The diocesan Office of Religious Education staff are gearing up for Parish Religious Education Week, Nov. 3-9. From left to right are assistants Chad Chun and Lesley Noguchi, director Jayne Mondoy and adult faith formation coordinator Kristina DeNeve. They provide resources for the diocese’s catechists and religious education students. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
Shining the spotlight on parish religious education programs and the many people who work to make them happen is the aim of the first national Parish Religious Education Week, Nov. 3-9.
The National Catholic Education Association, or NCEA, developed Parish Religious Education Week for the Year of Faith. Under the theme “Encountering Christ Every Day,” parishes are encouraged to promote activities and offer prayer intentions to support their catechists, students and religious education leaders.
Jayne Mondoy, director of the Office of Religious Education for the Diocese of Honolulu, was part of the NCEA team that developed this new initiative. Mondoy said the idea to celebrate parish religious education has been in the making for decades, and was inspired by National Catholic Schools Week, which is observed each January.
“I firmly believe in highlighting the significant catechetical and evangelization efforts of the parish catechists,” Mondoy said.
What is religious education?
The NCEA’s guide to Parish Religious Education Week provides statistics that show the broad reach of religious education. A figure from the 2013 Official Catholic Directory notes that more than 3 million U.S. youth are enrolled in parish catechetical programs.
In Hawaii, there were a reported 7,207 elementary and high school students in religious education.
Aiding in the sacramental formation for these young Catholics in Hawaii are hundreds of parish staff and volunteer teachers. Although religious education programs vary from once-a-week Bible study groups to traditional classroom sessions after Sunday Masses, catechists all take time and training to prepare lesson plans rich in theology and practical faith application.
“Religious education is about much more than memorizing doctrine,” said Mondoy. “It is about a lifelong journey in our relationship with Christ, one that matures and deepens throughout our lives.”
Mondoy has overseen the Office of Religious Education for eight years. She holds a master’s of arts degree in pastoral leadership from Chaminade University, and has taught religion and English in Hawaii Catholic schools. Prior to her diocesan position, she was assistant principal and dean of academics for Saint Louis School. Mondoy also has been a volunteer catechist and liturgical musician.
Her extensive background in education and theology has made her a passionate advocate for local parish religious education. Mondoy and her department staff — assistants Chad Chun and Lesley Noguchi, and adult faith formation coordinator Kristina DeNeve — do everything from visiting parishes to creating online projects to coordinating catechist educational conferences.
Preparing catechists
It has become important in religious education to meet both fundamental sacramental instruction requirements and the changing needs of students and pedagogy.
Technology integration has been a priority for the diocesan religious education office. Eight years ago, “all catechist records were typed onto cardstock, copied and filed in lots and lots of file cabinets,” Mondoy said. Today, this information has been moved into an electronic database.
Although catechist certification still takes place in person, the diocese provides preparatory classes online. Thanks to a partnership with the University of Dayton in Ohio, catechists from Hawaii have completed more than 200 courses in theology and other Catholic topics through its Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation.
A basic certification class is also taught by Mondoy and catechist Dallas Carter on Facebook. Known as the Hawaii Catholic Faith Formation Forum, this private Facebook group initiative was recognized nationally by the Diocesan Information Systems Conference in June for its innovative use of technology in catechesis.
These new opportunities let catechists to grow in their knowledge of the faith as their schedules allow. They then pass on this depth of understanding to their students.
“You can imagine the challenge of providing in-person catechist formation classes for 66 parishes across a six-island diocese,” Mondoy said. “Online courses provide every island equal access to high-quality learning.”
Catechists must be additionally trained in the Safe Environment program for the protection of children from sexual abuse. Through the Office of Religious Education, they undergo background checks and are taught how to recognize and report child abuse. At the parish level, catechists provide students with personal safety classes.
Mondoy said that last year, more than 5,000 Hawaii children received this training.
Sharing the challenges
Although parishes in our diocese and across the nation continue to foster vibrant religious education programs, Mondoy said there are ways things could be improved.
First, she said Catholics must realize that catechesis is not a responsibility reserved for parish staff and clergy. Parents and parishioners also need to be conscious of modeling Catholic virtues for their children.
“We are all catechists,” Mondoy said. “Prayer, reflecting on sacred Scripture and sharing the joys and challenges of Christian living should take place in all ministries and especially in the home.”
She encourages parents to attend Mass regularly with kids. Mondoy hopes families will go beyond the typical “seven-year cycle” of sending children to church first for Baptism, then seven years later for First Communion and seven years afterward for Confirmation.
“It’s important to be properly catechized prior to the first reception of the Sacraments of Initiation and first penance,” she said.
More volunteers are needed as well to run parish programs. Mondoy said a catechist must be “a fully-initiated Catholic adult, faithful to the teachings of the church, (who) attends Sunday or daily Mass regularly; one whose life animates the joy of Christian living, enjoys children and their parents.”
Although Mondoy didn’t list enrollment as a challenge, local religious education student numbers have been in flux. The Official Catholic Directory in the last five years showed that Hawaii’s enrollment in catechetical programs hovered between 7,000 to just over 8,000 in 2009. In 2002 and 1992, there were more than 9,000 religious education students.
Religious education week
Mondoy and the NCEA hope Parish Religious Education Week Nov. 3-9 will draw more student and community involvement.
The Parish Religious Education Week guide, available online at http://bit.ly/1a3dqjX, provides ways to share the depth of this ministry.
Mondoy crafted a special prayer reflection for the week. In it, she connects the story of the encounter two people had with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus to the role catechists play in giving witness to Lord.
“Some have answered the call to formal parish catechetical ministry, taking on the special role of partnering with learners, families, parents and the church community to form God’s people in faith,” the prayer says. “In our baptism each of us is called to be a catechist, an ‘echoer’ of Christ.”
