Typical RCIA class?

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coachdennis said:
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
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We had a priest who on occasion would come in and teach RCIA. He was terrible. He spoke for 10 minutes each time and then left. He would give no scriptural reference, never referred to the Catechism and would not take any questions. We stopped inviting him to present. Our lay catechists did a much better job.
 
If every new Catholic who had been through RCIA knew the contents of “Catholicism for Dummies” and nothing else about Catholicism, that would be an improvement on the average of what happens now. Many parishes have excellent RCIA programs but many parishes’ RCIA programs are virtually a waste of everybody’s time.
 
The RCIA class you describe in not the way it should be. The bible passages should be integrated into the class topics such as What is God like, Prayer, The Trinity, Mary, Sacraments, etc. I have been teaching RCIA for six years and have developed many presentations on a variety of topics. If you have an interest in a topic let me know and I will send you a copy of my talk. My presentations try to tell what Catholics believe but why. I can also recommend books on topics of interest to you. One of the books you could use is the UCCB Catechism for Adults or you can get the entire catechism at usccb.org/

wwilligan@gmail.com
 
I am in need of some guidance and I am not sure where to turn.

I have been married for 10 years and I have been attending Catholic Mass with my husband weekly for the past 10 years. I was raised Lutheran and attended a Lutheran grade school for 8 years. After graduating I continued my Lutheran faith until I met my Husband I started attending mass with him while we were courting and now for the past 10 years of marriage. I was Confirmed, Baptized, and had my First Communion in the Lutheran church all by my 8th grade year. I have a 6yr old son who we are also raising in the Catholic faith and he attends a Catholic Grade school. I am very active in my sons school with volunteer work as well as in my community.
I am now in the process of converting to Catholicism. I have been attending the RCIA classes since October. I do not feel like I am getting anything from the classes since I am very strong in my faith already. I have met with Sister and I have expressed my concerns that I am only leaving the classes every Sunday morning with a feeling of frustration rather than enlightenment. She has agreed to meet with me weekly to go more in depth on the traditions of the Catholic church since she said these would not be covered in the RCIA class in as much detail as I am wanting.
Here is my question… I do not understand why I am in a full RCIA class. Next week is when we have to profess our desire in front of the church to become Catholic but I do not feel this is the right path of teachings for me. When I expressed my concerns to Sister she simply explained that I am Advanced for the class. Should I be in the full RCIA program. Everything I have read online states that I should not be. I leave the classes so frustrated on Sundays because they are not meeting my needs of wanting to learn the traditions. I feel that me going through the full RCIA program negates all of the teachings that I learned as a child and through my adult years. Why am I being taught how to be a Christian when I know I am a Christian and have a strong faith. Am I wrong to feel this way? Please help.
 
Gynger123,
How does going through the class negate what you have already learned? It sounds to me like it would reinforce those lessons. Although I can understand feeling bored if it’s all stuff you already have been taught as a child.

Can a few of your less “advanced” questions be discussed in class, to help you be a little more involved and also help the other students learn more?

If it’s truly frustrating you, speak with the priest and express your concerns. But be prepared for him to disagree with your assessment (and even Sister’s). If the priest feels you need to remain in the RCIA class rather than be Catechised completely independently, and you cannot honestly see the class as an opportunity to learn, perhaps you will need to see this as an opportunity to obey. Sometimes, to get where we need to go, we have to do things we don’t really want to do. Remember, it’s only a few months. 😉 You can also certainly offer it up if it is a kind of suffering for you to endure.

I think it’s great that you’re wanting to go into more depth than the class offers, and glad that Sister is able to help you do that! Thanks be to God! 👍
 
rfournier103,

I’m so glad things worked out for you!

Our parish’s RCIA class is taught by a team of laymen, with occasional visits/presentations by our priest as he is available. I’m already Catholic, but I try to attend when I can, simply because the class is interesting, and I always find a new little nugget of faith or a particular explanation for something that really sticks with me. Most often, they hand out an overview of the presentation and we go through it and then discuss whatever questions we have. Bible verses and CCC numbers are indicated near the appropriate topics, but we may or may not refer to them directly in class (though they do encourage us to look them up outside of class). They request that students bring their own Bible and CCC (and Father has some extras available for students who may have difficulty purchasing their own).

The “for Dummies” books are pretty good introductions to the Catholic faith in terms that are easy to understand, especially for someone who is not familiar with some of the terms–or may have used a different meaning for some of the terms in their previous religion or upbringing. I’ve read Catholicism for Dummies, and I like it well enough.

Now, if you had said they were using the “Idiot’s Guide” series, then I might be worried… 😉
 
Gynger123 said:
I am in need of some guidance and I am not sure where to turn.

I have been married for 10 years and I have been attending Catholic Mass with my husband weekly for the past 10 years. I was raised Lutheran and attended a Lutheran grade school for 8 years. After graduating I continued my Lutheran faith until I met my Husband I started attending mass with him while we were courting and now for the past 10 years of marriage. I was Confirmed, Baptized, and had my First Communion in the Lutheran church all by my 8th grade year. I have a 6yr old son who we are also raising in the Catholic faith and he attends a Catholic Grade school. I am very active in my sons school with volunteer work as well as in my community.
I am now in the process of converting to Catholicism. I have been attending the RCIA classes since October. I do not feel like I am getting anything from the classes since I am very strong in my faith already. I have met with Sister and I have expressed my concerns that I am only leaving the classes every Sunday morning with a feeling of frustration rather than enlightenment. She has agreed to meet with me weekly to go more in depth on the traditions of the Catholic church since she said these would not be covered in the RCIA class in as much detail as I am wanting.
Here is my question… I do not understand why I am in a full RCIA class. Next week is when we have to profess our desire in front of the church to become Catholic but I do not feel this is the right path of teachings for me. When I expressed my concerns to Sister she simply explained that I am Advanced for the class. Should I be in the full RCIA program. Everything I have read online states that I should not be. I leave the classes so frustrated on Sundays because they are not meeting my needs of wanting to learn the traditions. I feel that me going through the full RCIA program negates all of the teachings that I learned as a child and through my adult years. Why am I being taught how to be a Christian when I know I am a Christian and have a strong faith. Am I wrong to feel this way? Please help.
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RCIA classes accept everyone from the person who is first learning about God to the person who is well versed in their faith. But RCIA is not just about how much knowledge someone knows or learns, but is about becoming part of the Catholic Church and that includes becoming a member of your parish community. You can bring up questions and discussions in the class that can be helpful to the other participants and to you. Become part of the class, contribute don’t fight against it. Take sister up on her offer and receive the ‘advanced instruction’ on the side, but don’t shun the other members of the group. They will also be members of your parish community and members of the Body of Christ.
 
Gynger123 said:
I am in need of some guidance and I am not sure where to turn.

I have been married for 10 years and I have been attending Catholic Mass with my husband weekly for the past 10 years. I was raised Lutheran and attended a Lutheran grade school for 8 years. After graduating I continued my Lutheran faith until I met my Husband I started attending mass with him while we were courting and now for the past 10 years of marriage. I was Confirmed, Baptized, and had my First Communion in the Lutheran church all by my 8th grade year. I have a 6yr old son who we are also raising in the Catholic faith and he attends a Catholic Grade school. I am very active in my sons school with volunteer work as well as in my community.
I am now in the process of converting to Catholicism. I have been attending the RCIA classes since October. I do not feel like I am getting anything from the classes since I am very strong in my faith already. I have met with Sister and I have expressed my concerns that I am only leaving the classes every Sunday morning with a feeling of frustration rather than enlightenment. She has agreed to meet with me weekly to go more in depth on the traditions of the Catholic church since she said these would not be covered in the RCIA class in as much detail as I am wanting.
Here is my question… I do not understand why I am in a full RCIA class. Next week is when we have to profess our desire in front of the church to become Catholic but I do not feel this is the right path of teachings for me. When I expressed my concerns to Sister she simply explained that I am Advanced for the class. Should I be in the full RCIA program. Everything I have read online states that I should not be. I leave the classes so frustrated on Sundays because they are not meeting my needs of wanting to learn the traditions. I feel that me going through the full RCIA program negates all of the teachings that I learned as a child and through my adult years. Why am I being taught how to be a Christian when I know I am a Christian and have a strong faith. Am I wrong to feel this way? Please help.
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If you were in my parish I would not make you go through the entire RCIA. RCIA was designed for the unbaptized. As RCIA director, I have had quite a number of people come to me with your same story. One woman we had make a profession of faith two months after she first came to us. She was more Catholic than most of the cradle Catholics I knew and was going to Mass for years with her husband. She would even assist in Religious ed classes as a hall monitor or class assistant. Why should she have to go through over a year of classes. Also a baptized Christian does not get dismissed on Sunday nor do they participate in all the rites as the unbaptized do. It frustrates me to no end when there are people running the RCIA in parishes that don’t even know what is in the Rites book.
 
rfournier103 said:
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)?
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Here is a site with the Catechism of the Catholic Church on line. vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

As far as the class is concerned, stick with it. What choice do you have? 👍
 
asd72 said:
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?
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Have heart, I didn’t get any either. For copies of catholic bibles on the cheap, look through the shelves at 1/2 price books and such. The Catechism is available on the Vatican’s website.
Gynger123 said:
I am in need of some guidance and I am not sure where to turn.

I have been married for 10 years and I have been attending Catholic Mass with my husband weekly for the past 10 years. I was raised Lutheran and attended a Lutheran grade school for 8 years. After graduating I continued my Lutheran faith until I met my Husband I started attending mass with him while we were courting and now for the past 10 years of marriage. I was Confirmed, Baptized, and had my First Communion in the Lutheran church all by my 8th grade year. … I have been attending the RCIA classes since October. I do not feel like I am getting anything from the classes since I am very strong in my faith already. I have met with Sister and I have expressed my concerns that I am only leaving the classes every Sunday morning with a feeling of frustration rather than enlightenment. She has agreed to meet with me weekly to go more in depth on the traditions of the Catholic church since she said these would not be covered in the RCIA class in as much detail as I am wanting… Why am I being taught how to be a Christian when I know I am a Christian and have a strong faith. Am I wrong to feel this way? Please help.
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And I truly know how you feel. I to was Lutheran.

Do meet with the Sister. That is similar to what I did and it filled in the gaps. I was sort of a co-RCIA candidate with a young lady who’s sponsor couldn’t show each week so by helping lead a ‘younger (in faith)’ person I was able to get more out of the formal RCIA class as well as the extra sessions via telephone to answer my questions. We also went through 3 of the parishes in the area to see the similarities and differences and discuss each. I now have a dedication to praying at the stations of the cross as a result.

As another said, hang in there, what else is there? Well, that is only partially true. Sometimes you can have individual sessions with the Priest and then be Confirmed without the RCIA because you are much more advanced in your faith… Parishes and Diocese differ in their requirements.
 
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