Year - Round RCIA Program

[puzzleannie]

I
In my opinion the person who joins RCIA should have reached the point that there is no doubt that s/he accept that the catholic church is the only true way and are willing to submit fully to the canon laws of the church.

When someone is welcomed as a catechumen/candidate they are expressing that willingness so all those points must have been clarified during the inquiry stage.
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that is why the precatechumenate, or inquiry period, is so essential and should not be rushed, and people herded into the rite of acceptance simply because “it is that time of the year”.

 

[anjoh66]

that is why the precatechumenate, or inquiry period, is so essential and should not be rushed, and people herded into the rite of acceptance simply because “it is that time of the year”.

Exactly my opinion, that is what i´ve been saying all the time

 

[kabyr8]

We use the ACM program. It contains so much, that one could not get to all of it in a year long program!

We started using the ACM program last year and love it. I love all of their resources. I have used some of the material for our inquiry sessions this year and have gotten a good response from it.

 

[puzzleannie]

I
In my opinion the person who joins RCIA should have reached the point that there is no doubt that s/he accept that the catholic church is the only true way and are willing to submit fully to the canon laws of the church.

When someone is welcomed as a catechumen/candidate they are expressing that willingness so all those points must have been clarified during the inquiry stage.

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you sound fortunate in your bishop

there is a gulf, sometimes huge, between these stages.

no absolute acceptance of the Catholic Church as the only true way is not a pre-requisite for entering RCIA. That is a conviction that comes during the process, hopefully. That is why the inquiry period can be years in some cases, but at least long enough for the individual to proceed to the rite of acceptance with at least the conviction that they are beginning to see the authority of the Church, and want to learn more, and want to come to the point they need to be for the Rite of Election. That is why these rites are public, why sponsors representing the community stand up and attest with them and for them, and why the community supports them in these rites.

no it is not necessary for all points of doctrine and issues of concern, disagreement or puzzlement to be resolved during inquiry. that is the purpose of the catechumenate, which can also take much longer than a year in some cases, while an individual works through their own issues.

bottom line, as we keep saying, is that no, each stage cannot be rushed, nor should it be, nor is there a set time that works for everyone. It takes as long as it takes.

we have about 30 adults attending now on Sunday (and a few during the week because of work schedules) in the period that corresponds to inquiry, some are baptized, some are not, some are Catholic, some are not. There is a formal series of 12 sessions designed to cover the high points in a somewhat organized why. The discussion of the Sunday scripture is outside this time. The purpose is not so much to teach everything on the topic, but to start discussion and invite questions. Some have been attending for a year or more, some began in the spring, some just started today.

When this series is over, we will begin a more structured formal class, in September, 36 sessions based on the catechism, some handouts from ACM, some videos (used sparingly), some guest speakers. There will be a shakedown then, some will stop coming, some will keep on, with varied reasons in all cases. We will conduct interviews with everyone at this time, make sure all the marriage and other issues are being followed up, make sure scheduling is okay for them, see if there are other pastoral needs.

Some will be ready for the rite of acceptance in October, some may hesitate until after Christmas.

A couple just came back, they started a year or so ago, dropped out, and now want to continue. Out of the 30, probably 15 are unbaptized, and I expect perhaps 8-10 will go through the rite of acceptance before Christmas, and 5-6 go to the rite of election, and once they do that, almost always the proceed to initiation at Easter. The rest will either continue with the class off and on, drop out a few months and come back later with more vigor and interest, go to other parishes, or just give up because of marriage issues or other problems. Some, I will never know the reason why they stopped coming and they won’t respond to any contacts.

So in general, we offer the inquiry sessions beginning 3 times a year, people can join at any time, and they just go around the wheel until they have covered what they need to move to the next phase. Those who are unbaptized will have participated for and average of 12-18 months before they receive the sacraments at Easter.

 

[djeter]

Hi,

My name is Mark Mueller. I am an RCIA Team Catechist. We are starting a Year-Round RCIA program (formerly it just ran OCT-May). If anyone out there is running a year round program, I would be glad to see an example schedule or description of how people are brought into the Church at various times.

In short, I am searching for good ideas and examples.

Thanks, Mark

Hi Mark:

As a former RCIA member two years ago, I coincidentally posted a reflection on that this morning. You can find it here:

payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/06/22/called-to-holiness/

Hope you find it useful:

DJ