38. Children’s Religious Education in a Shared Parish

Gente Puente: Catholic Hispanic Ministry Best Practices

Patti Gutiérrez

Chris Corrice

Show Notes: Patticc.com/38

Notas del Programa: Patticc.com/s38

Chris Corrice, Director of Religious Education at a shared parish, tells us about their religious education programs.

Recommended Resources:

From Patti’s Catholic Corner:

The Gente Puente Virtual Café for Catholic ministry leaders.

Podcast episodes about Hispanic traditions of popular piety

Are Hispanics not showing up for your program? Check out Patti’s blog post: The Key Strategy to Getting People to Show up

Episode 14 Holistic Well-being for Ministers and my blog post “Why Can’t you Just Say No?”

Free eBook about Hispanic culture and how cultural differences affect ministry

Blog series about Building Intercultural Competence for Ministers

Catholic Translation Services by Patti’s Catholic Corner team – if you mention this podcast episode you can get 20% off your first project with us!

Some of our recent projects have been

• Jesuits West Province’s Faith Doing Justice Discernment Series (we translated the guide, handouts & PowerPoint presentations)
• Knights of Columbus’ upcoming video series “Into the Breach” (we translated the scripts for the Spanish audio)
• The Divine Worship and Sacraments office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati (we are translating their extensive formation resource for training Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion)
• The V Encuentro Team (we help translate, prepared closed captions for the national event videos on the page of E-resources for the Proceedings and Conclusions document)
• The Claretian Missionaries’ yearly publication The Claretian Mission. I’m also putting the final edits to my 4^th book I’ve translated for them, a Biography of their Co-Founder, Fr. Josep Xifré. Right now they are celebrating a Claretian Year with daily reflections that we translated as well. These translations are from Spanish to English. I also translate their Vocations website & blog from English to Spanish.

Resources Chris recommends:

• Finding God Faith Formation program by Loyola Press
• Lectionary for Masses with Children – One-Volume edition
• Materials to help lead Children’s Liturgy: How to Lead Children’s Liturgy and materials for the liturgy each week from the Adorers of the Blood of Christ
• Bilingual Children’s Bulletin Resources – sermons4kids.com, www.catholickidsbulletin.com, catholicmom.com
• Called to be Catholic by Joe Paprocki, Loyola Press
• Decision Point from Dynamic Catholic
• City of Agape Bible Program
• Parent program & catechist materials – Loyola Press’ Toolbox series (fill in the form below to receive a discount code for this series)
  • A Well-Built Faith, Living the Sacraments, the Bible Blueprint from the Toolbox Series
  • The Catechist Toolbox for training catechists

Full-disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links which means I earn income from qualified purchases which helps fund this podcast.

Loyola Press Prize Pack Giveaway

Fill out this form if you’d like to be entered into the drawing for a Loyola Press prize back (before April 12, 2020) and to sign up to be on the waiting list for the Gente Puente Virtual Café! (See more about those in the conclusion)

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Overview of Today’s Show:

0:00: Intro

6:24: Interview – About Chris, St. Anthony’s and the demographic shift, Children’s Liturgy, Confirmation, Children’s Faith Formation, Materials used in each

31:45: Break – Loyola Press giveaway!

32:50: Interview Continues – Catechist recruitment, formation and support; Adaptations for language, Encouragement & prayer for other ministers

57:15: Conclusion – Main takeaways, translation discount, how to get on the waitlist for the Gente Puente Café online community and why

Intro

Greetings Gente Puente! In this episode, Chris Corrice, Director of Religious Education at St. Anthony Parish in Des Moines, Iowa tells us about how he has adapted their children’s programs as their parish has become a shared parish with a new, large and growing Hispanic population.

Our catechists are a hard-working group of people. They are really the core of the parish helping the children of the parish have a relationship with Jesus. They have all different backgrounds but are all part of this important ministry to the youth of the parish. It’s so critical that we do it with joy. They don’t complain, they are so joyful, so welcoming and open.

Chris Corrice, Episode 38

If you are in a parish that is experiencing a demographic shift like the one at St. Anthony’s, I really think you’re going to get a lot from today’s interview! Also, as you’ll hear about during the break and after the interview, Loyola Press is offering a prize pack for a lucky listener of this podcast episode! Sorry this episode is so long, I kept looking for ways to make it shorter but just couldn’t bring myself to cut any of it out! The good news is, this is a podcast and you can just hit pause and pick it right back up whenever you can. If you’d rather read the interview, you can find a summary of today’s show and all the resources mentioned in the Show Notes page at patticc.com/38. You can also find links to some of our other episodes. For example, you might be interested in incorporating some Hispanic traditions of popular piety into your program, so you could check out episode 23 about a live way of the cross, episode 6 about the Day of the Dead, episodes 9 through 12 & 15 about traditions in December & January.

Si prefieres español, puedes leer un resumen de la entrevista de hoy sobre un programa de formación en la fe de una parroquia compartida en las Notas del Programa en patticc.com/s38.

For anyone who is new to the Gente Puente Podcast, I’m your host Patti Gutiérrez of Patti’s Catholic Corner. Our team serves Catholic ministers like you who want to connect with the Hispanic community. We make your ministry easier by sharing best practices, resources and encouragement through this Gente Puente Podcast and our online community. We can also help you stay focused on your ministry through our Catholic translation services – from English to Spanish or from Spanish to English. You can get a quote for your next project at patticc.com/services.

Before we dive into our interview for today’s episode, I want to apologize because once again time got away from me and it took me way longer than I thought it would to get this episode published. Sorry!

One of the reasons is because the last few months I have had lots of really great translation projects keeping me busy. If you’d like to learn about the incredible things the Jesuits, the Knights of Columbus, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the V Encuentro team and the Claretian Missionaries have been working on to reach Hispanic Catholics in their ministries, check out the Show Notes page at patticc.com/38 for more details. It’s been such an honor to be part of these projects! And I’m offering a one-time discount to anyone listening to this podcast episode! At the end of the interview I’ll come back and share more about that.

And the other wonderful reason for the delay is I’ve been working on moving our online community to a new platform! If you’ve been listening to the podcast for awhile then you’ll know that one of my goals in starting the Gente Puente Podcast was to create an online space where ministers can share advice, resources and encouragement. I know how challenging, overwhelming and lonely ministry can be. I don’t want ministers to waste their time spinning their wheels, starting from scratch or googling things that just aren’t on Google. I don’t want good people to get burned out because they don’t have a support system. We’ve had a Facebook group, but it hasn’t really been a good platform for building that kind of community and I think I’ve found a really incredible platform that’s going to help that vision come to fruition. It’s going to be called the Gente Puente Café and the plan, God willing, is to open during Easter! So stay tuned after the interview to hear about how you could be a beta tester for the new platform or get on the waiting list.

Alright, time to get to the interview! Chris is going to tell us about the different programs he runs: Children’s Liturgy of the Word, Confirmation Preparation for youth and Children’s Religious Education. He talks about what the programs are like now that the Hispanic community in their parish has grown so much. He shares how he recruits catechists and keeps them engaged. He shares what materials he uses and how he picked them. In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to let you know that after this interview he actually started consulting with Loyola Press because he has loved his materials so much! Chris has also been a very active member of our Gente Puente Facebook Group, is one of our beta testers for the Gente Puente Café and a great example of what it means to be gente puente in ministry! So I’m super excited to share our interview with you! Here we go!

Interview

Welcome Chris! Opening Prayer.

Can you tell those listening a little more about you, your background and your ministry?

OK. My name is Chris Corrice. I was a Jehovah’s Witness all my life. 10 years ago, I met my wife and I converted to Catholicism. About 5 years ago I decided to go into ministry and went to Mundelein Seminary through the Diocese. I went through a course in lay ministry for two years in Spanish learning how to help parishes. After that I went into Youth Ministry for 2 years. And about a year and a half ago I took over in my parish as the Director of Religious Education.

I was born in Illinois. I’ve done a little bit of everything in the parish – lector, Eucharistic minister, etc. – enjoyed being with the English side of our parish. It’s an Italian parish that’s been around for over 100 years. I really enjoy being with the Hispanic side of the parish with all the growth and vibrancy and the challenges that come with it.

My wife is Hispanic. Her mother is from Mexico and Patti was born in the United States. She’s a cradle Catholic. She serves as the President of St. Vincent de Paul, is very active and also took the lay ministry course. She takes communion to the homebound and helps me with pretty much everything I do.

Awesome. Well we’ve gotten to know each other through the Gente Puente Facebook group where you are very active, thank you for that. And today you’re going to share with us some of the things that have helped you as a ministry leader in your shared parish. Can you start off by telling us a little more about your parish – St. Anthony’s in Des Moines? What is the cultural reality in that parish and in that area?

Sure. I’ve been there 10 years. It has a history of being founded by Italian immigrants. The demographics have changed and now the Hispanic community is becoming the largest. We are trying to work together and for me in religious ed how to meet all the needs of the children and the parents in the parish so that everybody is growing at the same rate and in the same way.

What is the cultural breakdown?

I would say 60-40 to English, or other. We do have a Vietnamese group that meets on the first Friday. Also, we’re the only parish in town that has a traditional Latin Mass so we’re well-known for that and have a large Latin, traditional contingent. That’s another part of a shared parish to think about. We really have three groups or more that need to be ministered to.

And you said you just started the Spanish Mass 5 years ago, so that’s a pretty big shift in a short period of time!

Yes. We went from 30 to the largest and we’re consistently the largest. In fact, we’re ready for a second Mass because the Church is so full, some even sit outside of the Church during Mass.

Do you mean the largest in the city or diocese?

At St. Anthony’s. In our parishes. There are several parishes that are either wholly Hispanic and others that have Spanish Masses in the area. The Hispanic community in Des Moines is growing a lot. I believe they are currently 30% of the population and growing quickly.

Tell me about the generational demographics – is it mostly youth?

On the Italian side it’s mostly older and they are aging out. On the English side we have some families and on the Spanish side it’s mostly families. We have a lot of kids. I do a children’s liturgy at the 1pm Spanish Mass and I routinely have 70 kids come downstairs of about 300-350 people. So there are a lot of kids.

So as Director of Religious Education, what programs are you in charge of and what are they like?

First is Children’s Liturgy. We offer that at the 11am English Mass and at the 1pm Spanish Mass. It is designed for young people with readings from the Children’s Lectionary.

What ages?

I would say anywhere from 5 to whoever slips in and parents who come to assist. Both sides have a huge turnout. We start with a prayer in sign language, we go through the readings, then sign the Apostle’s Creed, they bring up their prayer petitions, then they take a children’s bulletin and quietly return to church. Little tiny kids make the most profound comments. That’s been a wonderful program.

What made you choose sign language as an element?

Children love to gesture and learn better by singing or by movement. Any of the children can sign the Creed, even if they can’t say it. I found it on YouTube and it works wonderfully with the Apostle’s Creed.

I’m also in charge of Confirmation. I have about 80 percent of students that are Hispanic. Another challenge is to meet them where they are at and journey with them. To catechize them correctly, teach them the faith and encourage them to have a relationship with Jesus. I try to work with their faith language, so in Confirmation we may pray in Spanish but do the material in English. I offer a bilingual class that’s an essentials class for those who are coming for the sacrament who maybe haven’t had religious education can get that material. I have some students who have just come from Mexico so the bilingual books help to make sure they’re getting it.

Are you the only catechist for Confirmation?

Yes. I choose to do it that way. You really have to journey with them. We have a really deep connection because I’m helping them walk as disciples of Christ. It’s not a class. It’s preparation for a sacrament. I only do small groups of 10 or less. We journey together in these individual groups toward the sacrament. We’ve tried classes before with larger amounts and it just becomes a class. Confirmation is very important and it can’t be undone as a sacrament. They need the time to grow – to slow cook for a year. It’s such a privilege to walk with them, they’re totally different. It’s amazing. I had a kid who started the program saying I don’t really pray that much because I don’t think God is listening or how to hear him. And we cover that over and over how to be sensitive to God in prayer. In the 10^th month he said he had turned around and was praying and hearing God. Praise God. God uses these tools to touch these young people. I pour my heart and soul into it and God is really blessing it.

So when you get to the maximum of 10, what do you do?

I can take 50 students total. We start registrations in May and start class in September. I teach 5 groups of Confirmation then the essentials class where we use Loyola’s Called to be Catholic as a catch-up class. Then I teach a make-up class each month because they have to attend all 12. So some kids will go to 2 classes a month depending on if they’ve had religious education in the past. I do a lot of makeup classes to do whatever it takes to make sure they have the 12 sessions like if they had to miss for sports or if they go back to Mexico for the summer, etc. Sometimes they do have to wait until the next year because our program is pretty popular at St. Anthony’s because it’s a one-year program because we expect they’ve had their first year in 8^th grade or in the school. This year over half my students needed that catch-up class. I’ve been working for the past few years to stress with parents the need for their kids to attend religious education all through the years. To really understand their faith. Confirmation is not about teaching them the basics of the faith, it’s preparing them to be with the Holy Spirit in the seal of the sacrament.

So the essentials class is in addition to the 12 normal sessions? They do both?

Yes. I do both years in the course of one. A normal Confirmation program would have that as the first year. That way I comply with the diocesan guidelines. The kids that go to essentials love it, it’s a fun class.

Let’s move on to Children’s Religious Education.

So the RE program we have, when I first took it over we had a great need for Spanish materials. When I took a look at the program through the lens of who I’m serving, like what would a child be thinking when I’m teaching, I realized that the majority of students are bilingual. It needed to be in the same book. It needed to be easy to teach for the catechists in both English and Spanish. And what does the program teach? I believe we need a strong emphasis on saints, prayer and seeing God wherever he may be present. So I selected the program Finding God. It’s by Loyola Press – we use a lot of their programs that are bilingual and they have excellent guides for catechists and materials. It offers religious art prints each week. There’s music, video, student CDs and even a Jesus doll in the Kindergarten class. Everybody loves it. In fact, the school had a different program and we worked with Loyola to get it into the school. They’re all learning the same material at the same time.

While we’re talking about materials can you break down what you use in each program?

For Children’s Liturgy we use the Lectionary for Masses with Children, which is difficult to find at times. But it is essential. It hasn’t been revised for a while. There is not a Spanish version available, which has always puzzled me. We do the readings in English and the prayers in Spanish. I use the bulletins from catholickidsbulletin.com and we do one in Spanish and one in English. Even Patty uses them with the nursing homes and they love them.

We use Finding God for the children’s religious education across the board.

For Confirmation we use Called to be Catholic as the first-year program and we use Decision Point by Dynamic Catholic, which is Matthew Kelly’s company. It’s a great conversational, confirmation program and it’s very affordable.

When I choose a program, I’m thinking about whether it meets the spiritual needs for the people I’m serving, how easy is it to obtain, is it bilingual and easy to read and the cost.

In addition to that I wanted everybody in the parish to have a copy of the Bible. And to have everyone using the same version for Bible studies and things. So we go to cityofagape.com I think and they have $5 hardbound bibles in English and Spanish. Everybody uses it and we flood the parish with those bibles and make sure as many people have them and can use them.

You mentioned to me that you also have parents receiving formation at the same time as their children. Can you share about those materials too?

Sure. When I first started the Monsignor said he liked having parent meetings before the kids go off. I had no idea what I was going to do. So, I had noticed that Loyola Press has a series of books which I use as part of RCIA in both English and Spanish to help them prepare called A Well-Built Faith, Living the Sacraments, The Bible Blueprint, etc. So, I decided last year to go through A Well-Built Faith which is the basics of the catechism to see if parents will attend this.

So, another catechist and I taught this in English and Spanish while the kids are in religious ed on Sunday mornings. It helps give the parents support, build community and many hadn’t had catechesis since they were young. It was very well-attended. We would have 60 parents in the Spanish every week. And I had 10 parents in the English and it was such a delight to get to know them.

It was a great time. Everybody learned. Our parish is great about having so many groups for people. But sometimes parents can’t get there, so having this class while their children are in class was great. This fall we’re going to do the Bible Blueprint, Living the Sacraments. I had some catechists and parents from the school who wanted to be part of it so we’re starting another class twice a month on Saturdays. It’s a way to support them as parents which is such a difficult job.

Break

Well as you can tell Chris is a big fan of Loyola Press’ materials! I have found them super helpful in my ministry too! So, we reached out to let them know we were doing this episode and they offered a prize pack for a lucky listener of this podcast episode! Just head over to the Show Notes at patticc.com/38 to find the form to fill out to be entered into the drawing! I’ll also email you a coupon code you can use for a discount to order any of the books in the Toolbox series from Loyola Press. The drawing will be on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, so make sure to go enter the drawing before then! If you’re listening to this episode after Easter 2020, visit the Show Notes to see if there are any ongoing deals.

Now back to my interview with Chris!

I want to hear more about the formation you provide catechists and if you have any tips for people who might be having trouble recruiting or engaging their catechists. It sounds like you have very engaged catechists, so tell me more about that.

We do. Last year I was a little nervous because we teach English and Spanish in Religious Ed from Kindergarten through 4^th grade and then we teach only in English from 5^th through 8^th grade but the material is all bilingual. So trying to figure out how could we teach everyone on the same plan and not use different materials and train them was a real challenge for me. This year we have 29 catechists for our group which is 10 more than last year. We have all ages, even some going through Confirmation that are teaching. I took another look at Loyola’s material because they are bilingual and easy to use. We’re using The Catechist Toolbox this year. The Diocese wants certain hours of training. So I would do catechist training during the Summer, 14 hours over 7 sessions, 3 lessons during each session. As well as helping them through the Catechist Guide of Finding God so they knew how to use the book, how to use the program, the website and so forth. I would have them learn how to teach as they’re learning, so I would teach 2 lessons and one of the new catechists would teach the third. As they would learn they would teach and they all became very proficient over the Summer.

So often we ask people to be catechists at the last minute to fill a hole. We ask them, give them a book and send them off. Call me if you need anything. And then they teach for a year, get burned out and haven’t been prepared properly. I really wanted a catechist group that would stay together. We trained our Spanish-speaking catechists through the Diocese and I had the trainings in English in the parish. We meet together several times a year, we plan our calendar together, trying to form a group of people and let them give their input for making decisions. It really helps you maintain catechists because we are a team – they’re amazing, like a dream team. They’re happy, joyful and love working with the young people. This year we have two substitute catechists available for the first time. So if someone is sick or has an appointment or something has been a welcome addition to our program. Our catechists are a hard-working group of people. They are really the core of the parish helping the children of the parish have a relationship with Jesus. They have all different backgrounds but are all part of this important ministry to the youth of the parish. It’s so critical that we do it with joy. They don’t complain, they are so joyful, so welcoming and open.

To recruit catechists is the other thing. I have a column in the bulletin every two weeks. There will always be some turnover, so you have to trust that God will provide for that. It’s God’s work and he’s not going to let it fail. Jesus even said I could make the stones talk if I wanted to. We’re thankful that Jesus uses us instead of the stones. Knowing that God is going to choose your catechists for you is a great relief. The Holy Spirit’s got your back, he won’t let your ministry fail in the long run. It’s his job to make sure that your parish is successful. Knowing that is a great comfort to me. So to make the invitation like through a bulletin column to say we need you, we need your yes. And then making personal invitations and continuing to pray – the Holy Spirit brings them forward. Be sensitive to recruiting them or letting them step up. Communicate the need and make a personal attempt. A lot of times people don’t believe they can be a catechist. Show them your material, offer to walk with them and train them and you will have a good group of catechists.

I have some logistics questions. What do you do when people volunteer after the training? How do you involve them right away? Do you have another formation or have people mentor them?

I’ll do whatever it takes. That’s a rule for ministry. I’ll do whatever it takes. I have one I’ll be meeting with on Saturday to give her materials and The Catechist Toolbox and then I’ll put her with an experienced catechist so that she gets a feel for how it works. Then after a couple weeks I’ll touch base with her like I do with all of the catechists to see where they’re at and how I can help. I have another who is a student teacher. We should we welcoming at any point of the year. It depends on their particular needs, so you have to get to know them to see what they need.

How do you break down the classes? Do you separate by language? And why did you choose to do English-only after 4^th grade?

We separate them to have an experience in the language that the parents have chosen. Having Spanish-speaking catechists is a plus of our program. Some of them only speak Spanish and we want them to be involved in the ministry. Because of the class sizes we may have to split a class. Like last year we had 5 6^th graders and this year we have 35. You just never know. We do our sacraments in one year at St. Anthony’s for First Communion, so we have people that come from all over to be a part of that. We made the decision to go up until 4^th grade primarily because of our numbers and the number of catechists we have. If I could expand it I would.

It’s interesting because the majority of Spanish-speaking catechists I have are from other parishes that have come to our program either because of the time on Sunday or because they really feel called to help our community. As a city we work very well between parishes. Even though the Spanish Mass is the largest Mass in the parish, we still don’t have a big enough ministry pool to help teach. The other problem is that we use the school attached to the parish and at some point we would run out of classrooms. But I’m open. For now it helps because we do Confirmation in 9^th grade so by then they have a couple years of English background underneath them. Most of the children are fluent in English by 5^th grade so that seems to be a good stopping point. Every year I look at everything to see where God is leading us and what needs to change.

So I want you to take a step back to before you had this program. Were there separate classes in Spanish being offered?

I’m not really sure. I don’t know if we had any all-Spanish classes.

So when you started as DRE you knew there would be both languages?

Yes. Everything in our parish needs to be bilingual all the time – flyers, bulletins, programs. And then our parish school is also a Spanish immersion school, so trying to figure out how to work all that in to make it all fit was important to me.

Was there already a well-established catechesis program in English before you started?

Yes. It had aged in and out so many of our catechists had been teaching for many years. When we had a change there were some that decided to move onto something different. We wanted to figure out how to bring more youth, especially Hispanic youth into the program. I have four or five Hispanic youth teaching this year that are fully trained.

If there is a DRE listening in a parish where there has been an increase in recent years of the Hispanic community and they are starting to feel the tug of the Holy Spirit to build a more integrated program, or maybe there are two separate programs that they want to integrate little by little – can you step back to what that was like for you? Do you have any advice for them based on what you’ve learned?

For sure. First of all, identify what the goals of your program is regardless of the language. Then look at who you’re serving and what their needs are. I would investigate different programs. Look at Facebook groups for DRE or call DREs in the parishes around you and ask for their advice. Companies will always send you samples and something to try out. Then pray about it. Ask the Holy Spirit what he wants for your parish and what he’s trying to tell you. Loyola has different programs, and some are English only. I think it’s good to find something for your community. I’ve noticed there are some bilingual programs but they don’t have a flavor that would appeal to a Hispanic child. I think that’s important. To look through the materials and imagine how a Hispanic child would react to it.

So besides choosing the material, what other aspects of the program would you say you’ve adapted?

I think the main needs we had was for the parents and figuring out what they needed, as well as what the catechists needed to be trained and prepared. And training the parents spiritually too and make everyone feel welcome in our programs. We look at everything we do to see how are we bringing people to Jesus and what is our role in that and discerning what changes need to be made. Trying to look at the composition of the parish and the needs. Not picking programs or times based on what we want as a DRE. Maybe you don’t want to teach on Sunday mornings but your population is better served then like ours is.

How would you say your faith formation program has affected the parish as a whole?

It’s amazing. I think the biggest way is seeing it in the daily lives of the kids when I go to birthday parties, quinceañeras, different events to be plugged into the community. I see the kids and they talk about religious ed or they take things to their parents or the parents tell me what the kids told them about it. Whenever a young person tells their parents about you, that’s a good sign. Things are working. The parents are interested, so that’s working too. Whatever we can do to stir up more interest in the Gospel and to get involved in our faith and take it out to the world, then we’re doing our job. All these programs have the goal of bringing us to Jesus and bringing the Gospel to the world. I have a saying that a family on the move becomes a parish on the move and a parish on the move brings the Gospel to the world. And that’s really what we want to do. When a kid comes up to you and they know you. I interact with about 600 kids between the parish and the school and they know me as the face of the parish. They like to talk about what’s happening so that makes me happy to see that it’s successful. Religious Ed is a huge thing in our parish – one of the top things. I had a booth at the parish festival this weekend and signed up new people who came to our parish because they wanted to be with us. It’s just so amazing to see this excitement. I love working in religious ed because it’s fun and you can see how the Gospel is moving in the parish.

Thank you Chris. I know this will be very inspiring for many parish ministers. We’re going to switch gears a little bit. You are a very active member of the Gente Puente community and you know we’re trying to create a space where we can support each other. What’s something you could share with other ministers about what you’ve learned about being a leader in ministry?

The first thing is to rely on the Holy Spirit. He’s the person of the Trinity that wants to lead and guide us. It takes some time to learn how to be led by the Spirit. It takes discernment to allow him to lead you. St. Teresa of Calcutta said “I am a little pencil in the hand of God.” To not make ourselves feel so important, but that it’s really God’s work. So first focus on the work is God’s work. We have to be receptive to what he’s telling us.

And to not give up. It’s challenging to do all of these things in the parish, but we have put through them and constantly rely on God. There’s no way we could do it on our own. We could not provide this education for so many people without realizing that it’s God’s work, that he has to support us for us to be successful.

And having a good support system is very important. Not just in ministry of your peers and getting to know your catechist, but with the whole community. A lot of times you can’t get to everything, so to be humble enough to ask for help.

Great advice. Thank you. Could you close us with a prayer for all those who serve the Church?

Sure. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Oh, Holy Spirit, we thank you for the time that you have given Patti and I to spend today to really discuss the blessings and the joys that we have as part of your Church to minister to the youth and the parents that we’re able to serve. We ask please that you bless all the ministers that are listening to this podcast, help encourage them and stimulate them to think about the privilege that they have to bring the Gospel to these young people and their parents. And help us to have the stimulus that we need to not only continue on in the ministry, but to thrive in it and to have joy in it, and really let it permeate every part of our being, as we all walk together towards heaven. We thank you so much for the blessings that you give to us every day, the most important blessing of getting to know you as a person and helping us to walk in a daily relationship with you. May you help us treasure these days that we have as Catholics and to always reflect on the privilege of being part of your Church. Jesus, it’s in your name that we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thank you for taking your time and for being open to the Spirit in your ministry and sharing that with us. It’s been very inspiring. Thank you.

Thank you.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I was finally able to share Chris’ interview with you! Wasn’t it great?

Here are some of my takeaways:

1. Flexibility & adaptation are the overarching themes I heard throughout this interview. Meeting people where they are and creating programs or adapting programs that fit that, not our own schedules or preferences.
   1. Choosing the right materials. Chris emphasized taking a good look at who you are trying to serve and where they’re coming from. Then taking a look at the options out there, ask for samples from publishers and go through them considering your local needs. Don’t forget, Loyola Press is kicking off the giveaways with a prize pack for a lucky listener of some of their bilingual material! Just visit the Show Notes page to sign up. Be sure to do it before Easter Sunday, April 12^th, 2020 – that will be the day I pick a winner! All those that sign up will also be sent a coupon code for ordering any of the books in the Toolbox series from Loyola Press. If you’re listening to this episode after Easter 2020, check the Show Notes page for any ongoing offers.
   1. Offer something for parents. Church teaching emphasizes the primary role of parents in forming their children in the faith and the parish programs are meant to support that. By offering faith formation for parents at the same time, and then at another time for catechists, like Chris is doing, really helps to strengthen the parents’ ability to form their children in the faith.
   1. Form and support your catechists. My experience has been just like what Chris said leads to losing catechists – I began as a catechist with no real training, it was hard to stick with it and then as a parish leader I think my catechists often felt they didn’t have the right preparation or support and it was hard to keep them. Chris’ personalized approach as well as creating a feeling of community and involvement in the planning really seem to be paying off!
   1. Make your programs more accessible. Chris said “Everything in our parish needs to be bilingual all the time – flyers, bulletins, programs.” This is where I would encourage you to get help if you need it. My team is passionate about helping ministers have more time and energy to focus on their actual ministry by letting us handle their translations. So, if you need your registration paperwork or other program materials translated, we want to help! Just shoot me an email at [e-mail] or go to patticc.com/services to get a quote. Mention this podcast episode and we’ll give you 20% off your first project, no matter how big!

And most importantly rely on God and make sure you have support. If you feel isolated, discouraged or overwhelmed, if you’re starting to get burned out or feel like you’re spinning your wheels, or if you want to offer a hand to those who feel this way, then come join us in the Gente Puente Café! Let me tell you more about what I’m creating:

The Gente Puente Virtual Café is an online gathering space where Catholic leaders can together become confident and effective bridge builders (gente puente) to reach the Hispanic community in their ministries. We do this together by sharing resources, telling about our experiences and encouraging each other. Through this community we can: feel supported and avoid burnout; we can welcome, serve and empower Hispanic Catholics and ultimately, we can live out our call to unite the Body of Christ.

Maybe you can tell, but I’m super passionate about being gente puente and creating lots more gente puente around the country! If you’ve never heard my story about how I got into Hispanic Ministry or why I started this podcast, check out the intro episodes and/or the anniversary episodes (#34) to hear more about that. But on episode 14 about Holistic Well-being for Ministers and my blog post “Why Can’t you Just Say No?” I shared about some of my struggles in ministry and what led me to finally getting the support I needed. Finding a group of fellow ministers that I could: be vulnerable with and share my challenges with and bounce ideas around with really changed everything for me. That’s why I am so excited to have found this new platform where I feel like we can really create that in a virtual way for those that don’t have local support networks they can tap into!

In the “Café” we will have private rooms for small groups to match you up with just a few other ministers in similar ministry areas where you can meet together through Zoom on a regular basis and also have a private chat area for between meetings. Then there are larger groups for specific ministry areas with a place to share resources or ask questions under different topics. Like for children’s faith formation there are topics for Children’s Liturgy, Sacramental Preparation, Catechist Formation, etc. Then there is a general area where all ministers can share together about topics that we all may be struggling with like language and culture or for sharing general ministry resources or ministry challenges. There are even places to hold virtual events, find members near you and private chat between members! Can you see why I’m so excited?!?

If that sounds like something you want to be part of, please visit the Show Notes at patticc.com/38 to get on the waiting list!! I’ll let you know as soon as (virtual) “rooms” open up for your ministry area. I am going to open first for leaders of children’s faith formation programs in parishes – hence the reason I’m announcing it on this episode! If that’s you and you’re listening to this episode before or during Lent 2020, I’d love for you to sign up to be a beta tester! And guess what? Beta testers get in free! Just fill out the form in the Show Notes and I’ll be in touch!

But don’t worry, we’ll be expanding the groups soon! Like I said I’m planning to open during Easter of 2020, so be sure to sign up for the waitlist on the Show Notes page, or shoot me an email at [e-mail] so I can be sure to let you know when it opens. Whichever ministry area shows the most interest will be the one I’ll work on next, so be sure to spread the word among your colleagues! Remember the Gente Puente Café is specifically for Catholic leaders who want to reach Hispanic Catholics in their ministries and are looking for support, encouragement and resources, want to bounce ideas around, work through challenges, etc. Some other groups I’m expecting to include in the future will be music and liturgy leaders, youth and young adult ministers, adult faith formation, general parish leaders, diocesan leaders, etc. So go sign up for the waitlist today and tell your friends!

OK, maybe I’m getting a little carried away here. This is probably our longest podcast episode yet! But I hope you found it super helpful and that you’ll join me in the Gente Puente Café. Don’t forget you can find all the resources we mentioned today and a summary of the show at patticc.com/38. There are also Spanish notes at patticc.com/s38.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Gente Puente podcast in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts or Spotify or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss any future episodes!

Thanks for listening today. May God bless you and your ministry as gente puente!