YES and YES! Catechist Training for Level I began on Sept. 16, however Sr. Nancy Ayotte, IHM who runs the class said if we have any more interested parishioners that she would get them up to speed. Classes are held one Saturday a month from now until June.
The “retreat-like” training is not only engaging and a great help to our efforts here at CTR, but it is some of the best ADULT formation our team has every encountered AND is recognized by our Archdiocese as valid training for “official” certification. CGS’s focus on the “essentials” of our faith and unique, Montessori style presentation truly help both the catechist and the child break open the deep and beautiful mysteries of our faith. Visit www.cgsusa.org to register or for more info.
A couple quick CGS stories from the past couple weeks to share....
Last night I taught our first Monday evening session in our newly opened Atrium II. The class is a mixture of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade children. At the end of the session, one of the 5th grade boys in the class said "Wow, that felt like 5 minutes not 2 hours!" and another two boys nodded in agreement and said they couldn't wait to hear the geography lesson at our next session and get their hands on our maps and pin flags! (Yeah God!)
Also, so funny! We had a real "no-nonsense" Mom of 5 who came from a neighboring parish to volunteer as a catechist (which is already quite curious). When we asked her to introduce herself and say a little bit about what brought her here to volunteer she said "Well, I was talking with the mother of a friend of one of my children at school, kvetching that the schedule for faith formation at my parish is so difficult with 5 kids and she recommended I look into the classes here at CTR. After hearing a little bit about the program, I turned to my 4th grader and said 'Well, looks like you are going to CTR for faith formation this year' and my kid made this long, tired groaning noise, like she was definitely NOT looking forward to faith formation. But then her little friend (from CTR) quickly chimed in and encouraged her saying "No! You are going to love it! It is really fun at Christ the Redeemer in the atrium!" The volunteer went on to say that all 5 of her children looked at this joy-filled child and then at each other with utter disbelief, like "What did she just say?!?!” shaking their heads like “There must be something wrong with this kid..." The no-nonsense Mom ended her story by saying "So, I had to come and see what the heck was going on here!!"
Parents of preschoolers, if I had one wish it would be that I had taken this training when my children were little (and all the women on our staff have said the same). The more our staff and catechists learn about and grow with CGS, the more we find it to be a truly miraculous (and I don't throw that word around lightly) method of formation. In my humble opinion, it is the hope of the church.
Visit www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com to review past articles or send your question/comment to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org.
The “retreat-like” training is not only engaging and a great help to our efforts here at CTR, but it is some of the best ADULT formation our team has every encountered AND is recognized by our Archdiocese as valid training for “official” certification. CGS’s focus on the “essentials” of our faith and unique, Montessori style presentation truly help both the catechist and the child break open the deep and beautiful mysteries of our faith. Visit www.cgsusa.org to register or for more info.
A couple quick CGS stories from the past couple weeks to share....
Last night I taught our first Monday evening session in our newly opened Atrium II. The class is a mixture of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade children. At the end of the session, one of the 5th grade boys in the class said "Wow, that felt like 5 minutes not 2 hours!" and another two boys nodded in agreement and said they couldn't wait to hear the geography lesson at our next session and get their hands on our maps and pin flags! (Yeah God!)
Also, so funny! We had a real "no-nonsense" Mom of 5 who came from a neighboring parish to volunteer as a catechist (which is already quite curious). When we asked her to introduce herself and say a little bit about what brought her here to volunteer she said "Well, I was talking with the mother of a friend of one of my children at school, kvetching that the schedule for faith formation at my parish is so difficult with 5 kids and she recommended I look into the classes here at CTR. After hearing a little bit about the program, I turned to my 4th grader and said 'Well, looks like you are going to CTR for faith formation this year' and my kid made this long, tired groaning noise, like she was definitely NOT looking forward to faith formation. But then her little friend (from CTR) quickly chimed in and encouraged her saying "No! You are going to love it! It is really fun at Christ the Redeemer in the atrium!" The volunteer went on to say that all 5 of her children looked at this joy-filled child and then at each other with utter disbelief, like "What did she just say?!?!” shaking their heads like “There must be something wrong with this kid..." The no-nonsense Mom ended her story by saying "So, I had to come and see what the heck was going on here!!"
Parents of preschoolers, if I had one wish it would be that I had taken this training when my children were little (and all the women on our staff have said the same). The more our staff and catechists learn about and grow with CGS, the more we find it to be a truly miraculous (and I don't throw that word around lightly) method of formation. In my humble opinion, it is the hope of the church.
Visit www.crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com to review past articles or send your question/comment to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment