Was your liturgy memorable today? Chances are, there was someone in the assembly who was visiting your parish for the first time. If not this week, then next week or the week after, for sure. When they get home, will they remember your parish? Will they return? It’s not difficult to create a lasting memory […]
Is your RCIA team creating a memorable first impression?
John Allen Jr., over at NCR Café, makes the point that, while local newspapers cover things as routine as city council meetings and high school sports events, they seldom report the powerful faith stories that take place in our churches every week. Using the Lexis-Nexis database, which indexes virtually all major print and broadcast media
Whether it’s business or church, first impressions count. According to this post from “Fast Company,” a business magazine, big-time law firms and other major companies have figured out that their best strategies for success start right at the front door with the receptionist. We in the church business can learn tons from the business world in
Do you have a Director of First Impressions?
The vision and purpose of sacramental initiation are summarized in the first paragraph of Christian Initiation, General Introduction (you can find this right at the very beginning of your RCIA book). It is a vision that is profound and challenging, inspirational and life-changing. It is radical in its description of who we, the baptized, are
Do you know the three Rs of RCIA discernment?
A number of years ago, I wrote a little book about election (On the Rite of Election, LTP, 1994) for the Forum Essays series. I felt that divine election was an important concept to grapple with, and that—for a variety of reasons—our liturgical celebrations of election were missing the boat. The main problem at that
Rite of Election: How Are We Doing?
Rehearsal outline: Sending of the Catechumens for Election RCIA 106-117 6:30 Before everyone arrives Turn on lights and put out microphones. Put stand or table for the Book of the Elect in place. Place the book and a substantial pen on it. Put the lectionary on the ambo. Put presider’s script or ritual book on
How to rehearse the rite of sending
A central element in the Rite of Election is the enrollment of names. This part of the rite is so important it is given equal billing in the title: “The second step in Christian initiation is the liturgical rite called both election and the enrollment of names.” (RCIA 118). Their enrollment is a sign of
Make the Book of the Elect worthy of the names it bears
The Rite of Election is one of those “hinge” rites in the RCIA because it marks the transition from one period to the next for a person becoming baptized. But most people in your church won’t ever see a Rite of Election which usually takes place at the diocesan Cathedral. What most people will experience
Help your assembly prepare for the Rite of Election
The testimonies during the Rite of Election can be one of the most moving moments in the catechumenate process. Let’s look at how they happen. How does the testimony happen in the election rite? In the Rite of Election, the ritual text gives two ways for the godparents to offer their testimony (paragraph 131). Option
Testify! — Tips for the Rite of Election
Lent comes early in 2008—February 6. That means that you only have a few weeks to decide who among your catechumens will celebrate the rite of election. Unless you have a year-round process, you’ve probably already made the decision. In most parishes, anyone who celebrated the Rite of Acceptance this past fall (or even this
Are your catechumens ready for the next stage?
