The title for this week’s blog is admittedly unusual. Going outside the doors where and for what reason? In chapter 3 of Your Parish Is the Curriculum, Diana Macalintal tells the story of Jeff, an inquirer/seeker who was preparing to enter the catechumenate. Her story is not so much about Jeff but about the RCIA […]
As we saw in our last post, Diana Macalintal in Your Parish is the Curriculum explores the optimal ways in which the Roman Catholic catechumenate—Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)—functions. That entails the Christian community serving as God’s premier agent of fostering conversion and incorporating new Christians into the community’s life together. In chapters […]
That’s the title of a book by Diana Macalintal published by Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota. Macalintal is one of the founders, along with her husband Nick, of TeamRCIA.com, A Roman Catholic group promoting best practices in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults or RCIA. The RCIA, for those who may be unfamiliar, is […]
Have you ever considered your life, at whatever age you find yourself now, as a well-watered life? Paul certainly conceives of the Christian life in this way in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” He […]
Leading through the Water, as Paul Galbreath indicates in chapter 7, leads not to baptism as an end, but to life in view of baptism: the baptismal life. That baptismal life is fed by an overflowing stream of baptismal gifts that sustain the church’s life and bear witness to Christ in the world. Those gifts […]
Paul Galbreath titles the 5th chapter of Leading through the Water very simply “Water.” In a sense the entire book, and the catechumenate, drives to the water and finds its center, source, and power in the Word-drenched water. In this chapter Galbreath walks through the history of baptismal water and then seeks to learn from […]
Belonging through Liturgy and Community: A highlight from the opening conversation between the Rev. Drs. Scott Bruzek (St. John, Wheaton, Illinois) and Dien Ashley Taylor (Redeemer, The Bronx) was their discussion of the courageous act of seekers who “climb the steps”—literally and figuratively at Redeemer—to attend worship for the first time. Each pastor noted the […]
The online conference on adult faith formation, Orbiting Christ: Belonging, Believing, Behaving, is one week away. We are encouraged to have registrants from coast to coast and even folks from Alaska and Hawaii. Our Zoom license allows for 100 people to attend, so we will continue to accept registrations until we reach 100 or until […]
Earlier this week Kent Burreson and I had the opportunity to Zoom with the presenters for the second day of our upcoming conference on adult faith formation, Pastors Timothy Droegemueller (Living Faith Lutheran Church, Cumming, Georgia) and Daniel Eggold (Grace Lutheran Church, Lafayette, Indiana), pictured below. As each pastor reflected on the core values and […]