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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 430 318 EA 029 845 AUTHOR Groome, Thomas H., Ed.; Corso, Michael J., Ed. TITLE Empowering Catechetical Leaders. INSTITUTION National Catholic Educational Association, Washington, DC. ISBN ISBN-1-55833-219-7 PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 252p. AVAILABLE FROM National Catholic Educational Association, 1077 30th Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20007-3852; Tel: 202-337-6232; Fax: 202-333-6706; Web site: http://www.ncea.org; e-mail: [email protected] PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Catholic Educators; *Catholic Schools; Catholics; Elementary Secondary Education; Parochial Schools; *Religious Education; Study Guides; *Teacher Empowerment; Teachers IDENTIFIERS *Catechesis ABSTRACT This book is intended to help catechetical leaders stay abreast of scholarship on Scriptures, students, and informed theology. The themes of its essays vary widely--from the vision of educating for the reign of God to the practicalities of how to constitute a parish committee for catechesis. The 10 essays are divided into 3 parts. Part 1,"The Foundations of Catechesis," examines the purposes of Christian catechesis, the principles of catechesis from ecclesial documents, and the processes of catechesis. Part 2, "The People of Catechesis," discusses the parish and family as catechist, the participants in catechesis, and the person of the catechist. The last section, "The Realities of Catechesis," explores the qualities and competencies of the catechetical leader and includes details on planning and improving parish catechesis, practicalities of catechesis, the general directory for catechesis, boards of education, canon law, religious-education handbooks, gangs and religious education, due process, privacy rights, the place of liturgy in catechesis, elements of catechetical planning, sources of catechetical leadership, the art of loving, and obstacles to a balanced spirituality. It is hoped that this book will provide catechists an informed and insightful treatment of all major aspects of their ministry.(RJM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** 00 U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION r--4 Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDU ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) CD This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization vcr originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to I-I-4 improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy A AM. A PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY V r 1/4 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 AINI * A BEST COPYAVAILABLE EMPOWERING CATECHETICAL LEADERS EDITED BY THOMAS H. GROOME, ED.D. AND MICHAEL J. CORSO, PH.D. ,Ameo' NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION 3 Copyright 1999 National Catholic Educational Association 1077 30th Street, NW, Suite 100 Washington, DC 20007-3852 ISBN 1-55833-219-7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement Preface vii PART ONE THE FOUNDATIONS OF CATECHESIS 1 The Purposes of Christian Catechesis Thomas H. Groome 3 2 Principles of Catechesis from Ecclesial Documents Jane E. Regan 29 3 The Processes of Catechesis Carl J. Pfeifer and Janaan Manternach 55 PART TWO THE PEOPLE OF CATECHESIS 4 The Parish and Family as Catechist Michael J. Corso 83 5 The Participants in Catechesis Michael P. Horan 113 6 The Person of the Catechist Wilkie Au 135 PART THREE THE REALITIES OF CATECHESIS 7 Qualities and Competencies of the Catechetical Leader Fran Ferder 159 8 Planning and Improving Parish Catechesis Diana Dudoit Raiche 181 9 Practicalities of Catechesis Mary Angela Shaughnessy 207 10 Claiming and Breaking Ground: The General Directory for Catechesis Thomas H. Groome 233 Contributors 245 6 Acknowledgment The Mission 2000 Plan of the National Catholic EducationalAssocia- tion stated that one of its objectives is "to promote and inspireexcellence in leadership development and renewal." To help realize thisleadership objective in the field of religious education, the executive committeeof the Chief Administrators of Catholic Education (CACE/NCEA) establisheda conmlittee to develop formational materials for parish directors ofre- ligious education.It was this decision that led to the writing of Empow- ering Catechetical Leaders (ECL). As with any important document, ECL is the fruit ofmany labors. Initially, it was envisioned asa similar project to the three-volume work entitled: Formation and Development of Catholic Education(United States Catholic Conference in conjunction with the NCEA). Thedevelopment committee for ECL included the following: Dr. Joseph P. Sinwell(chair), diocesan director of religious education, Providence, RI; VirginiaInfantino, diocesan director for evangelization and catechesis, San Diego,CA; D'Esta Verdicchio, diocesan director of religious education, OklahomaCity, OK; Rev. Richard Walsh,secretary for education, Joliet, IL;Frank Savage, executive director, CACE; and parish directors of religious educationfrom the National Association of Parish Catechetical Directors (NCPD):former executive committee presidents Jan Kayser, St. ThomasParish, Crystal Lake, IL and Eileen Loughran, St. John Fisher Parish, Rancho PaloVerdes, CA. Dr. Barbara Campbell, associate executive director, NCEAdepartment of religious education, servedas staff. This co=ittee worked diligently to developa detailed outline for the project. Eventually in the fall of 1996 the department of religiouseducation assumed responsibility for completion of the project.Dr. Barbara Campbell Vi EMPOWERING CATECHETICAL LEADERS contacted Dr. Thomas H. Groome and Dr. Michael Corso and asked them to serve as general and managing editors. Almost immediately they invited others to assist them in writing for ECL: Wilkie Au, Fran Ferder, Michael P. Horan, Carl J. Pfeifer and Janaan Manternach, and Diana Dudoit Raiche, Jane E. Regan, and Mary Angela Shaughnessy. With the planning and development of any quality text, the energies of many people are necessary.Besides the committee and the outstanding authorship team, ECL is indebted to William H. Sadlier, Inc., which gave wonderful encouragement and support to this effort through the personal involvement of Frank Sadlier Dinger, Chairman of the Board, William Sadlier Dinger, President, Dr. Gerard F. Baumbach, Executive Vice Presi- dent and Publisher, and Dr. Eleanor Ann Brownell, Vice President.In addition Sadlier made a significant financial gift in an effort to keep the cost of this text at a reasonable level for catechetical leaders. In short, ECL was truly a community effort. In closing we are confident that Empowering Catechetical Leaders will serve as an excellent resource for veteran parish catechetical leaders as well as in developing future leaders. The General Directory forCatechesis emphasizes how "any form of pastoral activity is placed at risk if it does not rely on truly competent and trained personnel" (GDC, #234). May this text enrich, challenge, and affirm all who use it and make them ever mindful of their special and important task of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ! Joseph P. Sinwell, D. Min. Robert I. Colbert, Executive Director President, NCDRE-CACE Department of Religious Education vii Preface First, let us thank you and thank God foryour ministry as a catechetical leader. Surely the Church carrieson no more important work than sharing its faith and nurturing people to liveas disciples of Jesus in the midst of the world. And you are in the frontline of this crucialministryvital to the Church carrying on its central mission of evangelization andcatechesis. You have an august responsibility. Thankyou for taking it so seriously. Be assured, too, that the authors of theseessays realize full-well how challenging a task is yours, the importance of it, and howdemanding to do it effectively. All who write to you here, atone time or another, have held "job descriptions" similar to yours in a parishor school setting. It is our commit- ment to help meet the challenge of faith-filled and life-giving catechesisthat prompts us to offer this ready-to-use resource both inspiring and practi- calEmpowering Catechetical Leaders. Stand back a bit to view the scholarlyresources required by this minis- try. For good religious education/catechesisone needs to draw upon the best of scripture study and informed theology that reflects thefaith of our Church, upon educational theory and practice and the relevant social sciences, and then upon the theoretical and practicalresources that are particular to this ecclesial function. While every pastoral minister shouldcontinue to read to enrich one's own faith and enhance effectiveness,no busy leader can keep up with such a vast breadth of literature and array ofresources. So, writing as a team with expertise and experience inthose various resources of catechetical ministry, we make readily available here the best of scholarship relevant to the work of catechetical leaders. Wehave done so always with a view to pastoral practice and to promotingeffective catechesis in our parishes, schools, and homes. Whetheryou are a neophyte in this viii EMPOWERING CATECHETICAL LEADERS ministry or a seasoned veteran, we hope you will find here a text that is both inspiring and useful, both theoretically sound and practically