Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish
Religious Education Program
2023-2024 Religious Education Registration is Now Open!
(Click on the "Documents" tab for Registration Form and FA 23 Calendar)
Parent/Guardian Collaboration: Thank you for your interest in, and commitment to, religious education. We believe that parents play an integral role in the moral and faith formation of our students and no one can replace the influence that a parent's example has on the spiritual life of a child. By taking time to pray, attend mass regularly, and participate in other aspects of parish life, parents can both reaffirm and enrich other forms of instruction. In completing a registration form and enrolling a child in the program, the parent understands and acknowledges the following:
*Please contact Kevin O'Connell, Director of Religious Education, at [email protected] with any questions or concerns!*
3. What should parents know about the check-in/check-out process when classes are held?
There is no formal check-in process and class attendance is recorded. Students in Saturday classes (grades 5+) are released from the parish hall at the end of class and may meet their parent(s)/guardian(s) upstairs in the chapel or parking lot. If a parent/guardian would prefer that their Saturday student remain in the parish hall to be signed out, please email the Director. Students in Sunday classes (grades 1-4) must be picked up downstairs in the parish hall and signed out. These students will only be released to the parent(s)/guardian(s) specified on the registration form – unless previously arranged in writing with the Director.
4. What information is available for parents/guardians who want to learn more about their child preparing for the Sacraments of First Penance and First Communion (FP/FC)?
Most of our students receve these sacraments in 2nd or 3rd grade. Students are eligible for FP/FC sacramental preparation only after they have already completed one year of religious education, immediately prior to the preparation year. The preparation year may be as early as 2nd grade, with these sacraments being conferred in the spring of the child’s 2nd grade. Therefore, this usually means a full year of 1st-grade religious education is required before the student’s 2nd-grade preparation year. Students who only first join the program in 2nd grade without a prior year of catechesis would then consider their sacramental preparation year to be the 3rd grade. Students enrolled in one of the diocese’s Catholic schools may register and prepare for 2nd-grade sacramental preparation without any previous participation in the parish’s religious education program.
Parents of children preparing to receive First Penance and First Communion must attend a minimum of two meetings with parish staff throughout the preparation year (again, this is usually 2nd or 3rd grade), are expected to attend mass every weekend with their First Communicant and must respond to all correspondence in a timely manner. All second and third grade students are expected to participate in the liturgy on selected dates, as altar servers, or in presenting the gifts during mass.
5. What information is available for high school-aged students and parents who want to learn more about preparations for the Sacrament of Confirmation?
Confirmandi at Our Lady of Good Counsel typically receive this Sacrament in the late fall of their junior year of high school. Accordingly, the next Confirmation preparation program will begin in the late fall of 2023 and continue through the fall of 2024. Eligible students are at least high school sophomores by fall 2023 and must have completed a minimum of one year of religious education in the high school cohort during the year immediately prior to the preparation program or be enrolled in one of the diocese’s Catholic high schools.
Parents of students preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation must attend a minimum of two meetings with parish staff throughout the preparation program, are expected to attend mass every weekend with their student, and must respond to all correspondence in a timely manner. Confirmandi are expected to participate in the liturgy on selected dates, as altar servers or lectors, and will complete service, coupled with selected coursework.