Ever have one of those days? Ever have a string of them? Last week, I thought I should have just stayed in bed for most of it. I wish I’d have seen Mike St. Pierre’s post, 6 Ways to Rebound from a Tough Week, earlier. Here’s my favorite from the list: Don’t give up by …
One of the complaints I sometimes hear from catechumenate teams is that the parish isn’t really the full expression of church that the catechumens-now-neophytes might have come to expect. It is one thing to catechize them fully and correctly about how word, worship, community, and service are fully realized in the Body of Christ as …
The folks over at Walking the Rite Way have posted a review for catechumenate teams to help us reflect on how things are going. They take the review to a deeper level than simply asking what worked well and what didn’t. For instance, one of their review points asks how we view our own baptism: …
I just got back from Orlando where I was attending the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership conference. I was hoping to learn some things about how the catechumenate is handled in clustered parishes, but, regrettably, there wasn’t much discussion about that. Many years ago, I worked in the very rural diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota. …
As you know, Pope Benedict XVII is in the midst of his first visit (as pope) to the United States. Realizing that America is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, one of the events he participated in was an ecumenical prayer service at Saint Joseph’s Church in Yorkville, New York. During …
Rita Ferrone, one of the team members here at TeamRCIA, recently published Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Rediscovering Vatican II). It’s an excellent resource for catechumenate ministers who would like more background about the meaning and purpose of the liturgy. I wrote a review of the book on Amazon, which begins: Rita Ferrone’s brief examination of the …
Here are some of the folks that should be on your team. And the strengths they need to have. RCIA Team Leader Characteristics of a good team leader: Free download: 17 Best prayer practices for RCIA team members Ambassador of Welcome (RCIA Inquiry coordinator) If you only have one other person on the team besides the …
To be a sponsor is to make a big commitment. Believe it or not, there are many people in your parish who are looking to make a big commitment. Sometimes we undersell the commitment people have to make. All that does is say to the volunteer, “I’m not really going to ask very much of …
The first step in building a team is to realize the team already exists. You are not creating anything new. You are enhancing and building on what already exists. Get your RCIA book and turn to paragraph 9 (page 4 in my version). Underline this phrase, about four lines down: —”the initiation of adults is …
Sponsors don’t need to know everything in order to be a sponsor. This is a relief for many. But you and they do need to know a few things about being a sponsor. Here are nine must-know facts about the role of sponsor. Free download: 5 essential elements of an RCIA sponsor’s job description Click …
