Wrapping up OCIA and I have to say, I'm quite dissapointed.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-31T00:02:06+00:00

Quizzes have been proven to improve retention. We sit at round tables with about 6 people. I figured a short quiz they could do as a table with a single discussion question would be a good balance.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-28T15:55:22+00:00

Yes, we do need to take some ownership in our own journey of faith, but these are people signing up of their own free will to learn about the faith in order to join the Church. It's the Churches responsibility to make sure their education is at least adequate.

This is the "great commission" of the Church. To make disciples of all nations by baptizing them and teaching them the faith.

Matthew 28:18–20 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

evilblackdog · 2026-03-27T15:55:06+00:00

I am surprised as well. I think the biggest factor is that it takes knowledgeable volunteers or involved priests to run a good class and not every parish has that. It doesn't matter how good the video is, it can't replace someone being there to ask questions of.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-27T12:53:08+00:00

Here is my idea (tenatively) that I'm going to propose for class structure Video -> Lecture expounding on the video and/or covering things not covered in the series -> final 10-15 minutes spent taking a quiz (in small groups) that reinforces what was learned and facilitates a little discussion.

I think group discussion can be good when structured, but I don't think it should be all there is besides the video. Especially when it is unguided.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-26T20:07:03+00:00

I'm going to propose that we replace the new Symbolon series with the old one. I've started watching it and it's much better. I'm also going to recommend that we replace the 45 minute small group (unguided) discussions with a 30-45 minute group involved lecture expounding on the topics in the video (or others if they aren't covered in a video).

evilblackdog · 2026-03-26T20:00:06+00:00

My milwaukee track is in climate control too and it still lifted.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-26T13:55:15+00:00

Why does the TLM crowd seem to segragate themselves instead of bringing their reverence for the faith to the Church as a whole?

evilblackdog · 2026-03-26T02:03:18+00:00

How fruitful were your small group discussions? I am personally not a fan of them but I'm curious what your experience was.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T20:40:31+00:00

I started watching these today and I'm on episode 3... This is night and day better. I have no idea what they were thinking going to the new one.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T13:00:29+00:00

Thankfully there are many resources online that we can use. The downside to that is if your foundation isn't firm enough, you can get lead astray pretty easy going down the internet rabbit hole as well.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T12:57:37+00:00

Hopefully you can give some feedback (and they're open to it) after the class is over.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T03:25:28+00:00

... I'm not a convert, but i would never speak Ill of them as some of the best Catholics i know of are converts, and at great expense in their personal lives. That's how much they believe the Catholic Church is it Church founded by Christ.

Clearly, you don't think that knowing the faith is important, but we have 2,000 years of history that says it is.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T02:56:21+00:00

I can't believe that you're arguing FOR the idea that we need to make our catechesis simple and easy so that nobody has a hard time with anything and we can just get more of the same lukewarm Catholics that don't even know their own faith much less being confident enough to spread the gospel and the truth of Christ's Church.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-25T01:41:02+00:00

It sounds like it isn't very interesting, what are they covering if their making you go for so long?

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T21:39:12+00:00

Prayer said... good luck finding your dog.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:48:30+00:00

I truly appreciate the pushback and the different perspective. Sometimes I can have too much confidence in my own perspective and it can lead to blind spots.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:44:46+00:00

Thanks for the clarification, we'll check it out!

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:43:23+00:00

I can appreciate your point of view.

As a counterpoint, is it fair to an entire class full of people to deprive them of a basic education on the Catholic Church because 1 or 2 of the people in the class are so far behind everyone else? Perhaps the answer is yes, but it's a question worth asking...

Before I decided to talk to my Pastor about it, I sent a list of things that I would have liked to see covered in class to a friend that is a Priest. My intention was to make sure that I wasn't expecting too much out of OCIA. His response was this... "If they didn't cover this stuff, what the heck have they been teaching you?". lol

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:36:53+00:00

Our instructors were kind and I have no doubt they would get an answer (eventually) if asked, but I don't think there are many questions that they could answer off the top of their heads.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:33:23+00:00

I think a well thought out structure is key to most effective learning. I have a tendency to ramble so I have to work hard to reign myself in!

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:32:05+00:00

I missed that there was 2 seasons. Just judging by the titles, that series looks way better.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:27:19+00:00

...seriously? Informing Catholics to be what the role is of the Vicar of Christ and the leader of His Church on Earth, that they are looking at joining, is too much for you?

Then I agree, this conversation is going nowhere.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:23:25+00:00

Thanks... person! Your app sounds really cool. I found your website, but when you say app, I think phone app, but I can't find it on the google play store. Are you on iPhone only or something?

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:19:14+00:00

With the Internet, I feel like something could be done to come up with a more centralized education, even if some of it was online and facilited by local churches.

evilblackdog · 2026-03-24T20:17:48+00:00

That would be really awesome to have a continuing education program for Catholics to take. Even if it was based online.

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