Why no Sunday School

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cthulhubryan

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This was mentioned in the former LDS forum
TexanKnight said:
It really is. I agree with them. But sometimes, the good memories and the camadarie make me miss it. The Catholic Church, for all it’s wonderfullness, has never given me the feeling of camaraderie. We go to mass and go home. No Sunday School, no socializing.
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I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
 
There is in my parish. I’ve never experienced a parish that didn’t have some kind of faith formation classes on Sunday morning. I’m sure they exist though, but my experience is nothing like the poster you quoted.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
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The Catholic equivalent of “Sunday School” is CCD. It achieves the same things–teaching Catholic children about the Bible, the beliefs of the Church, about Jesus and being a Christian, and preparing them for receiving various Sacraments at different ages. CCD is often taught by mothers (or fathers) of children in the age or grade level of that particular CCD group.

CCD lessons are often conducted in the CCD teacher’s house, or in the parish center, and sometimes older students volunteer to help out in younger CCD groups. CCD can take place on Sunday or on any other day (or evening) during the week, and creates connections between Catholic children in the same way that a Protestant “Sunday School” would forge links between Protestant children who attend the same church. Catholics don’t have “Sunday School” because CCD does the same thing, and “Sunday School” is a Protestant custom that developed in the nineteenth century, so it would be odd if Catholics stole it:D
 
We have CCD classes for the children (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine). Depending on the size and staff of the Church, it can be held on Sundays. The church I attend, the CCD classes are after the 8:15 Mass and before the 11:00 Mass. I have attended other churches where there is a smaller membership and the classes can only be held during the week etc. We do have a “Sunday School” in that the faith is being taught on a smaller one on one level, just not the what Protestants are used to. Children have to attend the CCD classes to be able to receive their first communion, their first reconciliation and their confirmation. They are taught in the classes what it truly means to be Catholic and why we believe the way we do. For adults that are coming home to the Catholic Church, we have the RCIA (Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults) which teaches the same beliefs/traditions but in a smaller time frame. Some churches offer smaller bible study groups. The thing to remember here is the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the most important thing of all…to be able to commune with Jesus by taking his body and blood at Mass. Good luck to you on your journey coming home.
 
I teach Sunday school for high school students, it is called youth ministry. We have breakfast at the parish hall where it is a great opportunity for people of all ages to mix, socialize and discuss about religion.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
Click to expand...
There is in my parish. We have classes for children and adults between Masses. We have social time after each Mass too.
 
We have Catechism class for the kids after mass on Sunday.
 
Our parish has faith formation classes on Sunday mornings, too. Also know as PSR: Parish School of Religion.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
Click to expand...
It, varies from parish to parish, however, you will find Sunday School and “Agape Feast” or some sort of fellowship more often, in the Eastern Catholic Churches!

If you haven’t been to an Eastern Catholic Church, GO!

I like the Coptic Catholic Liturgy most, personally!

Peace and Love in Christ :highprayer:
 
In my Parish in San Francisco they have CCD classes on Sunday – for Catholic children who attend public school. The classes are held at 9:00 A.M. and then the children are excused in time for the 10:00 A.M.family Mass.
Many years ago I taught CCD classes in the same Parish – at that time they had classes two days a week – on Thursday afternoons and on Saturday mornings.
 
We have a children’s liturgy for grades 1 to 3 at 2 Masses. There are also CCD classes, RCIA adapted for children, Catholic Girls group, Teen Life groups(both Mass and a Youth group), Teen choir. There may be more, but I’m newer at the parish and haven’t yet explored all the different things going on. But we are a large parish, over 3000 registered members, plus those that aren’t registered.

Where I grew up, there was no kids groups what so ever.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
Click to expand...
My Parish has over 2,400 families, making Sunday School next to impossible, so Religious Ed classes are held at different times throughout the week.
 
cominghomeCC said:
We have a children’s liturgy for grades 1 to 3 at 2 Masses. There are also CCD classes, RCIA adapted for children, Catholic Girls group, Teen Life groups(both Mass and a Youth group), Teen choir. There may be more, but I’m newer at the parish and haven’t yet explored all the different things going on. But we are a large parish, over 3000 registered members, plus those that aren’t registered.

Where I grew up, there was no kids groups what so ever.
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You guys are saddled with the bane of “children’s church” too eh?
 
Thanks for all the information. It must just be our Parish then.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
Click to expand...
Some parishes do and some do not. I am the Director of Catechetical Ministry at my local parish here at So. Cal. What many people forget is one simple thing: What works at one parish does not mean it will work at another parish. Every parish community is different so one cannot assume all will have the same success. Here at my parish we tried it on Sunday and it did not function, so we moved it to Monday through Wednesday and it is much more successful.
 
garn9173 said:
My Parish has over 2,400 families, making Sunday School next to impossible, so Religious Ed classes are held at different times throughout the week.
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2,400? We have over 7,000 registered families.
 
cthulhubryan said:
This was mentioned in the former LDS forum
*
“It really is. I agree with them. But sometimes, the good memories and the camadarie make me miss it. The Catholic Church, for all it’s wonderfullness, has never given me the feeling of camaraderie. We go to mass and go home. No Sunday School, no socializing.”*

I was curious, why is there no “Sunday School” in the Catholic Church?
Click to expand...
I think most other posters have covered your question well, but I do see something somewhat true in that poster’s observations about lack of camadarie in the Catholic Church. Every parish is different, of course, and I can name several close-knit parishes, but there also are many disconnected communities. There are many reasons for it; for example, like many parishes, my church can no longer afford the programmes we were able to run in the past. Furthermore, most people are busy parents, and don’t have time to dedicate to running activities, at least not anymore.
 
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