Help for Catechists: April 2011

New Recruits

By Mary Lou Rosien

I have taught faith formation classes off and on for 30 years. It has been my experience that most catechists are drawn to volunteer during the years that their own children are taking classes. It just makes sense; you have to be there anyway, might as well volunteer. The only problem with this is that the same group of people tend to teach for a long time and they get burned out.

To address this issue, we can look for new recruits in places we haven’t considered before. Many of our parishes are now offering faith formation in the summer to accommodate the needs of their congregation. A college student who is studying to be a teacher may be inclined to help and gain some practical teaching experience if only asked. A plea in the bulletin to attract these young people may help.

Retired members of the parish may have time to volunteer, but have not thought of teaching the faith. They are often drawn to different clubs within the parish community, so why not visit those clubs and put the word out that we are looking for new catechists? Perhaps these parishioners are unsure of their ability to teach the faith? Refresher courses with practical teaching tips could be made available to those interested.

When I started teaching Confirmation class, I started as a classroom aid. I became the primary teacher after the regular instructor had to stop teaching because of his changing work obligations. I subsequently gained a teacher’s aid of my own and when I had to step down due to family issues, he took over the Confirmation class. As we plan for the next year, we can ask those currently acting as classroom aids if they would like to consider becoming a teachers instead. We may find new talent right in our own ranks.

Expanding our teaching base can also include finding those in the community who do not want to teach full-time, but may be interested in subbing if a catechist is out sick. Team-teaching is another idea to lessen the amount of time or energy it may take to run a class by ones self. Our parishioners are busy people and sometimes the only reason they don’t volunteer is the time commitment involved. If we find creative solutions we will find more teachers.

Looking at staffing our faith formation teaching positions in a practical, business-like way may open our eyes to opportunities and individuals we may have missed before. “Pray as if everything depends on God, but work as if everything depends on you.” St. Augustine

Mary Lou Rosien writes from North Chili, NY. She is the author of Managing Stress with the Help of Your Catholic Faith (OSV Publishing). Email her at mrosien@rochester.rr.com.