COURAGEOUSLY CATHOLIC FAMILY FAITH PROGRAM
Our Religious Education and Faith Sharing programs have combined forces to become our Courageously Catholic Family Faith Program.
Lori Tajchman (Director of Religious Education)
shares how St. James is offering religious education in the midst of a pandemic.
Watch the Video Here
This year we will be offering family events for Preschool through 9th grades, with their parents (or grandparents). This is a 3-part offering.
- Monthly Family Faith Gatherings where we will explore a Catholic faith topic through creative and stimulating means.
- Monthly Being Catholic Events where we will delve into elements of our Catholic faith, such as the Rosary, Adoration, and Saints.
- Weekly lessons to be presented by the parents, at home, that focus on the weekly Gospel.
As we leave behind the classroom model, we embrace a different form of learning which will hopefully guide your children to experience both the love of Jesus and the richness of our Catholic faith. Online registration is available (you will need to mail/deliver your registration fee), as well as paper registration. Both masks and a COVID-19 waiver will be required for attendance, but our program is easily modified to serve those families who choose to avoid face-to-face interactions.
CALENDAR Our calendar reflects the many events we have planned for the year.
MONTHLY FAMILY FAITH GATHERINGS. The events in red are our Monthly Family Faith Gatherings, where we will gather as a family for an hour of focused on a topic of Catholic Teachings and Practices. We think you will find this to be a fun and interactive way to share the Catholic faith with your children. These events will provide time to “do” as much as time to “hear” as we strive to share information through creative and stimulating means. Should necessity dictate we are not able to gather, the information will be presented either in video or email format, and materials/supplies for projects will be made available for pick-up.
MONTHLY BEING CATHOLIC EVENTS. The events in blue are our Monthly Being Catholic Events, where we highlight opportunities to strengthen your family’s connection to the Church. We think you will be excited for events such as our Drive-By Pet Blessing, and the Light Up The Night with the Luminous Mysteries event – and many more! Again, we are prepared to offer ideas through video or email to recreate these family experiences, should we not be able to meet.
WEEKLY LESSONS. This year’s curriculum is the Gospel Weeklies. Parents will be supported by your program Directors and Catechists with easy ways to share the Gospel at home on a weekly basis – ways so easy you can present the Gospel in a car-ride or dinner-time discussion! Weekly printed flyers with ideas and activities will also be provided (to be passed out at our monthly events or picked up in our church office – again, not weekly, but closer to quarterly). Each child will receive an age-appropriate lesson flyer, and parents will also have access to online materials from the publisher to enhance the lessons if they choose to present them in a more formal manner. The publisher will be giving parents access to all their lesson materials should we not be able to meet at any time during the year.
FOCUS. In addition to these great Catholic topics and events, we hope to share with your families the love of the Mass and the importance of being in the Bible.
One way to get your children to participate in and appreciate Mass is to guide them with the Magnifikid! Subscription. Check out this optional offering for more detailed information here. This is not a requirement for the program – just an optional offering!
At our monthly sessions, you can anticipate looking at and praying scripture with your children, and we ask you to consider bringing either a family bible or a bible for each of your children. We are offering a bulk order through St. Mary’s Press should anyone want to purchase either a family bible or an age-appropriate bible for each of your children. Purchase of a new bible is not required in the program. BIBLE OFFERINGS AND ORDER FORM.