The Realities of Parish Religious Education Rural Parish Networking

1. The Realities of Parish Religious Education Rural Parish Networking From April 25, 2013

2. Part 1WHAT IS CATECHESIS?

3. Qualities of a Catechist RESPECT • For gifts/limitations & ideas of others • For families, for cultures, ethnic groups, male/female • For the marginalized • For a variety of theologies • For various denominations & world religions • Maintaining a healthy lifestyle • Speaking compassionately from a solid foundation of Church teaching • Welcoming all persons • Listening to others • Affirming others • Showing compassion

4. Qualities of a Catechist POSITIVE SENSE OF THE CHURCH • Acknowledging the fullness of the Church’s sacramental life • Living a life style approved by the Church • Participating in the praying community • Affirming all areas of vocations • Being willing & able to serve all people • Being generous

5. Qualities of a Catechist FAITH • A person of trust & relationship • Enjoying a sense of wonder • Living Christ-centered spirituality • Making a commitment to faith & ongoing conversion • Responding to life with hope, joy, & gratitude • Forgiving self & others • Living with ambiguity • Persevering • Being a steward of resources & time • Taking risks

6. Qualities of a Catechist INTEGRITY • Seeking the truth • Using common sense • Possessing self-confidence • Acting with authenticity • Valuing confidentiality • Being open to change • Evaluating on a regular basis • Exhibiting enthusiasm • Possessing a sense of humor • Being loyal • Exhibiting flexibility

7. Important Tips for Catechists to be Successful • Be Christ-centered: reflect our own personal love for Christ & to reflect God’s love for the children. • Be clear: be simple & concise in our teaching. Simplicity comes from being preparedand know the subject matter. • Be consistent: develop a general pattern for teaching so that most of the children know what to expect. • Be concrete: use lots of examples to relate whatever one is teaching to the daily life of the child. • Be creative: use one’s imagination & other personal gifts in one’s teaching & to draw on the imagination & personal gifts of the children. • Be compassionate: care about each child, allow for individual differences as well as class needs, be patient. • Be charitable: be kind, anticipate children’s needs, give them the opportunity to grow in charity themselves by cultivating thoughtfulness of others. • Be catechetical and evangelistic: reach out not only to the children, but through them to their families. Every lesson should incorporate prayer, Bible, liturgy, & doctrine.

8. Part 2Planning the Liturgical year

9. General Session Planning Tips Children look to adults for guidance & structure • Establish your role early as the resident adult in matters of discipline and organization. • While it’s tempting to want to be their friend, the children need you to be their guide. Know the content by heart • You don’t have to be a trained theologian to be a catechist, but be familiar with the content you will cover. Follow the teacher guide for direction • Discuss the content with a staff member or another catechist, sharing your understanding and your faith before presenting the content to the children. Actions speak louder than words. • The way you treat your children will make a greater impression on them than any session you lead. • Respect, kindness, fairness, compassion, and forgiveness will reinforce the Christian message. • Harshness and rigidity will undercut the Gospel you present.

10. General Session Planning Tips We learn in a variety of ways • We learn about faith through stories, symbol, ritual, song, prayer and service. • Variety within the routine is important. Exercise children’s religious imagination • Children are naturally religious in their inclinations. • They seldom have any trouble with hoping, dreaming, and imagining every possibility under Heaven. Don’t just tell them- show them • Encourage faith sharing. • Not only of present the faith but also share the importance of it in your life.

11. General Session Planning Tips Make their time a positive experience • You are a representative of the Church. • Their impressions of their time spent with you will become part of their understanding of what the Church is all about. • If they try to remember this time as enlivening, exciting, and purposeful, they will associate that experience with what a life of faith entails. • Communicate the excitement of your own faith and let that excitement shine forth in every session you lead.

12. Simple strategies for dealing with behavior problems • Consult with a parish staff member to identify effective strategies & techniques • Surround the child with other children who exhibit appropriate behavior • Provide a structured environment • Acknowledge good behavior & positive contributions made by the child • Treat the child with respect & consideration & be fair in responding to poor behavior • Identify the child’s strengths & work toward them • Provide encouragement • Be patient & work toward gradual improvement • Plan for success but anticipate difficulty & prepare appropriate strategies to mitigate such behavior • Put the child in charge of an activity that can reduce his or her aggressiveness • Avoid confrontation • Make sure your catechetical atmosphere is warm & inviting- clear, orderly, colorful, interesting • Give children plenty of room between one another • Plan activities of short duration so attention spans are not tested • Use a variety of activities that appeal to multiple senses

13. Developmental Stages of Children & Youth (including Spiritual Development) http://www.parentfurther.com/ages-stages • This link tells about children’s developing stages in many areas that include spiritual development.

14. Plan a Yearly CalendarFirst Include Important Dates/Events Include • Holy Days of Obligation • Special Feast Days (St. Nicholas, Holy Family, Parish Feast Day) • Parish Events (Parish Picnic, other social events) • Special Monthly Dedications (Ex. October is Month of Rosary) • Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Lent • Catechetical Sunday (September, see USCCB website) • Important civil holidays (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day) • Parish Sacrament celebrations • Consider any local school breaks or schedules

15. Plan a Yearly CalendarNext, Fill in Weekly Themes or Topics • First check your book series for lessons that reference a timely topic such as liturgical seasons, feasts or holy days • Once those are on you calendar, fill in the other lessons in sequence.

16. Curriculum • Link to the Archdiocese of Atlanta Religion Curriculum • http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/re/curriculum.html A Note about the Curriculum: • This document is not intended to be used as a teaching document but rather lists competencies at various grade levels. • Most major textbook publishers have a correlation with our curriculum that lists each competency and the corresponding lesson or page that satisfies them. Contact Cathy Marbury if you would like the correlation that matches your textbook series.

17. Part 3Inviting and Empowering co-workers

18. Sample Catechist Job Description • JOB TITLE: Catechist for the Religious Education (RE) Program • JOB DESCRIPTION: • *Sharing in the mission work of the church by walking in faith and sharing the faith • *Teaching the Good News with the elementary school age children and building community with their families • RESPONSIBLE TO: • *Pastor • *Religious Education Director/Coordinator (DRE/CRE) • DUTIES: • *Be prepared and prompt for weekly classes and/or programs • *Maintain presence before & after classes to support, assist, and communicate with other catechists and parents • *Cooperate with the rest of the Parish Team in facilitating special events • *Establish communication with the family of the student with opening postcard and occasional letters, particularly if there is a continual absence • *Prepare class for one holiday presentation • *Seek to grow and learn with continuing education programs • *Communication home with progress report every 15 weeks (twice a year) • LENGTH OF COMMITMENT: at least one year, preferable two • TIME REQUIRED: • *Preparation time: 1 - 2 hours • *Class time: 1 ½ hours (10 minutes before, 1 hour with the class and possibly 15 minutes after dismissal) • *Additional seasonal/sacramental preparation (Advent, Christmas, Easter, end of year) • *Meeting time: 1 ½ hours per month for catechist meeting • *Personal formation, continuing education classes: at own discretion • IN-SERVICE TRAINING PROVIDED: • *Meetings with the coordinators for guidance, direction and support • *Mandatory attendance at VIRTUS • QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIAL SKILLS: • *Love of the Lord and love of children • *Willingness to share faith and nurture the children's faith • *Be in communion with the Catholic Church • *Teaching experience is helpful, but not mandatory • *Willingness to work on a team and collaborate for the good of the community • BENEFITS OF INVOLVEMENT: • *Gain a sense of fulfillment in serving the community • *A sense of accomplishment • *Growing and learning and becoming personally enriched • *A sense of true joy in serving the Lord and helping others know God (bringing about the reign of God) • *Become more familiar with the community through increased involvement

19. Qualities of a Catechist • Respect • For gifts/limitations and ideas of others • For families, for cultures, ethnic groups, people male/female • For the marginalized • For various denominations and world religions • To speak compassionately from a solid foundation of church teaching • To listen to others • To affirm others • To Show compassion • Positive Sense of Church • Acknowledging the fullness of the churches sacramental life • Live a life style consistent with church teaching • Participate in prayer with the community • Affirming all areas of vocation • Servant attitude • Faith • A person of trust and relationship • Sense of wonder and awe • Christ-centered spirituality • Committed to ongoing conversion • Forgiveness of self and others • Committed to life-long faith formation • Integrity • Self confidence • Authentic • Maintain confidentiality • Open to change and flexible • Loyalty

20. Some Helpful Links from OFD WebsiteAll links are specific tabs of the Archdiocese of Atlanta Website under the Offices, Formation and Discipleship(OFD) drop down menus. Links listed below are those that are most pertinent to Parish Catechetical Leaders. Many other resources are part of the OFD Webpage. • Resources from OFD- this link will connect you to webinars, the resource collection of print material, useful websites, presentations and more! http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/resources/index.html • FaithinFormation- this is semimonthly communication. Back issues are listed and if you are not subscribed, you can sign up. http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/news/index.html • Calendar- This link will not only list the dates, but will also have links to specific information about events. So if you need details about an event, go to the calendar and click on the event for more information or to rsvp http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/about/calendar.html • Curriculum- This document is not intended to be used as a teaching document but rather lists competencies at various grade levels. http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/re/curriculum.html • Sacramental Preparation Guidelines http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/re/sacramentalpreparation.html • RCIA- resources and events http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/re/rcia.html • Catechist Certification Guidelines http://www.archatl.com/offices/ofd2012/re/catechist/index.html • Youth Ministry Information and Resources- click the resource tab of this link for many helpful resources http://www.atlyouth.org/