2022-2023 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Christian Formation Sessions will resume on September 11, 2022

“Parents don’t need theology degrees or extensive knowledge of the Bible or liturgy to pass on their faith.
Parents merely need the love they have for their children to effectively form them and introduce them
to a relationship with Christ”.
“Every child and youth program needs to have one thing:
Opportunities for kids and parents to gather together to talk about faith. And parents need to lead it”.
- Dr. John Rinaldo
(https://www.usccb.org/news/2020/putting-parents-center-our-ministry-efforts)

Parents may share the responsibility to pass on the faith to their children with others, but they do not relinquish that responsibility.  St. Kilian Parish assists parents with passing on their faith through the ministry of catechesis.  Catechists echo the Catholic faith in a way that those being catechized (children, youth, adults) can understand.  Catechists must do more than merely teach about their faith.  They help children, youth, and/or adults build and strengthen their own relationship with Jesus Christ and the Church.  Catechists do this by proclaiming the Word of God, building a sense of community, leading prayer and worship, and encouraging loving service to others.  Catechists also lead others to faith through their example of living a life consistent with the teachings of the Jesus Christ and His Church.

Thank you for being a part of our family here at St. Kilian Parish, and for fulfilling the responsibility you assumed when you had your child or children baptized…that you would be “the first teachers of your children in the ways of the faith.” 

Helping you to be the first and the best teachers of your children in the ways of the faith is the reason that St. Kilian provides Christian Formation programs for your children.  We understand that life is demanding and that the faith formation of your children competes with many other activities in your weekly schedule.  

We have as the highest priority to protect God’s Children, the young, and vulnerable adults.  All Catechists are required to take a course in Protecting Children and Vulnerable Adults and submit to a background check. 

Please know that the first and most important christian formation tool at your disposal is weekly celebration of Mass and participation in the sacramental life of the Church. 

Catechists are people from the parish who have answered a call to minister to your children, youth, and/or adults, and who have prepared in a number of ways to serve as catechists.  Above all, catechists are people for whom their faith is important enough that they feel a need to share it.  While our parish Christian Formation Program does have a Director, our catechists help fulfill the goals of the ministry as the volunteer staff of the program.  Catechists are the backbone of a parish formation program.  The Director of Christian Formation could not fulfill the ministry of this program without your service to others in our parish community.

You’ve heard it said that “it takes a village to raise a child.”  This is so incredibly true!!  Therefore, your parish is asking you to prayerfully consider being a catechist or catechist aide - an instrument used by God to share the Good News with our children and youth!

When you look at the Ten Commandments you see that the first three have to do with God - keeping God first in our lives; respecting his Holy Name; and keeping holy the Lord’s Day [by participation at Mass] - these are first because we are called to love God before anything else.  Our love for others and the things of the world flows from our love for God.

Formation Sessions for the 2022-2023 year will be held weekly on Sundays.  However on the last Sunday of the month there are no sessions; the children and youth have off.  Sessions for grades 4K-7 are held Sunday mornings from 10:15 - 11:15 am.  Sessions for grades 8-Confirmation are held Sunday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00pm.

There will be plenty of room for your child(ren) for the 2022-23 Christian Formation year!  Let the parish assist you in passing on your Catholic Faith to your child(ren)!