SVBS Registration Form 2008
New Family Rel. Ed. Registration
Religious Education Registration form
Programs
Director of Christian Formation: Ms. Jeanne C. Pinard , MA, CAES
Secretary: Mrs. Carol Meegan, BS, Certified Religious Ed. Coordinator
Mission Statement
The Mission of Saint Anne’s Religious Education Program is to reach out to all the members of the parish community. We commit ourselves to preserve the Catholic family and recognize parents as the primary religious educators of their children. Our goal is to foster an environment in which people can come to know Jesus Christ through Eucharist, Scripture and Church teaching.
Approved by the Religious Education Board, April 19, 2000Family Parent- Child Program
Meets Sunday after the 9:30 AM Mass
Families are expected to attend the 9:30 AM Mass with their children before attending the class sessions.
The Family Parent-Child program is designed to instruct the children in basic Catholic teaching and to reinforce and enhance their parents’ knowledge and experience of the faith. Families meet in our Religious Education Center. The children meet in their grade levels with catechists who are parents as well. The remaining parents are invited to meet as a group for discussion or to participate in activities with the children in the program.
Ideally, each parent commits himself or herself to grow in the knowledge and understanding of our Catholic faith tradition. Parents are expected to pass their faith tradition to their children.
Cluster Program
Meeting Days: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Classes will be scheduled only if enough parents volunteer as catechists, co-teachers and aides. Children usually meet weekly as a class, for a minimum of twenty-two sessions a year. A catechist, who is usually a parent of one of the class members, facilitates each class with the assistance of an aide or co-teacher. Grandparents and youth members of our parish are also needed in this program to fill these support positions. Parents also assist the catechists by providing transportation for field trips (Permission forms always necessary), coordinating rides to and from our Religious Education facility, and by providing snacks on a rotating basis.
Parents also serve as “walkers” who escort the children from the Hampstead Central School to our parish's classrooms.
HOME/ CHURCH Program (Grades 1-6)
The HOME Program was originally designed for parents who could not find a way to participate in either the Parent/Child or the Cluster Programs. It has developed as the program of choice for many parents who have taken seriously their role as the "primary religious educators" of their children. Parents who choose this program are to be commended for their commitment to their children’s faith development, and for their regular participation in the worship life of our parish during our Weekend Masses on Saturdays at 4:00 PM, and on Sundays at 8:00, 9:30 or 11:30 AM.
The Office of Religious Education provides a textbook for each child and a parent guide with a lesson plan. Additional supplementary materials, instruction and support will be provided to the families at their regular monthly meetings. Parents work at home with their children, and the children’s unit reviews will be reviewed on a monthly basis beginning in November. Dates for the Home Program will be available at the organizational meeting in September.
Summer Vacation Bible School
This program is open to children entering Kindergarten through grade 5. It is one week of fun and activities during the summer. Each year a different theme is presented. Through storytelling, songs, crafts and games, and theme-based activities and skits, the Bible comes alive for the children. Registration for this program takes place during May-June. At least twenty volunteers are needed for Summer Vacation Bible School to make this a success. Saint Anne’s Summer Vacation Bible School will usually be held during the last complete week of June unless Snow Make-Up days would interfere with this schedule.
Junior High School Religious Education Program
Meeting Day: Usually Tuesdays - 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Students must attend fifteen two-hour sessions or eighteen one and a half hour sessions and take part in service activities and one retreat.
This program provides for a Parent Information night at the beginning of the year. Parents are always invited to visit the classrooms and assist the catechists.Included in the program are fun/activity nights and service nights along with a retreat experience. Parent volunteers are needed in all areas of the Junior High Religious Education Program. Along with religious education, our parish does provide a Junior High Youth Ministry component.
High School Youth Ministry Program
The High School Program uses an interactive learning curriculum. The students are asked to apply their faith, beliefs, and values to their everyday life experiences. They are not learning anything “new”, but they are enhancing what they have learned through their religious education instruction, their prayer knowledge and their understanding of the teachings of our faith tradition.
The curriculum is still composed of classroom sessions, social-community building, and service activities. Group community service will be an integral part of the high school process.
Regular attendance is expected in all areas of the High School program. Yearly retreats are also part of the program.
First Eucharist and First Reconciliation Programs
First Holy Communion, preceded by First Reconciliation is usually celebrated at the end of the second year of a child’s participation in our religious education programs.
- An essential element of preparation for First Eucharist is that those preparing for the Sacrament celebrate Sunday Eucharist regularly with the parish family and that they intend to continue celebrating Sunday Eucharist after First Communion.
- Children are prepared at home by the parents in collaboration with our parish catechists, and they take part in a number of regularly celebrated Sunday Liturgies and a retreat experience.
- Children are expected to know the basic prayers of our faith heritage (Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, and brief Mass responses).
First Reconciliation is usually celebrated before the child prepares to celebrate First Holy Communion. First Penance preparation begins in the fall of Grade 2. Children celebrate First Penance during the winter months.
Parents prepare the children at home for the celebration of this sacrament. A retreat experience is also part of the sacramental preparation.
Children in grades 3 onward who have not celebrated the Sacrament of Penance are always welcome to prepare for this sacrament.
High School Confirmation
Confirmation is usually celebrated after the successful completion of two years of a High School program, and attendance at special classes to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Catholic School Students are exempt from Ninth grade Classes. They will join us in the Tenth grade to prepare for Confirmation.
What is expected of the High School Confirmation Candidate?
- Regular attendance at all class sessions of the High School Program.
- Regular attendance at weekend Mass (Saturday at 4:00 PM or Sunday at 8:00, 9:30 or 11:30 AM) in our parish.
- Respectful Christian behavior in the classroom.
- Knowledge of our Catholic faith tradition.
- Participation in a retreat experience during each year of the high school program.
- Taking part in some substantial forms of community service that is based on real needs.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Adapted for Children or The Children's Catechumenate
Meeting Days: Sundays after 11:30 AM Mass
The Children's Catechumenate is for children who have had little or no prior experience of the Catholic Church. It is intended especially for unbaptized children, and children from families returning to active church participation. This process prepares the children to receive the appropriate Sacraments, and then to continue in the regular religious education programs. Children will attend regular religious education classes and special sessions of the catechumenate. This process will be held only if we have children of catechetical age whose parents request Baptism.
RCIA For Teens - Teen Catechumenate
Meeting Days: Mondays: 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM
The Teen Catechumenate is for young teens that have had little or no prior experience of the Catholic Church. Teens who have never been baptized, teens whose families are joining the Church from another faith tradition, and teens from families returning to active Church participation are invited to be part of this process. This process prepares the teens to receive the appropriate Sacraments, and then to continue in regular religious education programs.
