Catechist Page

"MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS: FUN, FRUSTRATING & FAITH-FORMING!"

For Parents and Catechists - Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 7:30-9:00 PM - Wege Conference Center, Cathedral Square - sponsored by Diocese of Grand Rapids Office of Faith Formation. FLYER (150 KB, PDF).

CATECHIST CERTIFICATION UPDATE

Dear Catechists,

As you know, our Diocese has a Catechist Certification process to help you grow and become more competent in your ministry. We strongly encourage you to use this process to enrich your knowledge and skills. While there is a minimal requirement of 8 hours for teaching in our Faith Formation Program, the Diocesan process goes way beyond this, allowing you to pursue lifelong enrichment. Some of you may even want to become Master Catechists!

We now have a system in place at St. Stephen to help you track your progress towards the various levels of certification offered by our Diocese. You may choose to keep your own records, as before, and submit them to us when you are ready to apply for the next level of certification--or you may choose to inform us as you go along,what courses or projects you have completed and we will add them to your cumulative record right away. Either way, we will be adding your certification hours for the in-services you attend here at St. Stephen. You can check with the Faith Formation Office at any time to find out what we show in your cumulative record and compare it with your own records.

Here is a sheet for you to keep your records on. CATECHIST CERTIFICATION APPLICATION (53 KB, DOC)

For each course or project you complete, you need to record the following:
DATE
TOPIC OR TITLE
LOCATION
PRESENTER
NO. OF CLOCK OR CREDIT HOURS
CATEGORY (Catechist, Learner, Methods or Content)

You can go to the Diocesan website (www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org) for further information about the certification process. (At the Home Page, click on Our Diocese, then Ministries, then Faith Formation, then Catechesis.) If you need to know whether a class or activity counts toward certification, or what category it fits into, contact Donna or Cami and they will help you.

Thank you for all you do. We hope working towards higher levels of certification will greatly enrich your ministry and be personally satisfying.

Resources for Catechists

• RCL Faith First Web Site (click on "Catechists and Teachers" on left hand side of page)
• Catechist's Journey is a blog reflecting on the joys and challenges of an eighth-grade catechist. It is for catechists and for all those who seek to more effectively proclaim the Catholic faith to others.
• Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association Web Site (click on "Upcoming Events" on left hand side of page to go to a page that offers several formation opportunities, including "Catholic Speakers Online" that you can sign up for--it's free, and the topics are interesting for catechists)
• 3-Minute Retreats from Loyola Press
• Sermons4kids.com
• SuperKids WordSearch Puzzle Creator
• eCatechist Check this out!

CATECHIST Magazine Facebook Page

You can now interact with CATECHIST magazine on Facebook!

Become a fan of CATECHIST magazine’s Facebook page and you’ll receive regular posts from us that will support you in your mission and that you can share with your friends. You’ll find regular reflections on the daily Gospel and weekly ideas for sharing the upcoming Sunday Gospel with your students, features and tips for your classroom; and information from across the Internet of importance and interest to you in your catechetical ministry.

Visit our page today by clicking here (you don’t need a Facebook account to view our page) or by searching CATECHIST magazine from your Facebook home. To become a fan of CATECHIST magazine on Facebook and receive our regular postings, you must have a Facebook account. You can set up an account easily and quickly by visiting facebook.com.

Kass Dotterweich, Editor