Sacramental Preparation Team Report

The Sacramental Preparation Team works with families of children of catechetical age who are baptised.  (Please note that children who are NOT baptised follow the RCIA process adapted to suit their particular situation.)  Our goal is to prepare parents to be the primary catechists of their children, and to walk with the children of the parish who will complete their initiation through the sacraments of Confirmation and Communion.  We also work with families to prepare their children to make First Reconciliation when they are ready.

This year we had four team members, each returning for a second year.
Mede McAtee: team leader/process co-ordinator, catechist (Initiation), craft co-ordinator, prayer partner co-ordinator, and liaison with Liturgy Team
Mary Pilgrim: celebration leader
Theresa Nieminen: catechist (Reconciliation)
Randy Thurm: hospitality

The team worked with ten families with one child candidate each.  We met with parents for an orientation in November at which time they paid a twenty-dollar registration fee to off set the cost of books, missals, liturgical calendars, craft supplies and an enrolment cross.  We began meeting regularly with families in January for “Come Join Us at the Table” sessions exploring initiation sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.

Our parish continues to use the Novalis resource Come Join Us at the Table by Muriel Loftus and Lawrence DeMong. The six sessions provide for a gathering time (snacks and crafts), a catechetical component, and prayer celebration which is the culmination of each session.  We gathered on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 in the hall and concluded by 8p.m. following the prayer celebration in the church.  (Scheduling proved challenging given the parish’s need to generate income by renting the hall to outside groups.) Our last session was mystagogical in nature, following the celebration of the children’s reception of sacraments. Each child was presented with certificates and with a small gift from the parish (Catholic Prayers from Liturgy Training Publications as well as a Holy Spirit lapel pin).

The team also conducted two additional sessions: a church tour and a rehearsal preparing the families for what would happen during the Confirmation Rite and preparing the children for the technical aspects of receiving Communion.

Three Reconciliation preparation sessions were held Sundays in the hall after the 9:45 Liturgy.  Theresa explored God’s unconditional love for us through Gospel stories such as the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son.  Her sessions were loosely based on another Novalis resource, We Discover God’s Paths by Francoise Darcy Berube and Jean Paul Berube.  Five children received this sacrament at the parish Penitential service in Lent.  The remaining five will be tracked by the team/office and receive next year following preparation.

It is the community who initiates, and so parish celebrations are a crucial part of our process. We celebrated and adapted Rite of Enrolment in the Sunday assembly on two occasions before Lent.  Confirmations and First Communions were celebrated over two Sundays in Easter (April 6 and 27) and four liturgies.  Prayer partners fostered a connection between the candidates and larger community.  On Pentecost, the parents hosted an ice cream reception after the 9:45 Liturgy.

Three of this year’s team members have now left this ministry and a new team is being formed and trained in anticipation of the launch of the process in early January.  Every session needs a minimum of four ministers. A team of four is therefore inadequate. The 2008 year was challenging for us.  The team must always have a leader in addition to two catechists, two leaders of prayer, and a minister willing to facilitate the rites and liturgies celebrated in the community. Finding and forming those willing to serve in these key roles is crucial to the success of this process.

Respectfully submitted by Mede McAtee – November 22, 2008