Q. I’ve been thinking about being a CCD teacher but I don’t know if I’m good enough – what is required?
A. Many thanks for the question; I’m grateful to the Lord that catechesis is on your heart and that you are open to helping teach the Catholic faith to children in CCD!
You raise an important question: whenever we are discerning the kind of evangelical service to which God is calling us, we must consider not only our desire and inspiration (very important) but also our capacity and real-life situation. Since you are thinking about it, it sounds like the first part is already in place.
A good way to test the second part, especially if you haven’t taught before, is to volunteer to be a substitute CCD teacher in the upcoming year. That should give you a clear sense of your capacity for teaching the faith to children in CCD.
Also, you can check out the content or required curriculum you would be teaching for a particular grade by going to lincolndiocese.org/ccd. There you will find not only the essential content for each class but also many resources such as lessons, PowerPoints, activities, and short videos for each CCD class in every grade. If what you see is something you believe you can commit to teaching, that is a good sign that you are “good enough,” as you said in your question, to be a CCD teacher.
As for “what is required,” I’ll start with a few obvious things and then go into some of the details. For a person to teach CCD he or she needs to be a baptized and confirmed Catholic who is living the faith, for example, seeking to follow Christ, trying to grow in holiness, going to Mass on Sundays and holy days, having a daily prayer life, going regularly to confession, etc.
As for the concrete details, a person would first need to talk with his or her pastor about the possibly of teaching CCD at that particular parish. In most cases, I trust that the pastor would be very open and even eager for the help.
The Lincoln Diocese also has a Catechist Certification program through My Catholic Faith Delivered which includes short training videos and some online formation.
Finally, one would need to complete a background check and obtain a safe-environment training certification. Each of these requirements would be done through the parish.
I hope this answers your good question; I will offer a prayer to the Holy Spirit for you and for other Catholics who are thinking of becoming catechists and teaching the Catholic faith in CCD.
This question was answered by Father Andrew Heaslip, director of religious education for the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
