Volume XV, Issue XXVI July 6, 2026

Echoes~

Your Weekly Catechetical News from the

Office of Christian Formation

Greetings!

Catechetical Leader Gathering calendar for 2026-2027

Catechetical Leader Calendar

Annual Catechetical Leader Day of Reflection

Called to Minister in Jesus' Name

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

9:30 am - 2;30 pm

Marywood in the Wisdom Center

Our retreat speaker will be Brian Lemoi, Executive Director of the Franciscan Center in Tampa. Brian has served in many areas of the Catholic Church, beginning in education, then parish life, and then to the Pastoral Center in the Diocese of St. Petersburg where he served for 27 years in the areas of faith formation, evangelization, family life, and lay ministry. You will enjoy Brian's presentation as well as his fun sense of humor.

The day is open to all parish ministers.

Jotform to register

Yes, the OCF will be ordering in bulk the revised Liturgy of the Hours. I am awaiting pricing from both companies. I have registered DOSA with Ascension Press.

Family Faith Formation

As we work as a diocese to implement more fully what us asked for in the Directory for Catechesis, I share a few things as you begin to plan the new catechetical year.

Goal of all Catechesis:

Catechesis makes the initial conversion ripen and helps Christians to give a complete meaning to their existence, educating them in a mentality of faith in keeping with the Gospel, to the point of gradually coming to think, feel, and act like Christ." #77

A key element in the Directory is offering faith formation that is family centered and family friendly.

As mentioned, 2 years ago, the better title for programming with children/youth is some variation of Faith Formation. As the quote above tells us, it is more than rote memorization and doctrine. It is about the whole child and forming them to think, feel, and act like Christ.

Baby Steps a few simple ways to start followed by some more challenging proposals. Erin's local document.

NCCL Webinar ~ Forming a Team for Family Faith Formation power point and guide available in both English and Spanish

NCCL Seasonal Family Activities

Families Forming Disciples The Archdiocese of Atlanta has developed a year-by-year program that involves parents at every step. This is quite intensive and not the model used by their parishes, but it has a lot of great ideas for singular events and parent take homes.

The order form for the Annual Liturgical Book Orders (Year B) will be available beginning July 20. This order includes all LTP and LP publications.

Preparing Catechists and Teachers for the new Formation Year

Every catechist and teacher should be provided with a copy of the curriculum that they are expected to teach. You may find each grade, Pre -K - 8 at the following link. The high school religion curriculum will be under review this coming year.

Documents: These are also all found on the www.dosaformation.com website.

Bishop Pohmeier Letter for Curriculum

Director Letter for Curriculum

Curriculum (large file)

Guide for Parents to the Curriculum

Grade Level Prayers

Developmental Stages of Children for teachers/catechists

Developmental Stages of Children for Parents

Adult photo and media release form (updated)

Minor photo and Media Release Form (Updated)

The Theme of this Year's Catechetical Sunday

The chosen passage from Luke 4:18 reflects Jesus’ mission as anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring hope, healing, and freedom—especially to the poor, brokenhearted, and forgotten. It serves as a model for the Church’s ongoing mission to share the Gospel and care for those in need

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the third Sunday in September as Catechetical Sunday which this year is September 20.

Link to USCCB downloadable resources

Save the date: Saturday, October 3 for the 42nd Annual Faith Formation Day at

Bishop John J. Snyder High School.

Our main sponsor will be the Augustine Institute.

For your planning and to include on your OCIA calendar of gatherings:

Neophyte Day of Reflection: Sunday, May 30, 2027 from 2:00 pm - 7:00pm location TBD. All neophytes expected to attend.

Candidate Day of Reflection: Saturday, June 5, 2027 from 9:00 am - noon. All candidates brought into full Communion are welcome.

From our friends at the Tribunal: Easter is early this coming year. Therefore, the deadline to submit all, that is all paperwork for a full annulment will be July 15, 2026. Recall, this also does not mean an annulment will be automatically granted after 8 months or that it will only take 8 months. This is a best guess.

A Workshop on Marriage Law for Parish Professionals

An Introduction for parish workers, particularly those who are involved in OCIA, on the annulment process will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in the St. Cahterine Room on Saturday, July 25 from 9:30 am - noon. This workshop will aid you in accompanying people through the annulment process, especially those in the OCIA, covering the following:

~ The basics of the process

~ Key terminology

~ A look at the various types of annulments

~The timeline

$5 donation for handouts taken at the door.

Jotform to register

New!

Nuts and Bolts of the OCIA Process

This workshop is the introduction to the process of OCIA for new team members or for those who need a refresher.

Saturday, August 15 from 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Hurley Auditorium

Topics will include:

Overview of the process

Sorting the people into categories

Terminology

Best Practices

Fee is $10 per person, 3/$25. 6?$50...yes, we want you to sign up the whole team.

Jotform to register

A new online course for sponsors and godparents

Called to Accompany: A Guide for Sponsors and Godparents in the Catechumenate

We're launching a new online course just for sponsors and godparents in the catechumenate! Team Initiation’s new online training course, "Called to Accompany," consists of 32 short videos divided into an introduction and 4 training modules:

Introduction (2 videos, available now for free)
Module 1: Qualifications (4 videos, available now for free)
Module 2: Job Description (7 videos, available now for free)
Module 3: Important Dates for a Sponsor or Godparent (10 videos)
Module 4: The Spiritual Life of the Sponsor or Godparent (9 videos)

The Introduction and Modules 1 and 2 are free and open to everyone right now! Just Sign up here and share this link with your sponsors and godparents.

Another resource from Team Initiation:

Five powerful discernment practices for OCIA Teams

Adult Confirmation Dates for 2027:

Saturday, January 16 at 5:00 pm

(Epiphany Parish, Lake City)

Sunday, May 16 at 2:00 pm (Cathedral Basilica)

August 14 4:30 pm (Location TBD in Jacksonville)

Online course:

Welcoming. Including. Belonging.

What is Mass for All?

In these 8 modules, we will explore the many aspects of liturgical access - pastoral, practical, theological, and even financial. Tapping into a variety of perspectives - from those in lay ministry (both with and without a disability), from priests, and from loved ones of persons with disabilities - we will learn what needs to be considered when aiming to make a parish's/diocese's liturgical life fully accessible to persons with disabilities and their families.

In this course, we will answer questions like:

What is the difference between inclusion and belonging?
Why is it important to make a parish/diocese accessible from a theological perspective?
What are the practical accommodations that need to be made for those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
What physical changes need to be made to a church building to make it more accessible? What is universally accessible design, and who benefits from it (hint: more people than you might expect!)?

And so much more!

Complete this 8-module course at your own pace. Components of the course include ASL interpretations, captions, and transcripts.

Fee is $119.

Enroll in course

Education and Formation of Catechetical Leaders

As the program year comes to a close, NCCL is looking forward to offering a variety of new formation programs for catechetical leaders in 2026-27. Here's what's coming soon:

Welcome to Catechesis - a 4 Session Online Course in August for beginning leaders

· For information and registration go to: Welcome to Catechesis

NEW: Certificate in Family Faith Formation - October 2026

· A new three-course Certificate program focused on faith formation with families and parents.

· The first cohort launches in October. Stay tuned for more information.

NEW: Certificate in the Practice of Catechesis - In Spanish

· A new Certificate program designed around the needs of Hispanic catechetical leaders in Spanish-speaking parishes. The program will be taught in Spanish.

· The first cohort launches in early 2027: Stay tuned for more information.

NEW: Certificate in Adult Faith Formation - In 2027

· A new three-course Certificate program focused on faith formation with adults in parish communities.

You are cordially invited and encouraged to participate in an academic research project. Please share your perspective on “Catholic ecclesial dynamics present within Catholic systems and structures through an online quantitative survey questionnaire.” Survey respondents will be limited to priests and lay ministers. The survey is being conducted by Paul Jarzembowski, a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete.
The survey will be open from June 22 to August 15, 2026.
All responses are strictly confidential.
Selected participants may be chosen for a brief interview in the fall.
Participants must be 18 years of age.
Must be currently in service within a Catholic institution or community and have at least one year of service within that environment.
The survey responses will be collected in English.
For the sake of this research field of study, Bishops, Deacons, and consecrated men and women will not be asked to participate.
Parallel survey questions have been developed for priests and lay ministers; separate entry links have been developed for each.

Further details about the study and assurances of confidentiality can be found in the links below.

Priests are invited to enter the survey through this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/priest-survey-link

Lay leaders are invited to enter the survey through this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/lay-leader-survey-link

Bible Basics for Catholics~ A New Picture of Salvation History

Looking for an engaging and clear introduction to the Bible? Look no further as Ave Maria Press and John Bergsma have created a great small group resource.

This is an expanded version of an earlier edition that includes: study questions, videos, and group resources. It can be used by groups, families, individuals. It is a 7 week series.

Bible Basics for Catholics is in their Bulk Rate program, which makes each book $2.99 plus shipping. Cover price is normally $19.95. The videos from Bergsma are new and capture his well-loved teaching style and drawings. They do not have licenses for the videos, you only pay $15 for the entire series, and you can show it in a group setting.

Parish book programs (you ca check out all of their $2.99 bulk (over 100 copies) offerings.

Video access

The Heart of the Family Video Series

The McGrath Institute for Church Life announces the launch of The Heart of the Family, a seven-part video series created as part of the Holy Family Initiative for Family Catechesis to help families reclaim their identity as domestic churches, places where faith is lived, shared, and passed on at home.

Rooted in formation, community building, prayer, and action,The Heart of the Family meets families where they are in their journey and invites them into a deeper understanding of Christian parenting and family life.The program, available in English and Spanish, can be used by individual families, as well as by cohorts and in large parish or Catholic school gatherings. A leader's guide provides instructions to facilitate each session.

The video series grew out of years of pastoral experience and in-person family sessions offered in Spanish and English through evening gatherings. Members of the McGrath Institute team partnered with dioceses and parishes to develop new models of affiliation that respond to generational divisions between immigrant parents and first- and second-generation Hispanics born in the United States.

The series emphasizes inviting families to see their daily routines of mealtimes, bedtime rituals, sacrifices, and celebrations, not as obstacles, but as sacred moments of pilgrimage and grace.

Each session includes: