Official Documents These documents are ones with which all leaders in faith formation should be familiar |
| Building Your Library! Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us From the US Bishops. A core document pointing the way to how parish pastoral planning should lay the groundwork for lifelong faith formation. Available from the US Catholic Conference of Bishops' publishing office: 800-235-8722 The Leader's Guide for Our Hearts Were Burning A very well done planning guide, cited in Dreams and Visions as the model for all pastoral planning. Also available from the USCCB: 800-235-8722 The Growing Faith Project These materials should be in your hands as you do your planning. This is a 48 booklet set of youth, young adult, or adult resources. Taken together, it presents the entire Catechism in plain, understandable English (or in Spanish). Every parish leader, pastor, staff person, and teacher or catechist should have this on his or her book shelf. For more information or to order this, click here. The General Directory for Catechesis in Plain English This is the normative resource, written through broad international consultation, and brilliant! The plain English version is readable and poetic, almost like making a personal retreat. To order a copy, click here. Vatican II in Plain English We must be careful not to wander away from these core documents. In today's church, they remain our normative guide for reform and renewal. The presentation of them in plain English is enormously helpful. All the original article numbers were retained to help you move between the official translations and these. To order your copy, click here. On Evangelization Today (Evangelii Nuntiandi) This may well be the most important church document published since the close of Vatican II, outside of the 1988 US Bishops' document on the RICA. It sets the stage for a major shift in catechesis from a church-centered approach to one that is Christ-centered. Available on-line at various web sites, or from the USCCB publishing office: 800-235-8722. On Catechesis in our Time (Catechesi Tradendae) Like the one just above, this document provides a major turning point in the development of our understanding of religious education and catechesis. Forming the bookends of the conversation, these two documents are "must reads" for anyone in leadership today. Available on-line at various web sites, or from the USCCB publishing office: 800-235-8722. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults For more on this document, go here. The National Directory for Catechesis In this document, the US Bishops offer the church in America guidelines for forming and reforming effective catechetical programs. Echoing much of what is found in the GDC, it is important for everyone working in catechesis to be thoroughly familiar with it. There are a host of helpful ancillary products to accompany it, all available from the USCCB publishing office: 800-235-8722. |
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| Resources offered on this site |
| Pastoral Planning A step-by-step guide: Dreams & Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation A new book which includes a chapter outlining those all-important Planning Team Meetings. Training How to teach your parish about lifelong formation including excellent PowerPoint presentations to download and use, complete with presentation notes. Implementation How to state and sustain faith sharing throughout the parish using the Question of the Week With free prayer sheets. Prayer Services to accompany faith sharing. You can download and use these in 5 minutes! Outlines for adult or intergenerational Faith Gatherings linked to your children's textbook series. Outlines for adult Bible Studies which are in plain English! Download each session and get all you need in one item. Complete plans for Parish Based Retreats in several practical scheduling formats. Background Material All the current books you need to better understand lifelong formation, plus free articles you can download, copy, and use. Vatican II Lots of strong resources to help you teach about the Council. We are approaching the 50th Anniversary of the date on which John XXIII called Vatican II: Jan 25, 1959. |
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