“What is taught, the time of day or night, whether or not food is served, matters little IF the faith is not practiced in the home.”
True, but for those MANY kids who — THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN — are growing up in homes where the faith is not practiced, the church should be offering the strongest educational program to help supply this deficiency, and not just act as if they’re lost and nothing can be done. And sensible times for the classes, along with well-thought-out pedagogical methods, and strong substance (it should go without saying) is essential -— but SORELY MISSING from the FRUSTRATINGLY INSIPID educational programs of so many Catholic parishes.
You can tut-tut about their parents till the cows come home, but that doesn’t help the kids. The Catholics could learn a lot from some of the evangelical mega-churches with their energetic programs to engage and teach kids. You may not like the doctrine, but they run circles around the typical Catholic parish in the way they teach it.
What sort of program do you envision fits that model? How do you communicate its value and importance to the family, responsible for transporting their kids to the locale or do you address it strictly to the youth?
And sensible times for the classes, along with well-thought-out pedagogical methods, and strong substance (it should go without saying) is essential
What constitutes a sensible time? What if it is convenient for the youth but not for the person responsible for transporting him/her? Here again, i revert back to when I was asked to set up a Religious Education program for our small parish. I contacted the school district for their calendar and worked the program around holidays and school breaks where I rightly anticipated the family would plan a vacation.
The Catholics could learn a lot from some of the evangelical mega-churches with their energetic programs to engage and teach kids.
Would be interested in learning more about how the program is developed, the materials taught and how these are used to engage the kids. Since the non-denominational churches do not have Sacraments, I imagine their focus is strictly scriptural .. or is it?