUCH smaller–one year they confirmed 30 and it was considered a huge class. The materials used in Sunday school were usually just for the teachers. Some years the students had worksheets for each Sunday, but not full texts. Parents were not charged separately for the materials, but the cost per child were much lower.

 

[TexRose]

Yes, my parish charges for the children’s CCD classes. I don’t see a problem with it because there are materials (books, etc) that the classes uses and the money has to come from somewhere if we don’t pay. I don’t mind at all. We also pay for vacation bible school in the summer. Not a problem.

 

[DAWNCUROLE]

My parish charges families for CCD, etc… However, like in all parishes I have ever been associated with, no family is denied religious education because of a lack of ability to pay. Often, the amount charged does NOT cover the total cost (books, supplies, etc) of educating the child. Next year, the cost per book for each child is approxiately $50. Then there is the teachers manual, school supplies, and light bill. Let’s not forget that each teacher should either be certified or working on certification (5 or 6 classes $50 to $75 each). The parish will usually reimburse the teachers for these classes because the teachers are usually volunteers. Each family is asked to pay, per child, $35. The pastor will probably ask for a second collection to help with the additional costs. God’s love is free but books and air conditon cost money.

 

[Archerette74]

Yes, our parish charges $35 for the first child but I think that there is a lesser rate for each child after that. This is per year.

 

[Brenda_V]

In the 26 years I have been a member of my current Parish, I only remember a fee for CCD about five of those years, somewhere in the middle of that time frame and that was to cover the cost of the books only.

We no longer charge for CCD as we are now a tithing or “Sacraficial Giving” Parish and we get enough in our envelopes to cover our costs.

We also use non-consumable texts for grades Three and up so our expenses are minimized.

Brenda V.

 

[Brigadoon]

Wow CCD for my daughter was $100! That seemed kind of steep to me. $35-50 is more reasonable.

 

[mlldrl]

Any ‘fees’ we’ve paid have been for the materials so I don’t have any beef with that. Whether or not you pay a materials fee you’re paying for it regardless. The church doesn’t have a money tree. The same goes for non-Catholic faiths.

 

[RachelB]

You wanted to hear the experience of Protestants as well. I am a Protestant who will be beginning RCIA this fall, so here I offer you my pre-Catholic Protestant experience.

In any Protestant church I have been in, we have never paid for a single lesson or material. The idea is completely foreign to me. The difference is, in the evangelical churches I have attended, we were expected to support the church with as much as we could afford out of our income - 10% tithe being a good amount. If a department of the church needed money, they would do a fundraiser or ask for a special offering. Books would be paid for out of the church’s budget. Yes, usually they would be books for the teachers only and “take home papers” for the kids.

I can’t imagine paying for VBS, either. VBS was a community outreach - a way to get families into the church to meet Jesus. Again, special offerings would be taken to pay for the materials.

Now, I understand those books need to be paid for. The problem is, the families who couldn’t afford to pay, who would be embarassed to say they didn’t have the money, wouldn’t generally ask for help. They just wouldn’t go. And those are probably the families who need Our Lord the most.

My husband would never have become a Christian if it weren’t for a church that sacrificially ran a bus service out to his trailer park, picked him up and took him to Sunday school every week. If it weren’t for them, he most likely would have ended up in drugs or in jail like the others around him. If he been asked to pay his way, his parents would not have even let him go.

The Lord isn’t a luxury, he’s a necessity. If we have to go without air conditioning and nice books, but we reach more children, I think the choice is pretty obvious.

As a young part-time working mom with a good husband in college, the idea of paying $100 a year to put my kids in Sunday school, and extra for VBS is terrifying

 

[Tom317]

Every parish I have been part of charges for Religious Education and I have no problem with that.

 

[1ke]

One of my pet peeves concerning my parish is that for Parish Religous Education Classes, (CCD) we charge the families of the Parish to allow thier children to attend.(no child is refused based on ability to pay). It is mainly for the families who send thier children to public school and would not receive religous education otherwise.

Why do you think it is unreasonable to require parents to pay for the supplies their children will be using including their text book (usually a workbook that they write in and keep) and class supplies?

Our’s is $15 per child, with multi-child families capping at $30. Confirmation is $40/child b/c they do a retreat also.

Is this common practice for parishes around the US, and elsewhere?

Yes. Why wouldn’t it be? The books and materials aren’t free.

 

[Rob_s_Wife]

The church doesn’t have a money tree

no, but they do have money baskets passed around at every mass, even twice at times, and it says a lot that even so they charge people to learn the faith. educating about what we believe to everyone should be very high on the list of expenses, imo.

aside from that - my biggest peeve is being asked to pay for shoddy watered down programs. and that is the real reason my kids aren’t enrolled. even free isn’t worth it if it isn’t 100% undeniably Catholic.

---

ETA as a convert and someone living in the protestant belt - I can tell you I have never encountered a church charging for CCD or VBS before.

 

[Bennie_P]

Why do you think it is unreasonable to require parents to pay for the supplies their children will be using including their text book (usually a workbook that they write in and keep) and class supplies?

1. I don’t think it is unreasonable, but counterproductive.
   In my parish,the children attending are mainly public school children of families have decided to send thier children to public school mainly becuase they cannot afford to send them to a Catholic School.
2. Myself a Catholic, was raised as a Protestant and always had religious education, that is “Sunday School” free.
3. It is a form of envangelization, not just for the child, but through the child the whole family.
4. Protestant churches in my area offer youth programs for free and are evangelizing our youth right out of the Church. Once they start attending youth outreach ministries many start attending thier Sunday Schools.

Yes. Why wouldn’t it be? The books and materials aren’t free.

If the Church offered more ministries without fees, then maybe? people would be more willing to put more money into the plate at Sunday Mass for they would see thier money going to spreading the gospel instead of just paying the light bill.

 

[1ke]

In my parish,the children attending are mainly public school children of families have decided to send thier children to public school mainly becuase they cannot afford to send them to a Catholic School.

$40 for CCD… $3K for private Catholic tuition… CCD is a bargain.

Any parent who won’t send their kid to CCD because of $40 (which can be waived for need) isn’t that serious about religious education for their kid.

1. Myself a Catholic, was raised as a Protestant and always had religious education, that is “Sunday School” free.

I am also a Catholic who was raised as a Protestant.

1. It is a form of envangelization, not just for the child, but through the child the whole family.

It still costs money. Supporting the Church financially is a precept of the Church.

1. Protestant churches in my area offer youth programs for free and are evangelizing our youth right out of the Church. Once they start attending youth outreach ministries many start attending thier Sunday Schools.

That’s their parents’ fault for letting them go to non-Catholic youth programs in the first place, free or not. Shame on the parents.

That has nothing to do with the CCD program costing money and everything to do with the parents not having a clue about how to properly educate their children in the faith.

If the Church offered more ministries without fees, then maybe? people would be more willing to put more money into the plate at Sunday Mass for they would see thier money going to spreading the gospel instead of just paying the light bill.

I doubt it.

 

[AngelicDoctor]

I am the DRE for a Cluster of 4 Catholic parishes in central Iowa. We charge $25 per student or $50 per family (2 or more students). Of course, we do not turn down anyone for inability to pay.

This cost does not even come close to paying for the religious education. Costs include:

-text books and other materials
-gifts (prayer books for seniors, rosary/scapular/missals for First Communion, Bibles for Confirmation candidates, etc.)
-food for occasional parties
-cost of xeroxes
-salary for catechists (my Archdiocese mandates that all catechists be paid–my Cluster pays them $20 per class). I have over 40 catechists in all and just over 300 students–so, their registration fee does not even cover the cost of the catechist
-energy costs for heat and A/C in facilities
-my [modest] salary (and, I do try to work pretty hard to earn it)

I do not know the exact cost, but I would guess that registration fees that we collect barely dent what it costs to provide religious education. Maybe it covers 30%??? Our budget mostly relies on the generous contributions of parishoners at Mass.

However, the registration fee does have another purpose: it means a little investment by the families so that they have a little sense of responsibility and ownership and value. Perhaps if they pay even something, they will try to make attendance at the classes a priority for their kids.

I hear some parishes in my diocese charge $100 and $125. This, actually, would not be terribly excessive (consider how much 25-30 dance lessons or karate would cost?)

 

[AngelicDoctor]

You wanted to hear the experience of Protestants as well. I am a Protestant who will be beginning RCIA this fall, so here I offer you my pre-Catholic Protestant experience.

In any Protestant church I have been in, we have never paid for a single lesson or material. The idea is completely foreign to me. The difference is, in the evangelical churches I have attended, we were expected to support the church with as much as we could afford out of our income - 10% tithe being a good amount. If a department of the church needed money, they would do a fundraiser or ask for a special offering. Books would be paid for out of the church’s budget. Yes, usually they would be books for the teachers only and “take home papers” for the kids.

I can’t imagine paying for VBS, either. VBS was a community outreach - a way to get families into the church to meet Jesus. Again, special offerings would be taken to pay for the materials.
The Lord isn’t a luxury, he’s a necessity. If we have to go without air conditioning and nice books, but we reach more children, I think the choice is pretty obvious.

As a young part-time working mom with a good husband in college, the idea of paying $100 a year to put my kids in Sunday school, and extra for VBS is terrifying

Parents who do not want/can’t pay, in my experience, either just ask for assistance, or they just ignore reminders about fees. Then I just let it go, I do not kick their kids out of the program. If the Catholics in our churches tithed, we could offer a lot of things for free. I don’t know why people on this board are so scandalized by asking for a marginal fee when the vast majority of parishoners can handle the fee no problem.
What is the big difference really from having a fund-raiser or second collection and just asking for the money in a registration fee. It is the same thing. It is basically a request to help out the church so that we can do our best job educating. No one is denied the Gospel over a registration fee in my parish–that is ridiculous. We are supposed to make our students suffer through 90 degree heat in a stuffy classroom just because we do not want to insult their parents by asking them to give $25 to help with the utilities? That is absurd. Every family in this town has air conditioning, our kids have it in their homes, their parents pay the electric company, so does my church, the church asks for a little help in this. I don’t see how charging for religious education is such a scandal?

 

[puzzleannie]

One of my pet peeves concerning my parish is that for Parish Religous Education Classes, (CCD) we charge the families of the Parish to allow thier children to attend.(no child is refused based on ability to pay). It is mainly for the families who send thier children to public school and would not receive religous education otherwise.
.

who do you suggest you should pay for the textbooks, consumable classroom supplies, and other resources for CCD? If you object to parents paying a fee that amounts to a fraction of the cost, and does not even contribute to overhead and salaries, please suggest an alternative.

 

[puzzleannie]

In.

We no longer charge for CCD as we are now a tithing or “Sacraficial Giving” Parish and we get enough in our envelopes to cover our costs.

.

any family or any parish that does not adopt a stewardship spirituality in which tithing plays a central role has no business complaining about what Catholic parishes subsidize or do not subsidize. When Catholics tithe to the extent that most Protestants (and Jews) do, they will be able to afford anything they wish, including subsidized Catholic school education.

 

[puzzleannie]

**no, **aside from that - my biggest peeve is being asked to pay for shoddy watered down programs. and that is the real reason my kids aren’t enrolled. even free isn’t worth it if it isn’t 100% undeniably Catholic.

.

and you are involved in your parish education program to improve it?

just for comparison purposes, since I no longer have school age kids involved in sports, scouts and other activities, what are examples of fees charged for Y swim program, gymnastics or karate class, softball league, little league, scouts including day camp. In Ohio when I left some public school districts were beginning “pay to play” programs where students had to pay to participate in sports and other extra-curricular activities. It never ceases to amaze me that the same parents who pay $35 for the soccer league or baseball leagues at Parks & Rec, or $150 for karate class after school, balk at $25 for CCD.

 

[RachelB]

However, the registration fee does have another purpose: it means a little investment by the families so that they have a little sense of responsibility and ownership and value. Perhaps if they pay even something, they will try to make attendance at the classes a priority for their kids.

That does make sense, and I respect that. I bet it does make a difference, too.

There’s a huge difference in perception, though - religious education classes as a sort of privilege to educate and gain access to the sacraments - earn the right to be a part of the club if you will, versus Protestant Sunday School being a responsibility of the church members as a way to reach out and “win kids for Christ”. Comparing religious education to a karate class makes it seem like a luxury instead of the necessity to bring our kids up in the faith. Just an outside observation. It always seems like Catholic are less fervent in evangelization than Protestants, and this seems like a symptom of that.