Dear Fellow Parishioners
of Sacred Heart,
Since Aug. 7, we have
all seen the requests for teachers in the Religious Education News section
of our weekly bulletin. Teachers for 21 specific classes were noted as
needed in the Aug. 28 bulletin, and for at least 14 classes in the Sept. 11
bulletin. With classes scheduled to begin in early October, this shortage
of teachers could result in a delay in starting a number of classes.
There has been
considerable discussion regarding Religious Education at Sacred Heart since
June of this year. Under the current program, the family cluster program
and a few high school level Religious Education classes will be held at
Sacred Heart this fall. In addition, some youth ministry and Confirmation
program activities, including their retreat and the Youth Masses, will be
held at Sacred Heart. All standard Religious Educational classes for
grades 1 through 8 and their associated activities will be held at St.
Brigid.
A number of Sacred Heart
parishioners have expressed a desire to have conventional religious educational
classes for Grades 1-8 (Religious Education program) at Sacred Heart that
were associated with the Sunday liturgy and community activities before and
after Mass.
As a result, we are
undertaking a data-gathering effort at Sacred Heart to see whether:
ˇ
we could find qualified
parishioners who would be willing to teach or co-teach a class if it were
held at Sacred Heart on Sunday mornings, alleviating the shortage of
teachers, and
ˇ
we could determine if
there would be enough interest from families to sustain such a program IF
it were offered.
Please note that this
program, if offered, would be in addition to the Family Cluster program.
This is a data-gathering
effort, NOT a commitment to have Grade 1-8 Religious Education classes at
Sacred Heart. At present there
is no guarantee that these classes will be offered. We are looking for
input and commitment from Sacred Heart parishioners to address what has
been a widely expressed need from many parishioners to incorporate a family
and parish
liturgical and community
component to the Religious Education program,
as well as provide an
opportunity for such education to many of our
children not enrolled in
a formal program elsewhere.
Think about what you might be able to offer of your own time, talent
and faith experience as a teacher or co-teacher. Think about what
the
involvement of adults and youth together in the educational process
might mean to our parish community. Remember
that we are a people
called not only to faith, but to work to create a future for that
faith and
church through our young. The intent is to provide a program fully
com-
patible, integrated and utilizing the same materials as at St
Brigid.
If you have an interest, please contact a Friends of Sacred Heart
Board
member or send an email ccd@sacredheartappeal.org with your name
and phone number, and which grade you may prefer to teach, so we can
contact you. Even if you feel that taking on a full course might be too
much, and you would consider teaching with a second person to share the
load, we are very interested in hearing from you -- several half- or part-
time teachers makes the load lighter. Your contact information will be kept
strictly confidential until such time that classes need to be scheduled.