Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 3—The Georgia Bulletin, June 7,1979
Religious Education -- Teachers And Parents Look Back
BY MICHAEL MOTES
Selecting a parish at
random, contacting Religious
Education co-ordinators for
spur-of-the-moment
comments, and asking the
parents of youth enroiied in
CCD programs for their
evaluation have produced
some interesting reflections
on the past year of
instruction in Sunday
classrooms.
The parish picked was
Immaculate Heart of Mary
and the selection seems to
have been a good one, as
those contacted were very
eager to respond and were
obviously concerned about
the status of CCD.
Perhaps this concern is best
expressed by the comments
which suggest areas for
improvement and which
stress the responsibility that
parents must accept in the
religious education of their
children.
Mrs. Carol Homrich, IHM
Religious Education
Co-ordinator for youth
between the ages of 4 and
seventh grade, has just
completed her first year in
the field.
‘‘Although 1 am a
newcomer, I feel very good
about the year we have just
finished at IHM,” Mrs.
Homrich says. “I worked
closely with our confirmation
group and this was a personal
highlight for me during the
year. But what probably
impressed me most was the
commitment of our teachers.
Teaching religion must come
from the heart and I feel that
our teachers this year put
their hearts into their work.”
In suggesting areas of
improvement, Mrs. Homrich
said, “I think one area is to
establish better and more
communication between the
parents and teachers and also
among the CCD parents
themselves. I feel this could
be accomplished by these
parents attending adult
education programs while
their children are in CCD
classes. Since the main
responsibility of teaching
religion to children belongs
to the parents, this would
present an Opportunity for
parents to broaden their own
knowledge and experiences.
Teachers are only instruments
in the hands of God and for
children to believe what the
teacher teaches, the parents
must set an example.
‘‘Another way is for
parents to show a more active
interest in their child’s
education by attending
sacramental meetings,” she
said.
The co-ordinator also feels
that “indepth preparation for
teachers will make them feel
more qualified in their
teaching. This we hope to
accomplish by way of
presenting a ‘Growing in
Jesus’ program and by
studying the NATIONAL
CATECHETICAL
DIRECTORY.”
Concerning the
DIRECTORY, Mrs. Homrich
says, “I am very impressed
with it. I think it will be a
valuable tool in the hands of
our catechists and we plan to
use it as a guide next year.”
Another newcomer to
Religious Education at IHM is
Lee Brunner, who has just
finished his first year as CCD
Co-Ordinator for the high
school group.
“It was a good year for me
as far as what I learned and in
determining the direction I
need to go in the future,”
Brunner says. “I can’t
complain since this was my
first year, but I can’t say that
it was a great year as far as
education goes.
“Our biggest need is for
teachers who are really
prepared to teach. Adult
support and parental
encouragement are also very
important to the program.
“The change from a lecture
basis to smaller discussion
groups was a very positive
approach during the past
year. Right now we may not
have the best reputation for
CCD, but hopefully that will
change,” Brunner added.
Religious Education -- The Director’s View
BY FATHER
JAMES F. KELLY
(Director of Religious Education)
June brings with it the
warm breezes of summer and
the end of the regular Parish
Religious Education
programs. Parish bulletins
note that this Sunday is the
last School of Religion Class
of this year. The appeal goes
out for teachers, catechists
for next year’s religion classes
and for the various summer
vacation schools which have
taken root in the Archdiocese
over the last few years.
It wasn’t long ago that
summer meant the end of
Religious Education Programs
for youth and adults in the
parishes of the Archdiocese.
But now, more and more,
three and four week summer
programs are being
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developed, enforcing the
tenet that Religious
Education is a life-long
process. This, too, gives us
occasion for reflection on the
past and the future of the
Religious Education Ministry
in the Archdiocese of
Atlanta.
As new parishes develop,
there is more and more of a
need to develop effective
religious education programs
for children, youth, and
adults. The GENERAL
CATECHETICAL
DIRECTORY notes that
adult education is at the
center of the Religious
Education Ministry. In the
past five years, the
Archdiocese of Atlanta has
grown from 60,000 Catholics
to 93,000 Catholics. This
growth gives religious
education, in this
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Archdiocese, a great challenge
to continue the task of
making faith living,
conscious, and active, to all
our people.
To help this task, the
American Bishops, with
approval from the Holy See,
have just completed the
NATIONAL CATECHETI
CAL DIRECTORY. This
NATIONAL CATECHETI
CAL DIRECTORY is an
official statement of the
National Conference of
Catholic Bishops on
catechetical ministry in the
United States. The NCD will
help with the future planning
of the catechetical mission of
the Archdiocese of Atlanta,
as well as ail the other
Dioceses throughout the
United States.
This document, the
NATIONAL CATECHETI
CAL DIRECTORY, looks at
the contemporary' problems
in catechesis today. In its
preface it states that,
“Because catechesis is
concerned with applying the
certain, timeless teachings of
faith to the uncertain,
changing conditions of each
generation, some errors of
judgment, misplaced
emphasis . . . are
likely ... No small part of
the difficulty arises from the
fact that today most children
are catechized in a way which
bears little resemblance to the
ways in which their parents
received instruction.” The
NCD gives serious attention
to these particular problems.
It seeks to help the entire
Catholic community to grow
in unity, love and peace.
“This document is presented
to the Catholic community in
the confidence that, as in the
past, the Holy Spirit will
guide the Church in our land
in its catechetical mission
both now and in the future.”
In the next year we can
look forward to further study
and reflection on the NCD to
help us in the Archdiocese
with the ministry of
catechesis. As one year ends,
we can look forward to a new
year of development of faith
for all in the Catholic
community for adults, youth,
and children, to make the
faith that we have a living,
conscious, and active faith.
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A fourth grade level
teacher, George McNamara
loved his year of working
with the children, but used
his own methods rather than
relying on prepared text
books.
“I hate to sound negative,
but that’s the way I feel
about the text we used,”
McNamara said. “I’m of the
old school of religion and
studied in the seminary for
six years and you can’t
convince me that you teach
religion by cutting out paper
dolls and coloring. Even
fourth graders are too smart
for that!”
In his classroom,
McNamara tried to get his
students involved in
discussions on assigned topics
rather than following
teachers’ manual instructions
for arts and crafts.
“I tried to use basics, the
way that I had been taught
and hope that this helped the
kids,” he said. “I was amazed
that many of my children did
not know the most basic
Catholic prayers, the Our
Father or the Hail Mary. We
simply memorized these in
the classroom and the kids
seem to like this method.
They could associate it with
school plays they were in or
learning a Cub Scout oath.
“But the most crucial
element in the teaching of
religion to children is the
parent. If we get parents
involved, we’ll be much more
successful in our teaching. It
may be harder today with so
many one-parent families, but
it is a job that the parent
must accept.”
McNamara obviously did a
good job in teaching his
youngsters to notice the gifts
of God in the world around
them. He is extremely pleased
with their fourth-grade
thoughts expressed in a
prayer the children prepared
last Christmas.
With the theme, “Lord
Thank You,” some of the
thoughts expressed were,
“For this nice and kind
world, and let the world stay
like it is and we will try to
clean it up,” “For being alive
with a mother and father to
care for me,” “For the happy
faces and pretty flowers and
for the world and love” and
“For everything, the earth,
sun, people, mothers, fathers,
sisters, brothers and the best
teachers in the world.”
The Aduit Education
program at IHM was ranked
as “super,” by Mrs. Houston
D. Smith, Jr., a parent with
two children in CCD
programs at the parish.
“I’m more impressed with
the adult ed program than
with the children’s program,”
Mrs. Smith said. “I do not
feel that the children get the
fundamentals, but perhaps I
am going back to the days of
the Baltimore Catechism.
Today the texts do not seem
to have the grasp on the
concepts that I received at an
early age.
“The children’s books this
year were on a low level and
offered no challenge. I think
that there should be more of
a grasp of fundamental
concepts that would stick
with the children. We need
more emphasis on doctrine
ideas. I don’t think the
children have been challenged
enough and what I see as a
parent on the outside is not
as exciting as what I wish I
saw.”
James Nork, a parent of
CCD students and former
CCD teacher, believes that
IHM’s program “was better
than last year, but the need
for improvement is there. I
know that it’s difficult to
find people with the
dedication and talent to teach
and perhaps this is the
problem. The overall program
is improving and I am pleased
about this.”
A parent who asked not to
be identified, commented,
“My kindergarten age child
probably got more out of the
program than anyone else in
the family. One child didn’t
have a very good year because
the teacher had a terrible
time controlling the class.
“While I don’t think the
high school students learned
many facts, I am impressed
with the sense of community
involvement that my
teen-ager developed. She
seemed to have become
interested in ‘spreading the
word’ and informing others
that God IS there and this
certainly made the year
worthwhile.”
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DAR AWARD -- At Immaculate Heart of Mary’s
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