Typical RCIA class?

[rfournier103]

I’m a lifelong Catholic born and raised into the Faith. My girlfriend is the daughter of an anti-Catholic Pentecostal father and a former-Catholic mother. She now currently attends a UCC congregation (pastored by a former Catholic woman).

The issue of how to raise children has been THE roadblock to getting married for us.

She attends Mass with me fairly often (LOVES our pastor) and has signed up for RCIA in a neighboring parish (no RCIA at my parish this year). I am also attending with her, and had our first class on Monday. Unfortunately, the priest’s mother was ill, and the first class was taught by a deacon and lay-woman.

Here’s our issue… we were given two books for study. They were Catholicism for Dummies and Catholic Mass for Dummies.

WHAT?!?!?

No Bible? No Catechism? We were told the priest teaching the class went to the seminary with the authors of the books; and that’s fine and dandy… but where’s the Bible? There were three other candidates in the class, and I am afraid that the class is going to be dumbed down (no pun intended) so they can “pass” and be initiated, with no biblical study taking place. Two of the three have kids with their Catholic boyfriends and likely just want to get married in the Church. I sense they don’t care like we do.

I am also afraid that we will be given the same kind of add-water glossing over of doctrine and teaching that I got when I went through my CCD classes as a youth. I learned next to nothing; because I was taught next to nothing. I learned more about my faith HERE at CAF than I did in 11 years of CCD. As a result of my religious education, when talking about the Faith with my Sola-Scriptura/Sola-Fide girlfriend, I always felt like I was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Sooner or later, she will have to talk to her mother and father about Catholicism, and she/we will need to be ready.

So… if the whole class is going to be from “for dummies” books, it will only reinforce what she’s been taught about the Church not wanting us to read the Bible, being lousy teachers, and not caring enough about our own faith to teach it properly. So much so, that she’s gone on the record that there’s “no way I’m raising my kids Catholic if that’s how the class is going to be taught.”

Is this how RCIA classes are taught? I am hoping the priest will do us ALL a favor and really be the steward of the faith we need him to be. I know I have alot at stake in this. Thoughts on this RCIA class and how it may compare to yours (if you’re attending currently or have attended in the past)?

 

[ricmat]

RCIA Classes vary a lot from parish to parish, and diocese to diocese.

Catholicism For Dummies is not a bad book. Most “practicing Catholics” would do well to read it as a refresher.

I haven’t read the Mass for Dummies book, but it should be remembered that the entire Mass is based on the Bible. The book of Revelation describes pretty closely a liturgical heavenly Mass. The Mass readings are obviously from the bible, and most of what the priest says and we respond with is from the bible. I’d be surprised if the Mass for Dummies book doesn’t cover that.

Note that although the Mass is the center of Catholic life, and it relies heavily on the bible, the bible is basically just one of many Traditions that the church uses and teaches from. It’s difficult to cover everything Catholic in a 9 month once a week class. Learning to be Catholic is in fact a lifetime process. It often involves personal and group bible study, amongst other things.

RCIA is not the end of learning Catholicism, it is the beginning (I tell the same thing to my confirmation students). Make time for it in the future.

 

[rfournier103]

RCIA Classes vary a lot from parish to parish, and diocese to diocese.

Catholicism For Dummies is not a bad book. Most “practicing Catholics” would do well to read it as a refresher.

I haven’t read the Mass for Dummies book, but it should be remembered that the entire Mass is based on the Bible. The book of Revelation describes pretty closely a liturgical heavenly Mass. The Mass readings are obviously from the bible, and most of what the priest says and we respond with is from the bible. I’d be surprised if the Mass for Dummies book doesn’t cover that.

Note that although the Mass is the center of Catholic life, and it relies heavily on the bible, the bible is basically just one of many Traditions that the church uses and teaches from. It’s difficult to cover everything Catholic in a 9 month once a week class. Learning to be Catholic is in fact a lifetime process. It often involves personal and group bible study, amongst other things.

RCIA is not the end of learning Catholicism, it is the beginning (I tell the same thing to my confirmation students). Make time for it in the future.

Do you think the Bible should be introduced at the class, or do you think the ‘for dummies’ books are enough?

 

[Richard320]

RCIA is not the end of learning Catholicism, it is the beginning (I tell the same thing to my confirmation students). Make time for it in the future.

Good point - Confirmation is one of the Sacraments of Initiation. It’s not graduation.

Catholicism for Dummies sounds like a better text than the drivel my parish used for the teenage Confirmation class I “facilitated.” Better check out the authors - Trigilio is orthodox.

 

[kkollwitz]

RCIA content & quality is all over the place in the US. My wife and used to teach it straight from the Bible and the Catechism with no textbook, and that worked very well.

I agree with the prior comment that RCIA is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and you could do worse than Catholics for Dummies. I wouldn’t choose it, but based on my experience with other Dummies books it’s probably effective enough for typical RCIA teachers and students.

I bet if you offered to provide handouts of Bible passages that were relevant to each week’s class content, the teachers would love you to death. Most Catholic catechists/ teachers/ RCIAers are weak on the Bible, so they’d learn a lot from that sort of thing as well- plus you might be asked to comment a bit.

The Church is Always in Crisis.

 

[asd72]

I got no books or handouts at all.

Why don’t you pick up a Catholic Bible and a copy of the Catechism for your girlfriend?

 

[triumphguy]

Do you think the Bible should be introduced at the class, or do you think the ‘for dummies’ books are enough?

Since you can teach anything from Lutheranism to Fundamentalism just handing someone a bible isn’t going to make them Catholic.

Right now presumably the candidates are in the Inquiry portion of the RCIA Journey. In Advent when they become Catechumens they will begin to break open the Word on Sundays during Mass.

We give our candidates the CCC. They buy their own bible.

 

[ricmat]

Do you think the Bible should be introduced at the class, or do you think the ‘for dummies’ books are enough?

The Bible is not a textbook. And it is not the answer to all things. But obviously it will need to be mentioned and used during the class - IMHO.

 

[Regina_Love]

RCIA is a beginning class for those** interested **in learning about the Catholic Church. It often must teach the basics to people who know nothing about God. It is not tailor made for your specific situation, nor is it able to cover every objection of every protestant or atheist during it’s short duration.

You have chosen to put yourself in this very stressful situation of courting a person who honestly doesn’t sound open to learning; if she would quit because a class format displeased her. The Parents are the primary educators of the faith towards their child. The Church assists them in this. It is up to you both to seek the answers to her questions. I suggest contacting Catholic Answers Apologists. They have people who have expert knowledge in her faith tradition & ours. They have wrestled with the same doubts she is experiencing. They are passionate about understanding Biblical Truth.

I highly recommend you purchase Bible Topic Tabs from Catholic Answers. These topic tabs are color coded. Yellow tabs will be bible references to the Holy Trinity, Lavendar is the Eucharist, Brown is Purgatory… It’s a wonderful resource which allows you to quickly find bible teaching on a lot of different topics. Also purchase her a good Catholic bible which contains **all the books **you will need to study.

The first page of my bible is the “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation” Catholics are urged to read scripture frequently! “For ingnorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” ** The new testament is the diary of the Catholic Church.** We lived it, taught it, wrote it, and protected it! It is the fruit of our tree. ** The Bible is our gift to the world! 4000 years of relationship with God!** Who is better to teach the meaning of scripture, than the Church Jesus entrusted it to? Of course to learn one must be humble as a little child…

 

[Hmgbrd]

I’m a lifelong Catholic born and raised into the Faith. My girlfriend is the daughter of an anti-Catholic Pentecostal father and a former-Catholic mother. She now currently attends a UCC congregation (pastored by a former Catholic woman).

The issue of how to raise children has been THE roadblock to getting married for us.

She attends Mass with me fairly often (LOVES our pastor) and has signed up for RCIA in a neighboring parish (no RCIA at my parish this year). I am also attending with her, and had our first class on Monday. Unfortunately, the priest’s mother was ill, and the first class was taught by a deacon and lay-woman.

Here’s our issue… we were given two books for study. They were Catholicism for Dummies and Catholic Mass for Dummies.

WHAT?!?!?

No Bible? No Catechism? We were told the priest teaching the class went to the seminary with the authors of the books; and that’s fine and dandy… but where’s the Bible? There were three other candidates in the class, and I am afraid that the class is going to be dumbed down (no pun intended) so they can “pass” and be initiated, with no biblical study taking place. Two of the three have kids with their Catholic boyfriends and likely just want to get married in the Church. I sense they don’t care like we do.

I am also afraid that we will be given the same kind of add-water glossing over of doctrine and teaching that I got when I went through my CCD classes as a youth. I learned next to nothing; because I was taught next to nothing. I learned more about my faith HERE at CAF than I did in 11 years of CCD. As a result of my religious education, when talking about the Faith with my Sola-Scriptura/Sola-Fide girlfriend, I always felt like I was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Sooner or later, she will have to talk to her mother and father about Catholicism, and she/we will need to be ready.

So… if the whole class is going to be from “for dummies” books, it will only reinforce what she’s been taught about the Church not wanting us to read the Bible, being lousy teachers, and not caring enough about our own faith to teach it properly. So much so, that she’s gone on the record that there’s “no way I’m raising my kids Catholic if that’s how the class is going to be taught.”

Is this how RCIA classes are taught? I am hoping the priest will do us ALL a favor and really be the steward of the faith we need him to be. I know I have alot at stake in this. Thoughts on this RCIA class and how it may compare to yours (if you’re attending currently or have attended in the past)?

No they aren’t all taught that way. We received 4 books to start out with. *The Catechism, Outlines of the Catholic Faith (The Leaflet Missal Company, MN), A Father who keeps his promises by Scott Hahn, and Good News about Sex and Marriage by Christopher West/I]. Because I believe what you put into a study program is what you get out of it, I then found additional sources like The Institute of Catholic Culture (www.InstituteofCatholicCulture.org) offering free online lectures by reputable speakers, this website"Catholic Answers" Catholic.com, and EWTN. Don’t just rely on one source of learning. By branching out, you also lay the foundation for future spiritual growth after RCIA. Believe me, after you complete your sacraments you really take off spiritually! It is something to look forward to.

And of course the obvious, set up a regular prayer schedule to connect with the best RCIA Teacher of them all!!

Good Luck to you both. All will be well!

PS: Catholic Bibles were available at the classes at a discounted price.*

 

[HB11]

I’m a lifelong Catholic born and raised into the Faith. My girlfriend is the daughter of an anti-Catholic Pentecostal father and a former-Catholic mother. She now currently attends a UCC congregation (pastored by a former Catholic woman).

The issue of how to raise children has been THE roadblock to getting married for us.

She attends Mass with me fairly often (LOVES our pastor) and has signed up for RCIA in a neighboring parish (no RCIA at my parish this year). I am also attending with her, and had our first class on Monday. Unfortunately, the priest’s mother was ill, and the first class was taught by a deacon and lay-woman.

Here’s our issue… we were given two books for study. They were Catholicism for Dummies and Catholic Mass for Dummies.

WHAT?!?!?

No Bible? No Catechism? We were told the priest teaching the class went to the seminary with the authors of the books; and that’s fine and dandy… but where’s the Bible? There were three other candidates in the class, and I am afraid that the class is going to be dumbed down (no pun intended) so they can “pass” and be initiated, with no biblical study taking place. Two of the three have kids with their Catholic boyfriends and likely just want to get married in the Church. I sense they don’t care like we do.

I am also afraid that we will be given the same kind of add-water glossing over of doctrine and teaching that I got when I went through my CCD classes as a youth. I learned next to nothing; because I was taught next to nothing. I learned more about my faith HERE at CAF than I did in 11 years of CCD. As a result of my religious education, when talking about the Faith with my Sola-Scriptura/Sola-Fide girlfriend, I always felt like I was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Sooner or later, she will have to talk to her mother and father about Catholicism, and she/we will need to be ready.

So… if the whole class is going to be from “for dummies” books, it will only reinforce what she’s been taught about the Church not wanting us to read the Bible, being lousy teachers, and not caring enough about our own faith to teach it properly. So much so, that she’s gone on the record that there’s “no way I’m raising my kids Catholic if that’s how the class is going to be taught.”

Is this how RCIA classes are taught? I am hoping the priest will do us ALL a favor and really be the steward of the faith we need him to be. I know I have alot at stake in this. Thoughts on this RCIA class and how it may compare to yours (if you’re attending currently or have attended in the past)?

Calm down, folks here will give you good advice. I attended RCIA along with my husbnd as his sponsor because I had been away from the Church for about 35 years . He received a Bible and an 126 page book “Handbook for Today’s Catholic”. It really is good, it has four sections:Beliefs,Practices,Prayers, and Living the Faith. Since the Easter Vigil we have been praying, doing the Rosary and adding in more Scripture with the Mysteries. I will start to pray with him each night soon along with a Daily Word type of booklet. I bought him the CCC but feel that what I am doing with him will teach him without overload. We are not young people so things take time to sink in , LOL. I told him he is lucky that he didn’t have those scary Sisters of Mercy, God bless them. They taught us kids in released time well, they had nothing to do with me not being in Church. We had a great RCIA class, we had good leaders and Priests. God bless you both.

 

[coachdennis]

Glad to hear you and your girlfriend are taking this step together. Just a few thoughts and comments.

The “For Dummies” books are great resources that can help individuals get a handle on the basics. They are easy to read, and the books know their audience, but they are only a first step. Personally, I hate the “For Dummies” name because it does sound like dumming down, but they are millionaires and I am not so go figure!

As other people said, RCIA is an initiation into a lifetime relationship with God and His Church. People come into the program with strong religious experiences and others do not. Part of a good program is an understanding on the Catholic way of viewing life. During my years away from the Church I was a member of various Protestant denominations. Although it can be hard at times to articulate there IS a Catholic view of life, marriage, ethics, work, etc. No one is going to learn 2000 years of tradition in one course!

The Catechism is a book that I do not think is too hard for people to read. If it is not being used in class, buy one for yourself.

Also remember that RCIA programs must meet the needs of a wide variety of individuals. Some people enter alone with no religious tradition in their background and often facing the conflicts from family and friends who disapprove of their decision. Your girlfriend is very lucky to have you by her side.

Remember, you can always PM or email me as well

 

[sojo]

I attended RCIA and we received a standard RCIA textbook plus each misselette as the weeks progressed as we read and broke apart the weekly readings. We were all asked to get a bible for home if we didn’t have one already (no free bible was handed out).

I’ve since assisted at RCIA at two different parishes and though the textbooks changed, the same thing was done - we rec’d copies of the misselette and asked to have a bible at home.

Speaking from experience and being college educated with a literary background, the CCC would have been too much too soon and way over my head in those early RCIA days. Its also dry and boring to someone who doesn’t already love the Church and its teachings.

From what I’ve heard the Dummies books are superior and far more detailed than the RCIA texts we used which were heavy on photos but light on theology. But in any case - baby steps preceed adult steps. Its the teaching that counts.

Oh - and in only one parish, a very tiny and small one, did the priest take an active teaching role in RCIA. It was mostly lay people and in one case a Deacon that helped run RCIA.

 

[Regina_Love]

Let us know how the second class goes. I hope it’s much better. Feel free to post questions here, and we’ll do our best to help out.

 

[rfournier103]

UPDATE: After the priest couldn’t make it for the first and second class, and the third being cancelled due to hurricane Irene; we FINALLY met the priest. The third meeting was FAR better.

He was able to take control of the class from the well-meaning, but poorly catechized little old lady, and really get down to the nuts and bolts of Catholicism. He is very knowledgeable, and seems to be a great teacher.

Things are looking up!!!

 

[novelista]

You are lucky you have a priest as the main teacher. In our parish, RCIA is taught by a team of laypeople; the leader has a catechetical certificate.

The “for Dummies” book gives an excellent overview of the Catholic faith. For someone brand-new to Catholicism, the book is readable and understandable. I know if I had been handed the Catechism to the Catholic Church, I probably would have been too overwhelmed to continue.

Good luck with your classes.

 

[coachdennis]

You are lucky you have a priest as the main teacher. In our parish, RCIA is taught by a team of laypeople; the leader has a catechetical certificate.

The “for Dummies” book gives an excellent overview of the Catholic faith. For someone brand-new to Catholicism, the book is readable and understandable. I know if I had been handed the Catechism to the Catholic Church, I probably would have been too overwhelmed to continue.

Good luck with your classes.

Priest does ALWAYS equal good RCIA program

Laypeople does not ALWAYS equal bad or inferior program

Do not let the appearance of a roman collar automatically blind anyone to the quality of instruction

 

[kkollwitz]

Yes.

 

[mexolic]

Perhaps the Deacon and lay-woman lack knowledge in the Bible and Catechism for R.C.I.A. study. Or maybe that’s what works best for them. Iv’e been involved in the R.C.I.A. program for several years. Iv’e seen other catechists have their own methods of instruction.

 

[novelista]

Priest does ALWAYS equal good RCIA program

Laypeople does not ALWAYS equal bad or inferior program

Do not let the appearance of a roman collar automatically blind anyone to the quality of instruction

That is true; by lucky I meant that, for me, I would love to know more about the priesthood and getting to talk to the priest himself would be a great learning experience.