22 min listen
What Makes a Great Catechist (or a Terrible One)?
FromEvery Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)
What Makes a Great Catechist (or a Terrible One)?
FromEvery Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)
ratings:
Length:
37 minutes
Released:
Aug 28, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
CALLING ALL DIRECTORS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND CATECHISTS! This one’s for you. Dave “Cucumber Melon” VanVickle and I talk about the qualities that make for bad catechists vs. great catechists and how to find the right people for your program. This is a huge issue for religious education that is so important because the immortal souls of kids depends on it.
We also have storytime with Dave on why Kenny Baldwin is A MONSTER (just kidding) and extend an extra-special welcome to long-time listener Ralph “The Party” VanVickle!
We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave.
SHOWNOTES
What makes a good catechist?
* You have a mature spiritual life with daily prayer and a mentality of fides quaerens intellectum or "faith seeking understanding".
* You have an answer to this question: “Can you tell me about your daily lived relationship with the Lord?”
* You prioritize the truths of the Faith and always tie them to the Person of Christ.
* In the classroom, you make sure any craft or art project is truly effective and relevant to the lesson.
* You understand that you are making a difference to the immortal souls of your students.
* You have a DRE who is responsible for ongoing formation of catechists.
What makes a bad catechist?
* Unprepared, you haven’t read it or prayed about it.
* You don’t know your kids’ names.
* You never pray for them.
* You don’t quote the Bible.
* You never share your story of God’s movement in your life.
* You don’t think about conversion, only communicating the doctrine.
* You don’t see the whole and how it is all interrelated to Christ and the Trinity.
* Prayer is nothing but a bookend to your class.
How to find good catechists
* Start a Bible study or adult faith formation event (or go to one that already exists) and see who shows up consistently and is serious about growing in their faith.
* Invite specific people to be catechists. Don’t advertise to the whole church. You’re looking for people who are called, not guilted into it.
* Do a ministry fair where people can come and see what ministries your parish has.
* Pray and ask God for good catechists.
* Be comfortable letting people go.
5 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS
1. Personal Prayer Time: Ephesians 4:1-16
2. Memorize Catechesi Tradendae center of paragraph five.
3. Handwrite each kids’ name and pray for one minute for each kid in your class this week.
4. Prepare a lesson plan for one lesson on one topic and, keeping in mind good/bad catechist, write one sentence that ties it to Christ.
5. Come up with one example from your life per lesson plan.
RESOURCES AND EVENTS
* Dave’s School of Spiritual Warfare (https://www.petersshadow.org/events) event in Akron, OH
* Catechesi Tradendae (http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae.html)
* Chosen Confirmation Prep Program (https://ascensionpress.com/pages/chosen-your-journey-toward-confirmation?utm_source=website&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=chosen&utm_content=eksb)
We also have storytime with Dave on why Kenny Baldwin is A MONSTER (just kidding) and extend an extra-special welcome to long-time listener Ralph “The Party” VanVickle!
We want to hear from you! Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com with your story, question, or comment—or if you’ve got a new nickname for Dave.
SHOWNOTES
What makes a good catechist?
* You have a mature spiritual life with daily prayer and a mentality of fides quaerens intellectum or "faith seeking understanding".
* You have an answer to this question: “Can you tell me about your daily lived relationship with the Lord?”
* You prioritize the truths of the Faith and always tie them to the Person of Christ.
* In the classroom, you make sure any craft or art project is truly effective and relevant to the lesson.
* You understand that you are making a difference to the immortal souls of your students.
* You have a DRE who is responsible for ongoing formation of catechists.
What makes a bad catechist?
* Unprepared, you haven’t read it or prayed about it.
* You don’t know your kids’ names.
* You never pray for them.
* You don’t quote the Bible.
* You never share your story of God’s movement in your life.
* You don’t think about conversion, only communicating the doctrine.
* You don’t see the whole and how it is all interrelated to Christ and the Trinity.
* Prayer is nothing but a bookend to your class.
How to find good catechists
* Start a Bible study or adult faith formation event (or go to one that already exists) and see who shows up consistently and is serious about growing in their faith.
* Invite specific people to be catechists. Don’t advertise to the whole church. You’re looking for people who are called, not guilted into it.
* Do a ministry fair where people can come and see what ministries your parish has.
* Pray and ask God for good catechists.
* Be comfortable letting people go.
5 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS
1. Personal Prayer Time: Ephesians 4:1-16
2. Memorize Catechesi Tradendae center of paragraph five.
3. Handwrite each kids’ name and pray for one minute for each kid in your class this week.
4. Prepare a lesson plan for one lesson on one topic and, keeping in mind good/bad catechist, write one sentence that ties it to Christ.
5. Come up with one example from your life per lesson plan.
RESOURCES AND EVENTS
* Dave’s School of Spiritual Warfare (https://www.petersshadow.org/events) event in Akron, OH
* Catechesi Tradendae (http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae.html)
* Chosen Confirmation Prep Program (https://ascensionpress.com/pages/chosen-your-journey-toward-confirmation?utm_source=website&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=chosen&utm_content=eksb)
Released:
Aug 28, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
10 Principles of Spiritual Warfare: There’s good news and bad news. Bad news: Gomer is out today, so no fun nicknames. Good news: this episode is all about equipping you for spiritual warfare and fighting the kingdom of evil. Spiritual warfare and evangelization go hand-in-hand. Turns out the devil doesn’t like it when you try to win souls for Christ. Acknowledging the reality of spiritual warfare is an important first step. Once we realize that we’re fighting battles everyday, we can use these principles to guide the way. by Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)