RE Program Information
Scroll down to see info on each program
St. Raphael offers two program tracks for religious education:
Families of Faith
a Whole-Family Alternative to Sunday School & Weekday CLASS SESSIONS
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Vision
Research tells us that parental involvement in the faith life of a child is by far the most important element in ensuring that a child develops a deep and lasting relationship with Jesus and the community of believers that is the Church. The Families of Faith Program recognizes, supports, and upholds the primacy of parents as their child’s first, most important, and best catechist by focusing on the spiritual growth of all members of the family, especially parents.
Format
Families meet 3–5 pm one Sunday a month August–May for faith formation. The general session format is:
Pre-K & Kindergarten
Sunday School CLASS SESSIONS
PreK/K Sunday School is offered every other week September–April at the 9 and 11 am Sunday Masses. The program is for preschool age children. We use the Allelu! curriculum with lessons featuring activities, Bible stories, music, crafts, prayer, games and more. Children imagine, explore, create, and do, engaging all their senses as they gain the building blocks for a lifetime of Catholic Faith. Allelu! nurtures young children’s natural tendency to seek a relationship with God, reinforcing a strong sense of community and love.
Elementary & Middle School
Weekday Class Sessions
Written by the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Christ Our Life curriculum we use for grades 1–8 provides the foundation of our faith formation program. Some special features of this series are:
The primary theme of each grade is:
We invite you to see the many online resources offered by Christ Our Life at the Loyola Press website.
High School: Grades 9 & 10
WEEKDAY CLASS SESSIONS
For grades 9 and 10, we use the Catholic Faith Handbook, which was created in response to a call by youth and parents to have a resource that as a guide for young people to learn the Truth revealed by God through His Son, Jesus Christ, and passed down through the centuries through the Catholic Church. It is not a child’s book, and was created specifically for youth and young adults to provide honest, to-the-point answers about Catholic beliefs, art, culture, and history.
Lesson Structure
Each lesson is split into four main parts:
St. Raphael Semester Components for Grades 9/10
9th Grade Semester 1
Creed: This semester focuses on what Catholics believe about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Church. It is based on the Apostle’s Creed.
9th Grade Semester 2
Sacraments and Prayer: This semester focuses on how Catholics worship God and encounter Jesus Christ through the Seven Sacraments of the Church. Students also learn different types of prayer, ways or praying, and what we pray for when we pray the Lord’s Prayer.
10th Grade Semester 1
Christian Morality: This semester focuses on moral decision making, sin and conscience. The Ten Commandments are used as the basis for exploring and understanding specific moral issues and how we are called to respond.
10th Grade Semester 2
Theology of the Body: Theology of the Body is St. (Pope) John Paul II’s integrated vision of the human person – body, soul and spirit. We will answer questions about how God created us to love and be loved.
Resources for Youth and Families
Catholic Faith Handbook (Used for all 4 semesters and taken back and forth to class and part of tuition fee.)
Catholic Youth Bible (provided by parish)
Confirmation
WEEKDAY CLASS SESSIONS
The confirmation program we use is Decision Point. It began with a dream—to give catechists, youth ministers, sponsors, parents, pastors, and Directors of Religious Education (DREs) the tools they need to engage young Catholics in a meaningful conversation about the genius of Catholicism in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The theology of confirmation informs us that the sacrament is about God choosing us. But since we have free will, we need to respond and cooperate as Mary and the saints did in order for God to do his best work through us.
It is our hope that this program will not only prepare young Catholics for the Sacrament of Confirmation in a dynamic way, but also teach and inspire them to respond and cooperate with God’s grace in all the circumstances of their daily lives, long after their confirmation has passed.
These materials are the result of thousands of hours of work. More than seven hundred people have been involved in the process. Never before has a Catholic program been developed with such rigorous research, development, and testing. Yes, testing. Over and over again, these materials have been put in front of teens who then gave feedback as to what was working and what wasn’t. The program was refined based on the feedback of the people it was created for.
Lesson Structure
1. Class Sessions
2. Closing Prayer
3. Meet in the Sanctuary for prayer as a large group
Resources
Student text that will come back and forth with them to class.
Bible (Please have student bring one back and forth to class if they have one.)
Online lessons and videos for candidates, sponsor, and parents.
