The Priest as Empowerer of Catechetical Ministry

As the light from the paschal candle—lit from the new fire blessed by a priest—passes among the community and overcomes darkness during the Easter vigil, the illuminating light of catechesis is spread throughout the world by all the faithful.

In 1993 William H. Sadlier, Inc. and the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership cosponsored a symposium entitled "the Priest as Empowerer of the Catechist." The symposium was conceived as a way to explore approaches to catechetical ministry with priests recognized for their work with and through catechists.

In 1995 The Priest as Empowerer of Catechetical Ministry, a Report and Workbook was published to share the insights that surfaced and to engage the readers in the same process that took place during symposium. A review in The Living Light stated: "The book will be useful to all involved in catechetical ministry; it will be especially helpful to groups who are responsible for catechetics and who want to use a dialogical methodology to improve their efforts."

For the next several weeks this book will appear here in installments to share the insights with you and to engage you in the process. A new segment will appear every Thursday.

If you would like to order the book, please see the Sadlier Religion Catalog.


Table of Contents

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  • Introduction
    This segment describes the purpose and process of the symposium and provides a description of the type of priests who attended.

  • Chapter 1    The Parish

    Part 1 of 3
    Ministry does not take place in a vacuum. Therefore, an examination of ways in which a priest empowers catechists and catechetical ministry begins with an overview of the parish. This is the first of three parts that will examine the nature of the parish community and the influence it exerts.

    Part 2 of 3
    Chapter 1 continues with a discussion of the importance of stewardship and discipleship in the life of the parish.

    Part 3 of 3
    The conclusion of Chapter 1 examines service to national and global communities, and the empowerment of lay leadership.
  • Chapter 2    Catechesis in the Parish

    Part 1 of 3
    This segment begins an examination of the place that catechesis in it many forms has in the parish.

    Part 2 of 3
    The examination of catechesis continues with the view that it should be woven throughout all parish activities.

    Part 3 of 3
    This week looks at the role of the family as primary catechist.


  • Chapter 3   The Priest in Catechetical Ministry

    Part 1 of 3
    This segment begins to examine the ways the participants and their colleagues participate in the catechetical ministry of their parishes.

    Part 2 of 3
    This segment examines the extent to which catechesis pervades parish ministry, and the roles of priests and lay people in this.

    Part 3 of 3
    This week's segment examines the synergistic balance between education and discipleship in catechesis. It also summarizes "The Priest in Catechetical Ministry" segment of the symposium.

  • Chapter 4    The Priest as Empowerer of Catechetical Ministry

    Part 1 of 4
    This examines the concept of empowerment and provides examples offered by the participants of how priests can empower catechists.

    Part 2 of 4
    This installment reviews the use of roleplay and the first of three scenarios used to examine the empowering role priests play in catechetical ministry.

    Part 3 of 4
    This portion reviews the remaining two scenarios used to examine the empowering role priests play in catechetical ministry.

    Part 4 of 4
    During the symposium some participants thought it might be valuable for the group to talk about the factors that helped form them as priests. Their discussion is covered in this week's segment.

  • Chapter 5    Conclusions

    Part 1 of 3
    This begins to review the reflections of the participants as they shared with each other some of the insights they gained during the symposium.

    Part 2 of 3
    This continues to recount the insights the participants gained during the symposium, including questions and challenges that surfaced.

    Part 3 of 3
    This offers summaries of the symposium and of each component.

  • Chapter 6    Creating Action Plans

    Part 1 of 1
    This segment offers a structure to create action plans to apply insights that may have been gained.

  • Chapter 7    The Symposium Process

    Part 1 of 1
    The segment outlines various ways in which to conduct a process similar to the symposium.

  • Selected Bibliography
    The book selection concludes this week with a Selected Bibliography and a list and description of the documents used in the book.

     

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