Director's Desk: A Better Mouse Trap, Part 2: The Plan

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	The Director's Desk
	June 2000 A Better Mouse Trap - Part 2 The Plan Last month I outlined the plan for moving closer to certifying all catechists in Central Maryland. In this month's column, I offer the draft of the plan that will be voted upon at the June 26 Leadership Meeting. Central Maryland Leaders will receive a copy of this plan very shortly. The text of the plan follows below and on additional linked pages. As an alternative, the entire file is also available in Adobe Acrobat Format. To view this, you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Scroll down to read the plan, or click on the following link to download the Adobe version: cfplan00.pdf COVER LETTER for the Plan - This is the cover letter that will be sent with the Catechist Formation Plan: Many of you have expressed frustration with the challenging task of forming and certifying catechists. In consultation with many of you, as well as colleagues at the Department of Catholic Education Ministries, I have developed an initial strategy for comprehensive catechist formation in Central Maryland. Enclosed please find the final draft of the strategy. I will offer this plan for implementation at the Central Maryland Leadership meeting, June 26, 2000, 10 AM to 1 PM. Please read it over carefully and come prepared to discuss. If you are unable to attend, I strongly recommend that you send someone to represent your parish or school at the meeting. This plan has four basic premises: All catechists in parishes and schools need to be certified or in the process of being certified. Offering formation programs at one’s own parish or school is an effective way to boost catechist participation. Ideally, all parishes and schools should offer some formation programs at their site. Coordinating schedules with nearby facilities, and offering a master schedule of formation opportunities in the region will give catechists greater incentive to pursue certification. Catechists who have positive experiences of formation will be more likely to travel beyond their immediate area for programs. With these premises in mind, the enclosed plan proposes the following: Each parish and school make a commitment to providing a minimum of 6 hours of training for catechists on site each year. Parishes or schools opt into a three-year rotation of Echoes of Faith video assisted modules with neighboring facilities. These modules are easily facilitated and adapted to a variety of settings and groups. The CEM Center would coordinate the rotation to maximize the variety of modules offered in any given area each year. Where use of Echoes is inappropriate, a parish or school would still make their training programs open to neighboring facilities or the region when possible. The CEM Center would coordinate schedules, publish a master schedule for the Region and assist in selection of facilitators where needed. In addition, the Center would offer a minimum of 32 hours of training throughout the three counties each year. See the plan for details. I am sure that there will be questions. Please call me if you need clarification or have suggestions before we meet on the 26^th. I am enthusiastic that this collaborative strategy will help us to be much more effective, without placing any undue burden on individual parishes and schools. Thank you for all that you are doing to ensure that our catechists are powerful witnesses to faith. Please share a copy of this plan with your pastor and associate pastor. Central Maryland Catechist Formation Plan 2000 Part I: Certification Requirements Part II: Formation Provided by Central Maryland Parishes and Schools Part III: Formation provided by the CEM Center Sample Echoes of Faith Training Schedule Catechist Formation Planning Guide Chris Weber Director Catholic Education Ministries of Central Maryland. Copyright © 2000 by the Catholic Education Ministries Center of Central Maryland, Emmitsburg, MD 21727. All rights reserved.			Central Maryland Catechist Formation Plan 2000 Part I: Certification Requirements Part II: Formation Provided by Central Maryland Parishes and Schools Part III: Formation provided by the CEM Center Sample Echoes of Faith Training Schedule Catechist Formation Planning Guide
				Director's Desk Archive May 2000 A Better Way to Build the Mouse Trap? A Catechist Formation Plan for Central Maryland April 2000 Catechesis in Space; The Final Frontier... February 2000 Helping Your Catechists and Volunteers Beat the Winter Doldrums January 2000 The Catechumenate as Model for All Catechesis? Challenges to Reshape Our Ministry December 1999 Catholics on the 'Net? You Bet! Part 2 of 2 Family Safety and Fun on the World Wide Web November 1999 Catholics on the 'Net? You Bet! Part 1 of 2 October 1999 Forget Y2K, but don't miss the Jubilee! September 1999 Why Are We Afraid to Evangelize? August 1999 Prepare Ye the Way...for Catechetical Sunday


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The Catholic Education Ministries Center of Central Maryland provides ongoing support to the Catechetical Ministries of Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties. This includes training programs for leaders and volunteers in parishes and schools, plus consultation in all areas of catechesis.

Catholic Education Ministries - Mount Saint Mary's, Emmitsburg, 21727
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