RCIA MINISTRY IN THE PARISH

I have been asked to take over the RCIA Ministry at our parish. For the first year I will be helping but the ultimate goal is that I will be eventually in charge of it. How many of you are involved is RCIA? Any helpful hints for me? How time consuming is it?
Thanks is advance for sending me some info and comments on this forum.

I am not in charge of RCIA and not currently involved, however, I have been involved in past years including being on the core team. At that time it was very time consuming. I put together the curriculum one year, taught several classes, and split the dismissal time with Denny. It got to where I had to give something up and RCIA was it. Marty Warwick and Jerry Kozney are very involved in our RCIA program now and you will probably want to talk with them.

[This chat line is really difficult to get used to... :-) ]

Yes, RCIA is time consuming. As with any ministry, it depends on how much time you want to give to it. If you Teach, then it will mean a LOT of time in preparation. If you use Powerpoint, it will mean LOTS MORE time in preparation. If you are just Administrator of the program, your job will be easier, but still time-consuming.

I was in charge of RCIA for a long time, in more than one parish. I enjoyed it, especially the Teaching portion. The Small Group Discussions are the key to the program. You can have great content, but it there isn't a vehicle to process and absorb the material, and voice questions, then the content may soon tbe forgotten. Therefore, the "discussion questions" at the end of each Teaching are critical, in my humble opinion. They also help develop the understanding of the Sponsors, who can share out of their own experience.

A good "textbook" is key also. Some (the good ones) provide their own questions. One of the best "orthodox" texts is "Introduction to Catholicism - a Complete Course", from the "Didache Series" by Midwest Theological Forum. A bit pricey, but the best stuff always is.

Paul Rooney

I am not involved with RCIA any longer but was for several years as a part of the core team and the primary presenter for 2 years. RCIA can be very time consuming but this is partially dependent upon your numbers and your "type" of program. Are you intending to put everyone into the same class or are you intending to have a separate Precatechumenate with a Ministry to the Baptizes group? Are you intending to have an "acedemic year" session or do you intend to try to do it "year around'? The two different approaches mandate the size of your volunteer team as well as your own time demands. Good Luck and God Bless,
Deacon Marty W.

The program has been running for over 20 years and they have tried a number of different things. Currently there is only one class group and there is a "acedemic year".