The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is an essential element in the life of every parish; when implemented well, the process transforms a parish community while forming new disciples. Q&A on the RCIA: A Guide to Understanding Christian Initiation is an easy-to-use resource that will assist RCIA teams, catechists, liturgists, priests, and deacons as they navigate the initiation process. Pastorally and succinctly, this resource answers many frequently asked questions about the process of Christian initiation and its rites. This book: - provides a quick reference for any member of the RCIA team and parish staff - is divided by the four periods of the catechumenate process for easy reference - contains over 100 of the most frequently asked questions - gives practical guidance and wisdom to help direct initiation ministers

Resource Publications published this book in 2000 as part of their "ML Answers The 101 Most-Asked Questions" series. In this resource, Fr. Turner briefly and pastorally answers the most frequently asked questions he (and others) receives from RCIA coordinators, team members, and pastors, etc. It is designed as a quick reference for initiation ministers to give a general overview to parts of the process. Divided according to each period of the RCIA, Turner provides solid answers that reference the ritual.

This remarkable study sheds new light on American Indian mission, reservation, and boarding school experiences by examining the implementation of English-language instruction and its effects on Native students. A federally mandated system of English-only instruction played a significant role in dislocating Native people fromøtheir traditional ways of life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The effect of this policy, however, was more than another instance of cultural loss-English was transformed by and even empowered many Native students. Drawing on archival documents, autobiography, fiction, and English as a Second Language theory and practice, America's Second Tongue traces the shifting ownership of English as the language was transferred from one population to another and its uses were transformed by Native students, teachers, and writers. How was the English language taught to Native students, and how did they variably reproduce, resist, and manipulate this new way of speaking, writing, and thinking? The perspectives and voices of government officials, missionaries, European American and Native teachers, and the students themselves reveal the rationale for the policy, how it was implemented in curricula, and how students from dozens of different Native cultures reacted differently to being forced to communicate orally and in writing through a uniform foreign language.

Christian initiation is a gradual process "suited to the spiritual journey of adults that varies according to the many forms of God's grace, the free cooperation of the individuals, the action of the Church and the circumstances of time and place". How does that fit into a program modeled after the school year? It doesn't, argues Mary Birmingham. The Rite of Christian initiation of adults describes an initiation process that exists at the heart of the church's life and on the same schedule as the church: every day, all year long. This book will help you imagine, envision, understand and implement a year-round catechumenate in your parish. --Book cover