RCIA for Adults

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (often abbreviated RCIA) is the process through which interested adults are gradually introduced to the Roman Catholic faith and way of life. It is a communal process and involves a number of stages punctuated by liturgical rites to aid and assist the potential convert toward the final rite, usually at the Easter Vigil at which time they will become full members of the Roman Catholic Church. The entire process usually takes one to two years, (ideally a minimum of one complete liturgical year), but participants are generally invited to proceed at a pace which suits them individually.

We have an ongoing process which is tailored to the adult who is coming into the Church. We do not begin or end on a certain date. The process continues throughout the year. When you call for the first time we will ask to meet you in person. You will be able to share the story of your personal faith journey and we will be able to help guide you in a way that will best meet your needs. At the time of this meeting, or after you have had time to pray and discern a little more, we will explain the process and how you, your sponsor, and the facilitators will journey together to assist you to grow in faith and knowledge in preparation to become a full member of the Catholic Church. We will also take down some personal information for registration and register you in the parish if you haven’t done so.

The Precatechumanate meets on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. However, this depends upon if and when we have people coming into the process. Our Catechumanate will start in June with our first Rite of Acceptance and Rite of Welcome. The Catechumate meets three Wednesdays of each month: the First, Second and Fourth Wednesday from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. We will also enjoy Breaking Open The Word (BOTW) at Dismissal every Sunday. We don’t meet the third or fifth Wednesday. The period of the journey after Easter is called Mystagogy and we will meet each week until Pentacost.

We are using Foundations in Faith Series that is Scripture based. We read the scripture and delve more deeply into them during the first 45 minutes on Wed. which usually includes some basic teaching of the time and place of the writings so they can put the teaching into context. Then we have a 15 min. break and the second hour deals with what the church teaches related to that weekly scripture.

We have break out sessions to discuss how we put the teachings we learned about into daily practice. Since you know a lot of Christ's teachings are repeated in scripture we take that opportunity to plug in teaching of the Sacraments, church history, different forms of prayer including how to pray the rosary, persecution & suffering, morality, Petrine Authority Etc. during the second hour.

The process is scripture based with large and small group discussions to help us learn scripture, church teaching and how to live a fuller, richer Catholic life.

Are you an Adult member of the Catholic Church who was already baptized and received the First Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist? Are you ready to go further in your faith and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation? Our parish will be offering classes to prepare adults (age 18+) to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at one of two annual services presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese. This process is for adults who have been baptized and made their First Communion in the Catholic Church.

RCIA Schedule:

RCIA Schedule

Contacts:

Director of Religious Education, Richard Meloche, at 904-282-0439 ext. 112 or prep@stlukesparish.org
Contact the Coordinator of RCIA, Pat Noll, at 904-282-3790 or rcia@stlukesparish.org

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

RCIA Schedule:

Contacts: