Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Lambert. (photo courtesy of Jodi Reel)
By Laurie Stiegelmeier
As a catechist locked the church one evening, two tough-looking men appeared at the door. They said they had just been released from prison and asked to sit in the atrium awhile. They remembered it from their youth and that it was the last time they felt peace.
Where or when this happened is unknown, but it illustrates the power of the atrium in the worldwide program Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS). In ancient churches, catechumens were prepared for Baptism in atriums. Now children prepare for deeper participation in the liturgical life of the Church in CGS atriums—sacred spaces designed to help children deepen and enjoy their innate relationship with God.
Zach Krueger and his wife Meghan were in Florida working with FOCUS nine years ago when they heard about CGS. “We were so pumped! We prayed about where we could take our kids to it,” Zach said. “We had no idea we’d end up as catechists and in a parish that offered it.”
That place is St. Lambert Parish in Sioux Falls, where Zach was hired four years ago. He is now the director of discipleship and evangelization for St. John the Baptist Pastorate, and he’s still pumped about CGS.
CGS began at St. Lambert 10 years ago with a small number of 3- to 6-year-olds in the first of three levels. When they reached the end of level one, they wanted to continue. Jodi Reel, current director of CGS in St. John the Baptist Pastorate, and Kim Kovash, a parishioner at St. Lambert, volunteered to train and build materials for the next level, then expanded CGS to ages 3-12. It became St. Lambert’s only parish religious education program.
“Catechists have to be trained for two full weeks for every level—over 300 hours of training for the three levels,” Zach explained. “It’s exciting but it’s a big work. From building to training, it’s a lot of investment.”
Continued expansion will make CGS the only religious ed program in the pastorate in the next five years. Currently, it touches 125 students and another 20 from outside the pastorate who have either heard about it or were brought in by a friend. It is also offered at St. Lambert Elementary, where 90 students participate. Over the next few years, the pastorate will also have full Spanish CGS materials.
“The big goal is to introduce children to Jesus, not just facts about him, but a deep, personal knowing of him,” Zach said. “The only textbooks are the Bible and the Roman Missal. In the atrium, there are models of everything in the church so children can see and think about the actions and gestures of Mass and think more deeply about the mysteries being pondered.”
The materials help students pray at their developmental level. “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me,’ so we teach children not as adults, but allow children to come to Jesus. We teach them to recognize the voice of Jesus as in the parable of the Good Shepherd, where we get our name.”
Because CGS was founded in the 1950s, Zach said people have been asking, “How do we help children know Jesus?” for the last 70 years.
Zach sees CGS’s benefit in sacramental prep. Examination of conscience with the Sermon on the Mount and the parable of the vine and the branches has totally changed how he looks at confession. “And the kids aren’t nervous,” he said. “They’re excited to go to confession.”
A family with an older child who did not have CGS and two elementary children who do noted a difference in how they talk about Jesus at home. While faith formation is important to the whole family and, according to Zach, all the kids are stellar, the younger kids speak about Jesus as if they know him and his personality.
“That’s the beauty of 70 years of wisdom, of meditation on Scripture and seeing how kids receive it,” Zach said.
Founder Sofia Cavalletti died before she could develop CGS for grades 7-12, so a team of catechists started “Ignite” when Zach came to St. Lambert, basing it on CGS and creating it as they go.
“It’s not nearly as effective as 70 years of scholars developing CGS,” he said. “At least we’re attempting to do something for teens. It’s our way of carrying it on, getting our noses into Scripture, struggling, delving into deeper questions with them.”
Zach continued, “Open the Bible, open the sacraments to teens. Dive in and ask questions like ‘Why would a loving God flood the whole world?’ Look at the Mass and ask, ‘Why bread?’ Using the Bible and the missal, ask questions. What does Jesus say? What does the Church say? Let’s sit down together and sort it out, pick it apart.”
Students eat a meal before starting large group, which consists of 150 teens from three parishes. They then break into small groups of 10-12 with two catechists. It’s a time of prayer, pondering and discussing what was brought up in large group. Middle school and high school are held separately, and small groups stay the same all year to get to know and relate to each other and the catechists. The program needs about 30 volunteers from hospitality to leaders.
Good fruit is growing from Ignite. One small group enjoyed the Bible so much that they started their own Bible study in their neighborhood. Parents were disappointed that it was the end of the year. Group members reach out to post-confirmands and bring them back, and some stay in the program after Confirmation. “It’s sowing seeds, even if they don’t come back,” Zach said.
If you’d like more information about CGS or Ignite, contact Zach at discipleship@stjohnthebaptistsf.org or contact him through St. John the Baptist’s website.
“I’d encourage people to do the training and take it slow,” Zach said. “Let God do the work in his time.”
Laurie Stiegelmeier is active in faith formation for all ages at St. John de Britto Church, Our Lady of the Snows Pastorate. Above career and volunteer work, being a mother and grandmother is the most important and rewarding “job” she ever held.
