Excellence in Catechesis

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
November 4, 2004

FONDA/SIOUX CITY/SPENCER - "Sacred Scripture: Sacred Stories" was the theme of this year's Excellence in Catechesis presentation that was held at three locations in the Diocese of Sioux City last month.

According to Linda Anderson, director of catechesis for the diocese, about 250 people attended between the three sites. Sponsored by the Offices of Catechesis, Education and Hispanic Ministries, all three of the sessions were held on Wednesday evenings. Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Fonda hosted a session on Oct. 6, Sacred Heart in Spencer hosted the presentation on Oct. 13 and Sacred Heart in Sioux City hosted the final session on Oct. 27.

Excellence in Catechesis is offered every other year, in years opposite of the Diocesan Ministries Conference.

"We feel good about the turnout because we hadn't offered it this way in the past," noted Anderson.

In previous years, Excellence in Catechesis was offered in a one-day format on a Saturday. Two years ago, the program drew about 120 people. Organizers were pleased that this year's numbers more than doubled attendance in 2002. The majority of this year's participants were parish catechists; however, some Catholic schoolteachers also attended.

"We have had nothing but positive comments," said Anderson. "I think we are on to something in offering this in a different way because we were able to impact more people." She added that they would continue to study the evaluations and assess the response.

Each session was set up with the same program.

Rather than having a traditional keynote address, the opening first hour offered a readers theater presentation. It featured a weaving of music, Scripture and personal stories. Presenters were Anderson, Linda Ebel, director of curriculum; Juan Garcia, coordinator of Hispanic Ministries; and Kevin Vickery, superintendent of Catholic schools.

Some of the Scripture passages centered on well-known stories such as the Prodigal Son, the story of the talents, the story of Martha and Mary, the laborers in the vineyard as well as others.

Each spoke of personal experiences as it related to a particular story or parable from the Bible. For instance, one presenter mentioned how they had taken on the role of Martha the servant during their mother's illness while their sibling had been Mary, sitting quietly by the bedside. Another mentioned that he related to the Prodigal Son parable when a brother returned home during a crisis situation in the family.

Anderson pointed out that many people are familiar with these well-known Bible stories, but the presentation helped to stress the fact that those stories can directly relate to people's personal sacred stories.

"It's not like that was then and this is now. If you look at events and personalities in the sacred Scriptures, you can relate it to your own lives. When you can personalize the message from Scripture, it has a greater impact on people," she said. "That is what successful homilists and keynoters do - bring it into people's lives so there is a connection. We live out those Bible stories today."

Following the main presentation, participants were able to attend one of five breakout sessions.

Betty Benson, a second grade teacher at St. Catherine-St. Mary's Grade School in Remsen, presented information about bringing the Scriptures alive through storytelling and drama.

Julie Anne Bovenmyer, DRE at Sacred Heart Church in Boone, facilitated a session on using art and creating art as a means to teach the faith.

Sister Julie Tebbe, music teacher at Mater Dei School in Sioux City, offered a session that centered on using music and ritual with students.

Kevin Vickery presented a breakout session to help catechists develop strategies for students so they can see Scripture come alive in their own lives and the lives of others on a daily basis.

Juan Garcia shared how to live the Word of God from a Hispanic perspective.

"Through these workshops, we wanted to help people realize there are different ways of teaching sacred Scripture. You don't just have to read out of the Bible or a textbook. There are many creative ways to teach - art, music, plays. We wanted to plant some seeds for them and they could build upon it and broaden their way of thinking," noted Anderson.

Kerry Noethe, DRE for the cluster program at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Fonda and St. Columbkille in Varina, pointed out that all but one of her catechists attended Excellence in Catechesis. She noted that one of the reasons OLGC volunteered to host a session was because they strongly believe in the importance of offering formation opportunities for their catechists.

"The catechists from our program were very impressed. The opening session was more than what they thought it was going to be. They also enjoyed the workshops," she said.

Noethe pointed out that they went to different workshops and then shared the information with each other.

"The people that I spoke to - from our program and other attendees - were very appreciative of the time and sacrifice involved by the coordinators of the program and those that gave the talks. It filled a need," she said. Some mentioned that they would have liked to attend more than one workshop.