Introduction
The Fun Factor
Protestants don’t have a monopoly on fun! The idea kept rolling around in my mind as I pulled out of the parking lot at a local Baptist church after dropping my daughters off for their last day of a week-long Vacation Bible School
After dropping the girls off on that last day of VBS, I drove toward my office thinking about how excited all of the children were about the program, and about how disappointed they were that it would be over after today. I mulled over what it was that really ignited this fire and passion in them. It kept coming back to F-U-N. And then I started wondering: does the program we offer for the children at my parish make them want to come? Does it inspire enthusiasm? Is it… fun? Deep down, I knew that my parish offers a good, solid program; we certainly teach everything that the USCCB says needed to be taught to the children about our Catholic faith… but I couldn’t say for sure that it was fun.
I live in the South – the Bible Belt. There are at least ten Protestant churches between my house and my Catholic church, and I only live eight miles away. Many of these churches are non-denominational, and most give high priority (and a lot of money) to their Children’s Ministries. I am sure that they consider it to be of utmost importance because they know that parents today are apt to go where their children want to spend time, whether that be soccer, dance, or with their friends to youth functions at church on Wednesday nights. The more parents in attendance, the stronger the congregation, both spiritually and monetarily. The programs offered for children, therefore, tend to be extremely inviting and lots of… yes… fun. Children are encouraged not only to attend, but to bring their friends. There are “altar calls” at almost every gathering, which helps grow membership at the church. When kids have a great time, they beg their parents to go back again and again; or, at the very least, they don’t complain when their parents bring them back.
Given how many of our Catholic children’s peers are likely to attend these churches here in the Bible Belt, it isn’t long before the invitation is extended to “come with me this week!” (Case in point: my daughters’ invitation to the Baptist VBS). Catholic parents who are regular Mass attendees and are firmly rooted in their faith are not likely to be swayed by anything that might happen to entice their children to join another church. However, there are a great number of Catholic parents who are lukewarm about their Catholic faith, and are only occasional Mass attendees. This is not a shocking revelation to any Parish Catechetical Leader; how many times have we given a child his First Communion knowing deep down that he probably won’t go to Communion again until it’s time for Confirmation? If a parent is of the latter group, it is not out of the realm of possibility that if his child attends another church, has a “great time”, and begs to go back, that the parents might make the decision to change their lukewarm allegiance to an entirely different denomination.
I was out shopping one day when I crossed paths with a dad whose child had been in our parish school of religion (PSR) a couple of years prior, but who had not been enrolled recently. I said hello, and asked how the kids were. He evidently didn’t recognize me as the CRE – must have just thought I was a mom of his kids’ friends – because as he was filling me in on what his children were up to he said, “Oh, we are going to (___) church now. The kids really want to go there because they have such a great time and their friends are there, and it’s all about what the kids want, right?” Well, not wanting to get into it, I simply replied that I was glad they were doing so well, but inside I was supremely irritated. NO! I wanted to say. It’s not about what the kids want! It’s about making sure they are raised in the faith in which they were baptized and have received Communion! It’s about taking seriously the promise that you gave when they were baptized to do just that! I was annoyed that this parent was being so wishy-washy about being Catholic. I was also annoyed that this parent let the kids guide the parents’ decision about where to go to church. But honestly, what probably bugged me the most about that encounter was the idea that my program wasn’t competitive enough in terms of the fun factor!
So, I came back to my original thought. Why should these Protestant churches offer all of the fun programming? Why can’t we, as Catholics, make our program just as enticing to kids?
I am a former classroom teacher, having taught upper elementary aged children for nine years before joining the parish staff. Between those years of experience, and that of having my own children (ages six and eight at the time), I felt that I had pretty good authority and understanding of what motivates kids. These children are in school all day, all week. They have textbooks for almost every class, with minimal chances to get creative. Read, answer questions. Read, answer questions. Read, answer questions. That is pretty much how it goes all day. Sure, the teachers try to find creative ways to reach the children as much as possible, but with the dawning of No Child Left Behind, and with the high-stakes testing that these children must face each year, there is less and less room for ‘fun’ in the regular school day. It’s no wonder, then, that the last thing that a child is going to be looking forward to on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning is more textbook, more reading, and more answering questions.
Yet isn’t that how most of our PSR programs work? Children are brought to a classroom, given some kind of textbook and crayons or a pencil, and an hour later they are picked up. What happens in that hour is largely up to the catechist, and the experience for the children varies wildly, even from classroom to classroom, based on how creative or out-of-the box that particular teaching volunteer is: whether he or she is able to enhance lessons to reach children with varied learning styles; whether he or she enjoys an occasional craft activity; whether he or she has confidence in classroom management – and so many more factors. I would wager that, in a typical PSR program, 90% or more of the catechists are not college trained educators. They do the best they can with what they have, and that is all that is expected. Now it comes down to the Parish Catechetical Leader, the DRE or CRE, to ensure that his or her program volunteers are supported and led in such a way that the children don’t simply read and answer questions each week. I hate to say it, but know this to be true from my personal professional encounters: there are plenty of PCLs who are either unwilling or unable to do more than provide the teacher’s manual and send them on their way. Good luck! Here’s your book! See you in nine months! Likewise, there are plenty more PCLs who definitely try to do more, who truly wish to reach the children in a meaningful way, and who absolutely would love for their program to be one of the highlights of a child’s week. Since the former group of PCLs is unlikely to even pick up this book, it is for you, the latter group, that I am putting forth what I have done for my program that I can say, with all modestly, has been truly successful. I have heard from so many parents what is music to my ears: “My children love to come!” “You do such a great job with these kids!” “I like to stay for your group gathering because I am learning along with the kids!” In some small way, I feel that I am winning the “battle”, if you will, to keep our Catholic kids interested in coming to their own church. I pray that you find ideas and suggestions, even solutions, in the following chapters which will ultimately deliver the same results for your program.
Like it? Want the rest? I'm working to finish it as we speak! :-) I will keep this site posted!
