DATES:          Each Wednesday September 19, 2012 – May 29, 2013            
 
TIME:             7:00 p.m.
 
WHERE:         St. Joseph Catholic Church Parish Hall
 
 The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the process whereby adults enter the Catholic Church. RCIA classes are held weekly. Over the course of several months those who attend the RCIA classes learn what Catholics believe and are given the opportunity to question those beliefs. At any time, you may choose to prepare to receive the sacraments and enter the Church at the completion of the RCIA program.

Once you decide to attend RCIA, you are not committed to either finish the program or enter the Church. Everyone is always free to come and participate in loving discussions. We welcome you and welcome your curiosity about Catholicism and what it means to the people of God. All are welcome in this house to come and see the Lord.
 
Each class session will have two segments:

• Segment 1 - a scheduled lesson and discussion (Bible, Sacraments, Liturgy, etc.) lasting about an hour.
• Break.
• Segment 2 - study of the APOSTLES’ CREED – article by article, lasting about 15-20 minutes. Some articles will require several sessions.   

Description of segments:
 
            The first segment will use material from the following books and publications:
 

• Journey of Faith and Believing in Jesus, written by Rev. Leonard Foley, OFM.
• The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church published by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Catholicism for Dummies and Catholicism: Answer Book, written by Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., PhD., ThD. and Kenneth Brighenti, PhD.
• A New Look at the Sacraments, by Rev. William J. Bausch
• Why do Catholics do That? by Kevin Orlin Johnson, PhD.
• As well as other relevant pamphlets and articles taken mostly from current issues of The Catholic Answer, Our Sunday Visitor Publications and The Ligourian (Ligourian Publications-Redemptorist)

 
The second segment will be study of the articles of the Apostles Creed, lasting 15-20 minutes. We will proceed slowly, because some articles will require several sessions. Material used in this segment is compiled from The Apostles Creed – Articles of Faith for the 21^st Century by Brian Schmisek, PhD.
 
During some sessions, we will be using CDs and DVDs titles by Matthew Arnold:

• “Our Catholic Faith”
• “Which Came First, the Bible or the Church?”
• “The Catholic Mass Revealed”

God bless you and we look forward to seeing you! 
 

RCIA Contacts:
Deacon John Sargent	(903) 935-2536	jsargent@etbu.edu
Charlotte Smith	(903) 935-2536	dffstjospehmarshall@yahoo.com
Mary Best	(903) 935-2536	samnmaryb@cobridge.tv
RCIA Cycle Start:	Last Wednesday of August	7:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.
RCIA Cycle Finish:	Easter Vigil