How can someone teach RCIA or CCD

[green889]

What qualifications does someone need, besides being Catholic to teach RCIA or CCD? can anyone do it? is there any training? thanks.

 

[Joannm]

What qualifications does someone need, besides being Catholic to teach RCIA or CCD? can anyone do it? is there any training? thanks.

Unfortunatly the reality is that you just have to be a warm body and be nominaly Catholic. Ideally you should be a practicing Catholic with a strong desire to evangelize and bring others into a relationship with the Lord. You should learn all you can about the faith. The best way to do this is to take courses that are offered through your diocese or through online or onsite courses offered by colleges. Some diocese, incuding my own, require that catechists get certified or be working toward certification. But so often there aren’t enough certified catechists to fill the classrooms or to work with the RCIA so they take anyone, even those who really have little knowledge about the faith.

If you are serious about becoming a catechist, talk to the DRE in your parish and ask him or her what courses are open to you so that you can begin to prepare to teach. But don’t be surprized if they put you in a classroom sooner than later. I must also say that I know many many good catechists who started with no experience and no advanced education in the faith beyond what they learned in grade school. The thing is once they got started they were reeled in and caught up and made the decision to advance their knowledge. They discovered that education in the faith is a life long endeavor and it brings them great joy. These are the kinds of catechists that we love to find, and we don’t let them go. They might move from kids CCD to RCIA to adult ed and back to CCD. Some even decide to go on for higher academic study and some just become master catechists and spend years educating our kids. And some of us make it our life’s work.

It is a wonderful ministry…GO FOR IT!

 

[green889]

thank you. you said that sometimes they will take anyone even someone who is marginally knowledgeable in Catholicism but that confuses me because how can that kind of person teach a class effectively for about an hour?

 

[jmcrae]

thank you. you said that sometimes they will take anyone even someone who is marginally knowledgeable in Catholicism but that confuses me because how can that kind of person teach a class effectively for about an hour?

By using the resources provided by the Diocese or by the parish, and by reading out what’s on the page for that day’s lesson, without adding to it or subtracting from it, or “correcting” it in any way.

 

[ipwnuathalo]

What they’re trying to tell you is that most lay teachers at the parish level are totally incompetent. If you pass a 5th-grade level test on Catholic doctrine, you are probably qualified to run the diocesan catechetical office. It’s not exactly a field that attracts the “best and brightest” because it pays little or nothing and is chock full of the most unpleasant people on Earth.

 

[Joannm]

What they’re trying to tell you is that most lay teachers at the parish level are totally incompetent. If you pass a 5th-grade level test on Catholic doctrine, you are probably qualified to run the diocesan catechetical office. It’s not exactly a field that attracts the “best and brightest” because it pays little or nothing and is chock full of the most unpleasant people on Earth.

I think the part I underlined is totally uncalled for. The person who runs our diocesan faithfromation office has a PhD in Theology and all her assistants (4 of them) have MAs in Theology as do most of the DREs in our diocese. Yes they are not paid well, but they are not in it for the money. Some of these men and women are brilliant and could easily be making much more money in other fields. They do it because they love serving the Lord. Yes, they have to deal with having catechists who may not be up to speed on knowledge of the faith, but they do their bests to catechize the catechists and offer them all the help they can to help them get certified. Many catechists discover that they too have a love for the work they do and go on for graduate work in theology. Maybe the DREs you come in contact with are unpleasant because day after day they have to deal with parents who think it is fine to let their kids miss class because they are tired or have a football game (yes they are all going to get college football scholarships so practice or games are more important than CCD), or they argue with the DRE because she and the priest have no right to tell them that they have to bring their child to Mass each and every week and isn’t it enought that they go on Christmas and on First Communion Day. They have to deal with parents who argue about the date of First COmmunion because someone beat them to reserving the catering hall. Then there is that their precious child doesn’t have her best friends in her CCD class so they demand that they be switched to the class with her best friend, even though that class has too many kids as it is.

I think anyone who is DRE has earned his or her place in heaven. I work full time for the Church and I would take that job given all the headaches. Our DRE is in my office several times a week just to vent about all the garbage she has to deal with from parents that she doesn’t have enough time to take care of things the way she would like. So don’t go knocking DREs. They are truly truly some of God’s favorites.

 

[ipwnuathalo]

Some diocese have gotten their act together. Some haven’t. Most Catholics will defend their own diocese, no matter what the true state of it actually is. I just don’t have that instinct for some reason.

The local parish has two individuals, married, who share the DRE position. They have no college, no formal theology training of any kind beyond the diocesan CCD teacher certification, which is quite a joke here. Unqualified does not begin. The diocese has standards for this, but these standards have no teeth, any pastor can over-ride them at will. The local one did.

They replaced a nun, who taught both teachers and students that dogmas were open to dicussion, and that it was not important that every Catholic believes in the Virgin birth, etc. She left after being caught in a sexual scandal, thank God with an adult.

She replaced a nun who spent most of her time agitating for women’s ordination and cetnering prayer. 4 years of torture there.

She replaced a lay-person with no religious training. That takes us back to the point where I moved in to the parish.

So, yeah, I’d say my experience with DRE’s has been negative.

 

[DOShea]

I say this in all charity and without making or casting any kind of accusation:

If you view the catechists or their efforts so dismally, why not get involved and try to elevate the standards? Generally people who can spot what’s wrong also know what is right. Maybe your parish needs more folks like you?

 

[puzzleannie]

What qualifications does someone need, besides being Catholic to teach RCIA or CCD? can anyone do it? is there any training? thanks.

every diocese has standards and certification and formation programs. Whether or not individual parishes follow those regulations is another matter. Our policy is to welcome new volunteers as aides in a classroom with an experienced catechist for one year, and during that time they are expected to complete basic faith formation, 24 hours, plus catechist meetings and retreats, and Safe Environment training and program orientation. Only then are they put in full charge of a classroom, and we team teach in any case so there are usually 2 adults in each classroom, plus for younger children aides who are teens and also have their own brief training program.

Catechist certification requires a period of instruction usually over 4-5 years, 100 to 150 hours depending on the program and the diocese. Master catechist certification is at least 5 years experience plus an additional 30-50 hrs. formation in specific topics. Formation in another diocese is welcome here as far as I know, mine was.

I believe the formation for this diocese is on the website cdob.org under office of catechetics.

There are national professional organizations who also have what are called national standards, compiled under direction of the US Bishops office, but they are guidelines, not binding unless a specific bishop endorses them in his diocese–for catechists, DREs and Youth Ministers. The person who teaches an RCIA class is a catechist, and the person supervising the catechumens and the process may be the DRE, pastor or someone else he delegates. there are also at least 2 national organizations that offer formation specifically for RCIA catechists and directors.

What individual dioceses do is up to the bishop. What individual parishes do is up to the pastor. My guess is most catechists learned OJT as in “it is October, we need a 3rd grade catechist, here is the manual, go for it” with a fervent thank you.

Individual parishes however

 

[ipwnuathalo]

If you view the catechists or their efforts so dismally, why not get involved and try to elevate the standards? Generally people who can spot what’s wrong also know what is right. Maybe your parish needs more folks like you?

Beam in your own eye - where did I say I wasn’t in the program? HOw do you think I know all of these details and have had all of these experiences? By working for each one of these useless, useless DRE’s.

Sheesh.