Need advise on RCIA Lecture tonight!

[LaLucia]

Hi Joann M. I named her the church lady to protect her identity.

She goes to Mass every day…7 days a week. She says it makes her feel good. She seems to be a troubled person who has problems handling life situations.
She thinks that all of us students see life the way she does. She calls it trials and tribulations of life… the harshness of life…
severe problems in life… etc. I tried to tell her during her lecture that I don’t see life that way… but she wouldn’t listen. The rest of the young group in their 30’s just listened to her with the understanding that is how she sees her life.

Hey you all… I survived her lecture. It’s over and done. She did okay. Not a reason to report her because her intentions were good. She thinks God wants her to share her life experience with us. She does distorted thinking. Sometimes I do too.
None of us are prefect.
Thank you all for your prayers too because I felt some of you prayed that the church lady would do a good job and she did.

 

[jmcrae]

Hi Joann M. I named her the church lady to protect her identity.

You may or may not be aware that there used to be a character on American television called “The Church Lady” that was played by a man - the character was both evil and funny. Hopefully, this person was nothing like that TV character.

 

[The_Stig]

I have given some RCIA lectures. I used to stop early for questions. One time, I asked for questions and this man asked “I want to know why the Pope went to Constantinople!”. I asked for clarification. He reiterated that the Pope had gone to Constantinople and he wanted to know why. I asked “what era are we talking about?” and he said the Roman empire. This went on for a good 15 minutes, me trying to get a thumbnail sketch of the papacy in edgewise, while he went off on a rabbit trail about Constantine and the Pope going to Constantinople. It was a mess, or as they say in the army, a Cluster Foxtrot.

Lettign RCIA students ask questions is over-rated IMO. Most of them don’t have enough knowledge to form a question, and the ones that do know how to read the catechism.

 

[LaLucia]

Hi Stig, Whenever we students have a question that my teacher can’t answer… she just says I will check it out and find the answer for you.
If someone asks a vague question she will just say, "I don’t know
unless you give me more details. Or, she will give us information on what book to read to get the information.

My teacher has 20 years of experience teaching RCIA classes and also teaches school kids. She has a Masters in Religious Studies and loves to teach. She does have a great memory and knows a lot about the history of religions.

My teacher says she doesn’t know everything because there are always books that she is reading to keep up with any new information.

Thank you all for giving me some very interesting advise and I truly enjoyed reading all of your comments. Peace, Lucy

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Lettign RCIA students ask questions is over-rated IMO. Most of them don’t have enough knowledge to form a question, and the ones that do know how to read the catechism.

There are questions and then there are questions. And there are all kinds of appropriate answers.

One answer that may be appropriate is “that’s not our topic tonight. We can discuss it when we have our class on _____.” As a teacher you can’t allow one student to derail the entire class.

On the other hand, I always give time at the beginning of class for questions about anything that’s come up during the week. Particularly if there’s something in the news people will want to know more about it. And everyone knows that they can ask questions during and after the presentation on our topic of the week.