Finding God is the children's catechetical material being supported by the Diocese. To go to the Loyola Press website to find the support offered to catechists and families click on the image to the left.

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The Office of Evangelization and Catechesis has Catechist Guides, Art Easels, and Student Books for the K - 8 levels. There is no charge for the Catechist Guides and Art Easels. Student books are subsidized by the Bishop's Annual Appeal. The cost of student books is $20 each plus shipping.

If you wish to order any of this material please open the order sheet by clicking on the link to the left.

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The Finding God resource is also used in our Diocese by parents who wish their children to have ongoing catechism when the parish is unable to provide a program for children. When parents take on the task of teaching the Finding God program to their children, Loyola Press offers support to them online. To access parent support page click on link to the left. Please share this link with all parents who are doing the home program and if you like with those parents whose children are in your parish catechetical sessions, too.

Children's catechesis and sacramental preparation are the faith formation opportunities offered by the parish for families. The high bar is that both these programs are running simultaneously in a parish. A child begins the catechetical program in kindergarten or Grade 1, when Grade 2 begins, the child registers for both the Grade 2 catechetical program and the sacramental preparation classes with their parents. This is the high bar, which I strongly encourage that we strive towards (and there are parishes in our Diocese able to do this in various combinations). I also live in the real world where we do the best we can give the people who come forward to help and those who bring their children for sacraments. 

Here are a few ways that some parishes have managed this challenge over the years:

1) High bar running sessions for both catechetics and sacramental preparation in the parish. Catechesis classes of children with their peers alone and sacramental preparation sessions with parents included.
2) The child in a catechism class with their peers using the Finding God material. Parents are given the responsibility for preparing their child for the reception of the sacraments using a resource from the suggested list with a gathering with children and parents a set number of times throughout the year.
3) The year that children are preparing for sacraments, only the sacramental preparation material is taught that year. For the years prior and the years following the sacramental year, children are in catechesis classes of their peers.
4) Only sacramental preparation occurs in the parish with no catechesis classes for children occurring prior to or after the sacramental year. This works well in parishes that are in cities with Catholic schools. This is definitely the bare minimum when there is no access to Catholic schools for the parish children. In these situations, it is strongly encouraged that parents are regularly invited to provide the Finding God program at home with parent instruction. As noted above Loyola Press provides online resources to assist parents with this journey of passing the faith on to their children.