Welcome as you begin your journey home, and welcome to CAF! RCIA classes usually begin in the fall around the time that school starts. Sometimes they will have an inquirer’s class available year-around, but I have only found that in the larger cities where I have lived. You might want to call the church office again and ask them when it starts, or ask your priest.
Wikipedia has a long, detailed article about the process.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_Christian_Initiation_of_Adults
So I won’t go into all of that, but I’ll tell you my own experience, coming in as a baptized Methodist.
We started out in the inquirer’s class, and then those who wanted to go on entered the catechumen phase. We would attend Mass each Sunday up until after the homily, then we were dismissed and went to our class as the rest of the congregation stayed for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Each week we would discuss the readings for that week, and also various topics about life as a Catholic, the Church’s teachings, etc. If you didn’t have a friend as a sponsor (they wouldn’t let you have your spouse when I went through), they would set you up with someone in a similar state of life, same age range and gender. This person will be your “buddy” and mentor throughout, someone you can talk things over with, ask questions, etc., and they will go with you through the major events and be there with you when you are baptized and/or confirmed. I hope this answers some of your questions. If not, please feel free to ask anything more specific. We’re glad you’re here! God bless you!
