Faith Formation - Suggestions

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StMonica

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Hi all!

I’m not sure if this thread belongs here but lets give it a try.

My parish is taking a long hard look at their current faith formation program after years of people complaining and leaving the parish because of it. Right now their program is based on “community” and has very little content. Even though I refuse to allow my children to attend their faith formation program and as a result they refuse to confirm my kids, they have asked me to join their “committee.” I look at this as an invitation from the Holy Spirit.

I need as many of you to share your experiences and ideas with me. Our priest’s goal is to make this the best program in the diocese. My parish is stuck in the diocese and refuses to go outside that bubble. I tell them to aim higher and go for the best in the country or the world. Let the Vatican notice us. 🙂

I have listed a few relavent questions below but if you can think of anything that I have missed please share with me. I am taking this very seriously. If we don’t form our children in the faith correctly then how can we expect them to go unarmed into the world and win it over for Christ?

Children’s faith formation:

What kind of faith formation program does your parish have?
What texts are used and how do you rate them?
What is their primary and secondary focus for their faith formation program?
How are the teachers trained and certified?
Is it a classroom format or do you meet at each others’ homes?
Does your parish allow homeschooling for faith formation?
Does your parish allow children to “skip grades” and attend a higher level of faith formation?
Does your parish charge for faith formation?
Cost of program…if you know it.

Adult faith formation:

Does your parish have adult faith formation?
If so please share all forms that adult faith formation is presented at your parish.

If you are comfortable doing so please list the name of your parish along with city and state. If you are not comfortable then you can send me a private message with this information.

Thanks all of you for sharing your thoughts, experineces, and ideas. Who knows…maybe there are a few DREs reading this and they can take these ideas to their own parishes as well.

God bless all of you!!!
 
StMonica said:
Hi Children’s faith formation:

What kind of faith formation program does your parish have?
What texts are used and how do you rate them?
What is their primary and secondary focus for their faith formation program?
How are the teachers trained and certified?
Is it a classroom format or do you meet at each others’ homes?
Does your parish allow homeschooling for faith formation?
Does your parish allow children to “skip grades” and attend a higher level of faith formation?
Does your parish charge for faith formation?
Cost of program…if you know it.

!!!
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I would also contact the diocesan office of catechetics and find out what is required, especially if you are part of committee with the tast of reforming RE in your parish, and yes I agree the Holy Spirit has called you to this, thank you for serving.

we have traditional CCD in age level classes, with a textbook, trained catechist and at least one aide, grades K-12.
text is Christ Our Life by Loyola Press, one of those approved by the diocese and in conformity with the CCC.
We have a new diocesan director, so in due course the new editions of RCL-Benziger, which includes Silver Burdette which they acquired, will be reveiwed. Right now This is our Faith (SB) and We Believe (Sadlier) are the other 2 approved text, Blest Are We has not yet been reveiwed.

Don’t know what you mean by primary and secondary focus. Each publisher has a website which lists scope and content for each year, and how each year addresses the 4 parts of the catechism, creed, sacraments, moral life and prayer, over the theme for the year.

certification program in this diocese is Echoes of Faith by RCL. Not used in this parish because pastor does not approve it. Catechists in this parish are trained by completing a course on the CCC, either thru the diocesan Lay ministry institute, or in the parish. They also have a new catechist orientation including VIRTUS child safety programs, and policies and procedures of this parish. Also a workshop on our texts and catechists manuals, lesson planning, and use of other resources.

other catechist formation and adult ed would take another post to describe, to lengthy here.

homeschooling is supported and encouraged, however I have to say very few families who choose this option ever follow through on their commitment

don’t know what you mean by “skip grades”. they are in a class with their peers and I would not encourage skipping grades unless I knew they had covered that content elsewhere. for instance, if they skip 6th grade that is the last time salvation history will be taught in depth as a full year curriculum

cost is $25 per child, which covers about half of true cost of books, supplies, and resources, and parish supplies the rest, plus overhead. there is a discount for families and fees are waived for need, and that is pretty standard for this diocese.

you did not ask about sacramental prep so I won’t go there. In any case, that is set by the diocese, it is 3 years, so parishes are not supposed to change it.

we have a parish school so CCD uses the classrooms on Saturdays and weeknights. There are not many CAtholic schools in the diocese, and most parishes have a CCD classroom building or multi-purpose building.

There are some parishes who have sessions, at least for sacramental preps, in the colonias (outlying settlements, usually of poor and migrants, often served by parish missions) either in a building constructed for the purpose, which may also be the mission church, or in homes, but that practice is waning.

I know of 2 parishes of 60 some who have tried “whole community” or “intergenerational catechesis” meeting monthly but at least one has gone back to the traditional format. Most parish programs meet weekly, on a school year model.
 
Our parish currently uses RCL. These books teach in a spiral format so the kids learn the same subjects every year but the lessons are supposed to go deeper each year. The lessons are so shallow that the kids are bored by them. There is no meat…no content. These books try to teach several different lessons on several different subjects in one sitting so there is no in depth focus on a particular subject. My advice would be to steer clear of RCL.

For the primary and secondary focus, I was refering to the faith formation program itself. Our parish’s primary focus is on community. It doesn’t matter what the kids learn just long as it is done in community.

If a tree falls in the woods and a community is not there to hear it…does it make a sound?

The secondary focus would be faith formation.

Skipping grades - since the kids learn the same material every year they won’t miss any subject by skipping a grade. However, they may not be taught at their educational level if the stay in the same age group. This would pertain to those children who are taught by their parents at home as well.

Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
 
I have a confession to make, I’ve been on this job several years and my one and only focus has been to teach the faith and prepare children and parents for sacraments. Guess I will have to come up with something fancy. Secondary focus would be to keep kids from tearing up the school, I guess.

Read the catechetical documents if you want focus, there are 6 “purposes” for what we do and the primary one is to lead the learner to Jesus, that is ok by me

just another thought as an exercise for your committee, take that primary and secondary focus, and evaluate how well the parish has done in those areas during the past few years with their present program. my bet is they will find those “foci” so vague as to be incapable of evaluation
 
I like the Faith and Life Series from Ignatius Press.
It lays out everything for the teacher. The teacher’s manual provides CCC and Scriptural references plus a summary of lesson content. Each lesson gives you the lesson objectives and tells what materials are needed. Historical artwork is included in the books each student gets.
Chapter 1 for the seventh grade (for which I substitute) includes Saint Thoma Aquinas’s Proofs for the Existence of God. This is information that was not part of my own formation.
 
StMonica said:
Hi all!

I need as many of you to share your experiences and ideas with me. Our priest’s goal is to make this the best program in the diocese. My parish is stuck in the diocese and refuses to go outside that bubble. I tell them to aim higher and go for the best in the country or the world. Let the Vatican notice us. 🙂

I have listed a few relavent questions below but if you can think of anything that I have missed please share with me. I am taking this very seriously. If we don’t form our children in the faith correctly then how can we expect them to go unarmed into the world and win it over for Christ?

Children’s faith formation:

What kind of faith formation program does your parish have?

we are a very small parish and we have a “basic” CCE program and an adult Bible study
What texts are used and how do you rate them?
We currently use Faith and Life for CCE and different Bible studies - currently in the Great Adventure Bible Study. We have previously used Christ Our Life and before that a series that is no longer approved (a good thing)
What is their primary and secondary focus for their faith formation program?
Our primary focus is to teach as much about the faith in the little time we have and hope that some of it gets back to the families. Secondary but inseparable is Sacrament prep
How are the teachers trained and certified?
Our diocese offers certification and requires all catechists to be certified or working toward certification. Certification is 100 hours of theology, 20 hours of pedagogy, spiritual formation and electives. Cerftification must be renewed every three years
Is it a classroom format or do you meet at each others’ homes?
Classroom. For the children’s program, I don’t think the diocese would allow us to meet in private homes. Bible study is not in a classrooom but still on Church property.
Does your parish allow homeschooling for faith formation?
Yes
Does your parish allow children to “skip grades” and attend a higher level of faith formation?
Sometimes, we have had families who homeschooled but brought children into the program. They entered at a higher than grade level class. We also have had kids that for what ever reason are a grade or two ahead using the same texts. Rather than repeat or sit out a year, they skip.
Does your parish charge for faith formation?
Yes, for children it is $25 for parishioners, $50 for non-parishioners. Bible study is cost of materials.
Cost of program…if you know it.

Adult faith formation:

Does your parish have adult faith formation?
oops, I included adult above. :o
If so please share all forms that adult faith formation is presented at your parish.

If you are comfortable doing so please list the name of your parish along with city and state. If you are not comfortable then you can send me a private message with this information.

Thanks all of you for sharing your thoughts, experineces, and ideas. Who knows…maybe there are a few DREs reading this and they can take these ideas to their own parishes as well.

God bless all of you!!!
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I am not a DRE but worked closely with the group chosing our current texts and was a “founder” of the adult Bible study program. Hope this helps.
 
I have not been able to participate because of transportation and scheduling issues. My parish does use the Why Catholic program for adults. Groups gather in homes to discuss various aspects of the CCC.
 
if you are considering purchasing traditional textbooks, consider not only initial cost but replacement cost, cost of catechist manuals (which are very expensive), which publishers supply those free with a minimum order, which provide “extras” such as sacramental prep material, family prayer books, reproducible blackline masters, on-line catechist and family resources etc.

Faith and Life is very cost effective because the text is reusable, the catechist manuals are excellent, and the parish buys only a workbook for each student each year, at half the cost of most textbooks. If it was approved and we had money for all new books, this is where we would go. My problem with it is the reading level of the majority of our students is below national norms for their grades, and I need a series that has a Spanish or bilingual text. That is why we use We Believe/Creemos for our Spanish classes (which are growing).

The more orthodox Catholic publishers, in general, have been much slower than some of the more “liberal” for lack of a better word, houses, in providing good Spanish language resources.
 
StMonica said:
Hi all!

Children’s faith formation:

What kind of faith formation program does your parish have?
What texts are used and how do you rate them?
What is their primary and secondary focus for their faith formation program?
How are the teachers trained and certified?
Is it a classroom format or do you meet at each others’ homes?
Does your parish allow homeschooling for faith formation?
Does your parish allow children to “skip grades” and attend a higher level of faith formation?
Does your parish charge for faith formation?
Cost of program…if you know it.
Click to expand...
We use Christ Our Life–it’s fine
There is not much training for our catechists
We use a classroom format
Our parish does allow homeschooling for CCD
Our parish charges $30 per student, with a maximum of $90 per family
StMonica said:
Adult faith formation:

Does your parish have adult faith formation?
If so please share all forms that adult faith formation is presented at your parish.

If you are comfortable doing so please list the name of your parish along with city and state. If you are not comfortable then you can send me a private message with this information.

Thanks all of you for sharing your thoughts, experineces, and ideas. Who knows…maybe there are a few DREs reading this and they can take these ideas to their own parishes as well.

God bless all of you!!!
Click to expand...
We have a very good RCIA program. We also have small Christian community groups that do Advent and Lent studies–some continue all year. There is an Adult catechesis program that meets during the CCD time. Occasionally, a parishioner will bring a program to the parish.

I hope you have a better experience on the Faith Formation Commission than I did. I had high hopes. In a way, I’m glad that the Commission was so ineffective because there were people on it that alarmed me. But, really, anytime we tried to do something, a staff member would block it–sometimes for legitimate reasons, sometimes for “turf” reasons.

I dropped off the commission and went back to teaching CCD.

God bless.
 
StMonica said:
Children’s faith formation:

What kind of faith formation program does your parish have?
What texts are used and how do you rate them?
What is their primary and secondary focus for their faith formation program?
How are the teachers trained and certified?
Is it a classroom format or do you meet at each others’ homes?
Does your parish allow homeschooling for faith formation?
Does your parish allow children to “skip grades” and attend a higher level of faith formation?
Does your parish charge for faith formation?
Cost of program…if you know it.
Click to expand...
We have a number of different classes. The standard religious ed classes. We also have a two year program for kids who have no faith formation but were baptized at the end of which they catch up on sacraments. We also have RCIA for kids and teens.

The regular class uses We Believe. I’m not sure about the catch up class.

I’m not sure about homeschooling or skipping grades. I would guess yes and no.

We do charge, but I’m not sure how much.
Adult faith formation:
Click to expand...
Does your parish have adult faith formation?
If so please share all forms that adult faith formation is presented at your parish.
Click to expand...
Yes, we have adult faith formation. We have an ongoing biweekly class based on the USCC for adults. Twice a year there are small groups based on the Mass readings. There are also lots of other various short term classes, a day or two.

We also have adult confirmation, Profession of Faith (for people who were baptized in other traditions), RCIA, and Alienated Catholics Anonymous (for Catholics wanting to return to the Church).
 
I am not sure about children’s programs but in our parish I am in charge of Adult Formation. A few years ago we sent out a survey to all adults in the parish asking what kind of programs or couses they would be interested in attending and at what times and what days. Since then we have developed quite a comprehensive program. We have at least two adult courses, lectures or programs going on each week, sometimes three or more a week. This week we have Catechism Express duing CCD time, Little Rock Scritpure, Monday Morning with Mary (a mothers group), a class on the Old Testament (part of a 5 week course toward catechist certification or for personal interest), a lecture on spirituality, and RCIA.
 
It is very good to learn that there are various opportunities for the Catholics to become mature in their faith. Presently, in our Diocese (Diocese of Mati) Family Ecclesial Community (FEC) as a support to Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) was given importance. This is done in a view that the family considered as the backbone of the church and the basic cell of society in general. But the maturity of our faith has still to seen on how we govern our society. What is seen is more of immaturity.
 
Lets try this again. I think my other reply either got posted before I could finish or got lost. I will start again if it got lost.
Code: 
   I was a First Communion Teacher for 13 years.  I am not teaching this year because our Church has switched over to a parent taught book, which although parents should be the number one teachers of the Faith to their children, the children should also have formation by someone experienced in the teaching of the faith. Pope John Paul II wrote "Catechesi Tradendae", it is a great work on what you should know and be, to be a teacher of the Faith.  I read it and it opened my eyes to take seriously the teaching of the Faith to others. You can access it on-line. The Vatican has all the Popes from all the years, writings on-line for you to access free.

     I would suggest that no matter what material you use you should keep in mind the following:  First, it should be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and don't just take their word for it, review the book and make sure it does.  Second, make sure it has Scripture teachings in it. I found over the years that a lot of the books that I have seen although in conformity with CCC, don't provide any teachings about the Scriptures. Yes, they have a little, but nothing about Christ. Therefore the children never really get to know Jesus, which of course is the most important thing.  Some of the children would get to my class and not know who Jesus was or who the Disciples were.  Next make sure there is an emphasis on prayer in the book and that the book contains a section which gives you the prayers.  Although teaching community is good, teaching the meaning of the Mass as a sacrifice and that it is a perpetual sacrifice and the meanings that go along with the Mass can be a whole year. Also, teachings on  Mary and the Rosary.  Of course teachings on the Eucharistic as the living presence is the most crucial. These teachings seem to have been lost over the years. And the best thing you can do for the souls of the children is to teach them the Sacrament of Reconciliation and about sin. I taught that in my class and it was never taught again after that in the Church. In today's society it is the most important lesson.

     I take my children at least once a month if I can, we have to go to the Church one and a half hours away, since our Church doesn't have confession times, and they have learned to love to go.   They feel so much better. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get every child and adult feeling that way.

 I read some of the other responses and it concerned me that one said they teach the same thing every year.  The whole point of  a program is to have children grow in their faith so the courses should become more in depth every year, having the children grow.  

   Well those are my suggestions from being a teacher over the years.  I am now home schooling my children, because of problems at my Church, with not following the true teachings of the Faith, but that's another issue. Plus they are way ahead of the books now being taught at the Church.  God Bless You and may the Holy Spirit guide your formation program to the truth.
 
We are starting Sunday School (yep, we stole it from the Protestants) in January at our parish. We are planning on having several different classes. One for Bible study, one for catechesis (so many need that one!), and several other topics.
 
I would only add don’t get too hung up on the textbook series to choose. review those approved by your diocese, get the (name removed by moderator)ut of the catechists, and make a decision. But focus attention on formation of catechists, because if they have first a lived faith themselves, and then the necessary education in the doctrine, they can teach from anything. If they themselves are lacking in education, you need to start there, and with the parents. A good catechist can teach well from whatever resources you give her, a weak one will not know enough to make good use of what is in the book.
 
My diocese requires catechists to become certified. It takes what seems like forever. It involves a series of ongoing instruction plus recommendations based on lived faith.I am still working on level 2. It begins with Protecting God’s Children.
 
My diocese simply uses the USCCB list of approved catechetical texts: usccb.org/catechism/document/Currentlist.pdf. If it’s on the list, it’s fair game. If not, don’t use it. Of course, my personal opinion is that some of those books are definitely better than others. 🙂 (You can’t place Ave Maria Press’ High School books alongside the Didache series and not recognize almost immediately how much better the Didache series is… Notice, many of Ave Maria Press’ High School books have the student textbook on the conformity list, but not the teacher’s manual. Considering the Teacher’s manual for their Old Testament book lists the “Jesus Seminar” website under “teacher resources”, I’m not too suprised. But I digress…)

If you’re looking for meat, along with cost effectiveness, the “Faith & Life” series is the best for the primary grades. Some complain that it is “too much”, but I am a firm believer that students will rise to the level of expectation. 😉

For the secondary grades, the Didache series (published by Midwest Theological Forum) is the best one out there. For Fall 2009, they will be releasing their Didache Semester series, which follows the recent USCCB’s Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age. I’m not sure what the cost will be for the new Semester series, but the cost of the original Didaches series can be a tad pricey. The books are also pretty large, which appeals to people like me, but it does turn off some people, especially those who are doing a parish program. You could probably cover the Intro book (Grade 9) and the Morality book (Grade 12) in one year, but it would be hard to go through the entire book on Scripture (Grade 10) and Church History (Grade 11) in a parish setting. In this sense, they are more suited for school programs than parish programs.

As a back up, I like C.R. Publications’ Catholicism Series. These are doctrinally solid, but are much more workable for a parish setting than the Didache series. The drawback is that they are a “no frills” sort of textbook. There are no lavish illustrations or cutesy pictures. But the content is solid.

Beyond that, most of the other high school offerings on the conformity list are pretty sad. I think that most publishers were waiting for the aforementioned Doctrinal framework to be approved before they set to work on more high school textbooks. Thus I suspect there will be much more to choose from in the fall of 2009.

Another possibility for high school is YM Central’s Crossroads curriculum. This program is not in book form but is available to be downloaded from their website (for a cost). The upfront cost can seem steep (depending on the size of your parish program) but the continuing costs are next to nothing (only the cost of printing out the materials). This is a curriculum, not a textbook, so it is not on the USCCB listing. However, if your parish is like some who seem to have an aversion to actual catechetical programs for high school kids and instead only want Youth Ministry fun-fests, then this is a great alternative. It is geared towards Youth Mininstry programs, but it is also solidly catechetical. Thus it can be an ideal compromise.

In general, as long as you stick to something on the USCCB conformity listing, you can’t go too far afield. The quality of textbooks has increased dramatically since the list first started 11 or so years ago. (Incidentally, the only series that then existed that did not have to make any changes whatsoever in order to be in conformity with the CCC was the Faith & Life series :)).

I would also recommend familiarizing yourself with the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) and the National Directory for Catechesis (NDC). The former was put out by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy in 1997, and the latter was put out by the USCCB in 2005. These two directories should help answer most of your questions.
 
puzzleannie said:
I would only add don’t get too hung up on the textbook series to choose. review those approved by your diocese, get the (name removed by moderator)ut of the catechists, and make a decision. But focus attention on formation of catechists, because if they have first a lived faith themselves, and then the necessary education in the doctrine, they can teach from anything. If they themselves are lacking in education, you need to start there, and with the parents. A good catechist can teach well from whatever resources you give her, a weak one will not know enough to make good use of what is in the book.
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That’s a great thing to keep in mind. Thank you for the reminder!
 
I have always home schooled my kids. We use the Faith and Life Series and have just started the Didache Series with my high schooler. I love these series because they are heavy in content. My parish DRE however feels that it is just too much for the average kid. I think, like Joe 5859, that the kids will rise to the occasion. If you set the bar low they will meet it. If you set the bar high they will meet it. Where do you want your kids to end up?

One of the issues I have raised is that we have no trained Catechists. They want the untrained parents to teach the untrained kids. As a result a lot of misunderstanding has occured as well as heresy. But I can’t blame them because they don’t know any better.

How many of your dioceses require the teachers to be trained Catechists? What Diocese are you in so that I may contact the person in charge of Faith Formation? Unfortunately I will need cold hard proof to force the trained catechist issue.

Thanks for all of your comments. Please keep them coming. I have another meeting tomorrow night and would like to present some of your opinions and procedures to the group.

Thanks again!!
 
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