All of us here at TeamRCIA.com are active team members with the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. We serve on Forum institutes to provide ministers-volunteer and paid, full and part-time, lay and clergy-with deeper understanding of the vision of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and the skills to implement the Rite.

If you or the members of your team have never been on a Forum institute, why not take advantage of the opportunity this year? I guarantee you’ll love it.

Beginnings and Beyond

The “foundational” institute is called “Beginnings and Beyond,” and it gives you the full experience of the Rite, covering vision and skills needed to implement a process for catechumens.

Because the B&B is five days long, and not everyone can get away for that much time, there is a compressed version (four days), called a “Beginnings Plus.” If you can possibly do the longer version, it is definitely worth it. But if you can only give up four days, the B+ is your option.

Other institutes

The foundational institutes deal strictly with the catechumens, part 1 of the RCIA. There is a two-day institute called “Concerning the Baptized,” that deals with, well, the baptized. The focus of the institute is on how to implement the Rite of Reception into Full Communion.

The Forum also sponsors Vision of Initiation Ministry Conferences in partnership with local dioceses or formation institutions. These intensive two-day events cover evangelization, pastoral formation, the roles of the initiation process, and the connections between liturgy and catechesis.

There are several other institutes as well (which you can read about here), but these are the ones that members of TeamRCIA.com will be serving on over the next several months. Come join us!

Where you can find TeamRCIA

Aug. 22-23, Concerning the Baptized, Monterey, CA, Nick Wagner

Aug. 1-2, Concerning the Baptized, Boston, Rita Ferrone

Sep. 8-11, Beginnings Plus (with children’s focus), San Francisco (Menlo Park), Diana Macalintal

Sep. 19-20, Concerning the Baptized, Gaylord, MI, Rita Ferrone

Aug. 22-23, Concerning the Baptized, Los Angeles, CA, Nick Wagner

Oct. 7-9, Vision of Initiation (for clergy), Dodge City, KS, Rita Ferrone

Oct. 10-11, Vision of Initiation (pastoral ministers), Dodge City, KS, Rita Ferrone

(TeamRCIA.com member, Miriam Malone, SNJM, is taking the season off from doing institutes so she can focus on her dissertation for her DMin.)