Journey in faith course

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Just wondering if there is a difference between RCiA and Journey in Faith courses? My local parish I noticed runs a Journey in Faith course and I’m familiar with everyone online talking about RCIA.
 
We use the journey of faith pamphlets/fliers to supplement the lessons.they’re ok.
 
tawny said:
Same here.
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I send the pamphlets home for extra reading, along with readings from the YOUCAT. I have volunteers from the parish give the lectures, and they may or may not choose to follow the format given in the program. I’m also using their “Word into Life” program for Breaking Open the Word on Sundays, but just as a starting point. Recently I’m finding the questions for discussion to be completely unrelated to anything the Catechumens are interested in, so I’m letting them make up their own discussion questions.
 
I’m not familiar with Journey in Faith, but from Googling it looks like an adult education type of course.

RCIA is NOT intended as an adult education course. Unfortunately, in many parishes it turns into the default place to send anyone, even cradle Catholics, who say they want to know more about the Church.

Ideally RCIA is an introduction, an immersion, an apprenticeship into the Catholic way of life. Some of that is catechetical, but it should include other aspects as well.

Jerry Gallipeau, an RCIA guru, just talked about this on his blog. See gottasinggottapray.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-rcia-and-crawfish-boil.html where he compares RCIA to a crawfish boil.

Here’s how he described things: So, at my presentation, I thought I would use the crawfish boil as a metaphor for what is supposed to happen in the RCIA. We immerse the catechumens and candidates in the “seasonings” in the “crawfish pot” that is the catechumenate. The people in the room really got into this, telling me what it is they add to their own boils, things like hot peppers and oranges, and garlic. Then they made comparisons between these ingredients and the great array of all things Catholic that we share with catechumens and candidates when we put them into the “boil” that is the catechumenate. What fun we had with this topic in New Orleans! And I think, using this metaphor, that the people really “got it;” they understood that the RCIA is much, much more than just teaching the tenets of the faith. It is about immersing people into the Catholic way of life throughout the process so that it all seeps in.

How does that compare with Journey in Faith?
 
At least one parish in my area uses “Journey in Faith” for RCIA. At my parish, converts tend to be taught by the priest one to one.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
I’m not familiar with Journey in Faith, but from Googling it looks like an adult education type of course.

RCIA is NOT intended as an adult education course. Unfortunately, in many parishes it turns into the default place to send anyone, even cradle Catholics, who say they want to know more about the Church.

Ideally RCIA is an introduction, an immersion, an apprenticeship into the Catholic way of life. Some of that is catechetical, but it should include other aspects as well.

Jerry Gallipeau, an RCIA guru, just talked about this on his blog. See gottasinggottapray.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-rcia-and-crawfish-boil.html where he compares RCIA to a crawfish boil.

Here’s how he described things: So, at my presentation, I thought I would use the crawfish boil as a metaphor for what is supposed to happen in the RCIA. We immerse the catechumens and candidates in the “seasonings” in the “crawfish pot” that is the catechumenate. The people in the room really got into this, telling me what it is they add to their own boils, things like hot peppers and oranges, and garlic. Then they made comparisons between these ingredients and the great array of all things Catholic that we share with catechumens and candidates when we put them into the “boil” that is the catechumenate. What fun we had with this topic in New Orleans! And I think, using this metaphor, that the people really “got it;” they understood that the RCIA is much, much more than just teaching the tenets of the faith. It is about immersing people into the Catholic way of life throughout the process so that it all seeps in.

How does that compare with Journey in Faith?
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Hopefully you’re not only using one resource with your RCIA. They need resources for learning to pray; they need resources for going to Mass; they need good examples set for them with regard to undertaking Catholic family life - and they also need to know their basic facts, which is what the “Journey of Faith” program provides. Intellectual formation isn’t “all in all” but it should be included along with everything else that the Catechumens need in order to enjoy a delicious lifetime in the Catholic Church.
 
The course began with Mass, then proceeded to an ice breaker introduction session. Everyone was very friendly and the whole thing was prayerful, as well as full of friendly laughter. I liked it.
 
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