Just imagine – learning more about your faith and how to share it with others - any time of day, no traveling, in the comfort of your own home, in your pj’s, yet still in communication with other catechists! You don’t have to imagine – it’s here.
The University of Dayton Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) has developed a new program which is ideal for parish catechetical leaders – DREs/CREs, Coordinators of Youth Ministry, RCIA Coordinators, Adult Formation Coordinators – and for catechists. This new program is the Online Certificate in Catechesis. The University of Dayton Institute for Pastoral Initiatives has designed the online Certificate in Catechesis program by studying the common ground of certification requirements from across the USA to create a base from which dioceses may build to support their catechist formation programs. The program began in January of 2009 and now has almost 600 students registered across the country.
There are currently 43 partnering dioceses in the United States, including Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Worcester and Portland Maine. Bishop Richard Malone from the Diocese of Portland Maine and Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis says that the University of Dayton’s VLCFF is “a solid, substantial, and trustworthy methodology for the Church’s catechetical mission today”.
The Online Certificate in Catechesis consists of two levels, both of which consist of courses in Theology, Method, and Formation. Level One includes Survey of Catholic Doctrine; Introduction to Scripture; Images of Jesus; Sacraments; Introduction to Catechesis; and Introduction to Prayer. Level Two includes Old Testament; New Testament; Ecclesiology: Beginnings of the Church; Introduction to Practical Morality; Faith & Human Development; and Vocation, Spirituality and Discipleship of Catechesis.
The Certificate courses are available several times each year and are normally five-weeks per course. You can access the course 24/7, and it is easy to execute. And, because the Archdiocese of Hartford is a partnering diocese with the University, course prices are reduced from $90 to $40 each (plus the cost of books). There is a nominal one-time fee of $15 to enroll in each level.
The National Directory for Catechesis tells us that “The call to the ministry of catechist is a vocation, an interior call, the voice of the Holy Spirit”. The Directory also gives us a mandate: “…those who catechize need preparation and ongoing formation specific to the conditions of those to whom they proclaim the Gospel message”. The University of Dayton’s Certificate in Catechesis has provided us with a professional, affordable and convenient means to provide that necessary formation. It is truly a gift for all of the people in the Archdiocese of Hartford.
Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski, the Institute’s Director, has this to say about VLCFF: “If the Catholic Church is to take catechesis, evangelization and adult faith formation seriously, we must be where a growing number of Catholics and others searching for God (faith) are to be found. That is – cyberspace”.
Check it out – and other certificate programs that were recently developed or are coming real soon: Adult Faith Formation, Media Literacy Education, Foundations in Ministry Formation, and Hispanic Catechesis (in Spanish) – http://vlc.udayton.edu/.
The University of Dayton Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) has developed a new program which is ideal for parish catechetical leaders – DREs/CREs, Coordinators of Youth Ministry, RCIA Coordinators, Adult Formation Coordinators – and for catechists. This new program is the Online Certificate in Catechesis. The University of Dayton Institute for Pastoral Initiatives has designed the online Certificate in Catechesis program by studying the common ground of certification requirements from across the USA to create a base from which dioceses may build to support their catechist formation programs. The program began in January of 2009 and now has almost 600 students registered across the country.
There are currently 43 partnering dioceses in the United States, including Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Worcester and Portland Maine. Bishop Richard Malone from the Diocese of Portland Maine and Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis says that the University of Dayton’s VLCFF is “a solid, substantial, and trustworthy methodology for the Church’s catechetical mission today”.
The Online Certificate in Catechesis consists of two levels, both of which consist of courses in Theology, Method, and Formation. Level One includes Survey of Catholic Doctrine; Introduction to Scripture; Images of Jesus; Sacraments; Introduction to Catechesis; and Introduction to Prayer. Level Two includes Old Testament; New Testament; Ecclesiology: Beginnings of the Church; Introduction to Practical Morality; Faith & Human Development; and Vocation, Spirituality and Discipleship of Catechesis.
The Certificate courses are available several times each year and are normally five-weeks per course. You can access the course 24/7, and it is easy to execute. And, because the Archdiocese of Hartford is a partnering diocese with the University, course prices are reduced from $90 to $40 each (plus the cost of books). There is a nominal one-time fee of $15 to enroll in each level.
The National Directory for Catechesis tells us that “The call to the ministry of catechist is a vocation, an interior call, the voice of the Holy Spirit”. The Directory also gives us a mandate: “…those who catechize need preparation and ongoing formation specific to the conditions of those to whom they proclaim the Gospel message”. The University of Dayton’s Certificate in Catechesis has provided us with a professional, affordable and convenient means to provide that necessary formation. It is truly a gift for all of the people in the Archdiocese of Hartford.
Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski, the Institute’s Director, has this to say about VLCFF: “If the Catholic Church is to take catechesis, evangelization and adult faith formation seriously, we must be where a growing number of Catholics and others searching for God (faith) are to be found. That is – cyberspace”.
Check it out – and other certificate programs that were recently developed or are coming real soon: Adult Faith Formation, Media Literacy Education, Foundations in Ministry Formation, and Hispanic Catechesis (in Spanish) – http://vlc.udayton.edu/.
