Monday, September 30, 2013

Catechist: The Church Community

So here's the recap of our second 3rd Grade lesson of the school year from 09/29/13.

The Church Community (From my follow-up to parents)

Lesson Basics:

A community is a group of people who come together for a shared purpose.

We need one another. It’s important for people to work together to solve problems. It’s important for the Church community to work together to solve problems too.

We learn about God through Jesus, the Church, and the Bible.

The Bible is God’s Word written in human words; it is the holy book of the Church.

When we read about the early Church community in Acts 2: 42-47, we many similarities in the way the Church community lives today. (Gathering together, praising God, prayers, sharing, helping each other, “breaking bread”.) http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/2

When you see “break bread”, “breaking of the bread”, etc in the Bible, it is code language for the Eucharist.

Celebrating the Eucharist at Mass is the most important thing we do as Catholics.

The Church is the community of the People of God gathered in the name of Jesus Christ.

We first became members of the Church through Baptism.

As members, we all have responsibilities. Having responsibility means you have work to do.

A ministry is a group or organization in the Church community that helps to do work that serves in some way.

Homework: Take a Parish Bulletin home (We put one in their folders.) Learn about one of the ministries that you believe is very important. Write a paragraph (at least 4 sentences) explaining what the ministry does, and why you find it very important – OR – draw and color a picture that shows the Church community doing the work of the ministry you choose. Be sure to put your name and the name of the ministry on your work. Turn this in with your folders next class.
NOTE: The idea behind this is to expose the children to the nearly 100 ministries at our parish and for them to do some research about what work they do and how that serves others.

What I Learned or Am Learning: Many more children felt comfortable participating. Some are still reluctant. That’s okay. They will become more comfortable as the year progresses.

What parents can expect: 3rd Graders will usually answer in the shortest terms possible. I encourage parents to prod them a little further when asking them what they learned. It’s good to coax them along, and NOT important to know definitions and such word for word; just that they have a basic understanding of what we covered.


Parent-Catechist Teamwork: Children should be encouraged to complete the homework early rather than at the last minute. This will show that parents give their Faith education priority. Also, parents should take just a few minutes to talk to them about one or two ministries that they think are important to the parish.

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