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?
What if it is convenient for the youth but not for the person responsible for transporting him/orning her?
If it’s a churchgoing family - Sunday ought to be convenient for everybody. I can’t understand why that’s not as obvious to Catholics as it clearly is to evangelicals and protestants who traditionally hold Church School on the Day of the Resurrection. The idea of Wed night or Thurs night after school — the norm in most Catholic parishes I’m familiar with — guarantees that the seats are filled with tired and distracted kids. The author of the article started out with that commonsense observation.
As for programming, I really would suggest you check out one of the mega churches near you. We have one grandchild who attended a Sunday School where the classes were expertly planned to incorporate play, music, movement, and lessons (reinforced through drama). She’s teaching us about the Bible, she learned so much.
And as for some kind of distinction between scriptural and sacramental lessons, I don’t see that. The sacraments are scriptural, are they not? And pedagogy - the science of teaching - is applicable to all subject matter.