Age at which children start to learn theology at church

piphijana · #1 Jul 23, '08, 2:38 pm

HI, I'm brand new to these message boards so this should be fun :-)
My question is pretty simple: I'm a Christian who regularly attends a non-denominational church. I'm seriously considering marrying a Catholic and want to learn more about how children are raised in the Catholic faith. When I have gone to Mass with him I notice there are young children in the sanctuary. At what age does the Church offer "Sunday school" for children, is it right before their First Communion? Is this a Parish to Parish thing? Any help would be great.

Thanks and God bless!

BlessedMomof2 · #2 Jul 23, '08, 2:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by piphijana

HI, I'm brand new to these message boards so this should be fun :-)
My question is pretty simple: I'm a Christian who regularly attends a non-denominational church. I'm seriously considering marrying a Catholic and want to learn more about how children are raised in the Catholic faith. When I have gone to Mass with him I notice there are young children in the sanctuary. At what age does the Church offer "Sunday school" for children, is it right before their First Communion? Is this a Parish to Parish thing? Any help would be great.

Thanks and God bless!

Congrats on your possibly upcoming engagement!

It's generally a parish to parish thing but it's usually quite different than other Christian demoninations handle it. Where I hear my friends other other faiths talk about 'sunday school' they usually mean something that happens while the adults are at their services. In the Catholic church however children are encouraged and welcomed at Mass with their families. Education takes place outside of mass time. Since the Mass is the most important thing we want our kids there, present, no matter how they behave. Most parishes have formal religious ed programs starting in K or 1st grade with the kids making 1st Eucharist around 2nd grade. Beyond that, it's really the parents primary job to teach the children their faith, that's why participation at mass, even from a young age, is so very important. For the WHOLE family.

**puzzleannie** · #3 Jul 23, '08, 3:37 pm

many prayers for you and fiance. as a Catholic he will promise when he marries to accept the children God sends you and to raise them Catholic including bringing them to baptism and th other sacraments. You are required to make no promise, but must understand his obligations.

Children are taught Catholic faith and practice from their earliest days from the parents, their primary teachers, in the home and family life--prayers both formal and spontaneous, blessing asked for food, thanksgiving offered for gifts, bible stories, who Jesus is and stories about him, and so forth.

Children should begin formal religious education the same time they begin their academic studies, ideally in the setting of a Catholic school, and if that is not possible, through parish religion classes for children. These go by various names PSR (parish school of religion), CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) or just RE (Religious education. Some parishes also offer a preschool program either during Mass for convenience of parents, or at another time, usually staffed by parent volunteers.

Parents or other adults of the parish are trained to teach these classes which cover doctrine, teachings, prayers, practices, and of course scripture, using textbooks and other resources and good teaching practices. Some parishes use a traditional grade-level classroom approach, others have multi-generational or family programs.

Formal instruction is required almost universally for both children and parents before reception of sacraments of first confession, first communion and confirmation. Age varies with the diocese, usually around age 7 or 8 for the first two (assuming baptism in infancy) and confirmation, anytime from grade 2 or 3 to high school.

An infant should be baptized as soon as possible after birth, so it is wise to take the parent classes before the baby is born (also a lot easier).

you may wish to inquire about an RCIA class at your husband's parish, so you may learn more about his faith, and what your children will be learning one day. There is no requirement that you become Catholic when you marry one, although he must ask for formal permission to marry a non-Catholic. YOu will also be given some very good marriage preparation course and assistance, often with a sponsor couple, and can get some good answers that way.

Catholic children are expected to participate in formal religious and scriptural instruction throughout the school years, at home, in Catholic school, or via parish programs.

Pastor Jim · #4 Jul 28, '08, 7:27 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlessedMomof2

It's generally a parish to parish thing but it's usually quite different than other Christian demoninations handle it. Where I hear my friends other other faiths talk about 'sunday school' they usually mean something that happens while the adults are at their services.

No, Sunday School is in addition to the service. Both adults and children attend Sunday School.

Perhaps you're thinking of "Children's Church", which some churches have.

There are some larger churches that have two services and may have two Sunday School sessions to accomodate one group, while the other is in the service and then the two group switch. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

BlessedMomof2 · #5 Jul 28, '08, 7:35 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pastor Jim

No, Sunday School is in addition to the service. Both adults and children attend Sunday School.

Perhaps you're thinking of "Children's Church", which some churches have.

There are some larger churches that have two services and may have two Sunday School sessions to accomodate one group, while the other is in the service and then the two group switch. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

I don't really know what denomination these folks are, but my friends talk about something that their kids go to while they are in a service and they call it Sunday School. Their kids do not go into the service and/or they have their own service in the course of Sunday School but the kids do not interact with the adults in the "Grown Up" service. Truthfully, I don't spend a lot of time wondering about it though. I suppose each church and each denomination does their own thing, none of which is really relevant to the way it's done in the Catholic Church which was the OP's question.

Feedmysheep · #6 Jul 28, '08, 2:02 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pastor Jim

No, Sunday School is in addition to the service. Both adults and children attend Sunday School.

Perhaps you're thinking of "Children's Church", which some churches have.

There are some larger churches that have two services and may have two Sunday School sessions to accomodate one group, while the other is in the service and then the two group switch. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

Every single Protestant community I have ever known anyone to be a part of segregates children DURING services. They may stay for part of the service, come up for a children's sermon, then leave for the brunt of the service. Or they may be dropped off at their Sunday school class by their parents, who then go to service, and pick the children up after it's over.

However, I understand the nature of Protestant communities varies wildly, so I completely understand that your particular community, and the ones you're familiar with, run things differently. But to say that no Protestant groups segregate children from the main worship service isn't true.

Pastor Jim · #7 Jul 28, '08, 2:21 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feedmysheep

Every single Protestant community I have ever known anyone to be a part of segregates children DURING services.

Some do, some don't. As long as what they're doing is Biblically based, I have no problem with either decision.

Quote:

Or they may be dropped off at their Sunday school class by their parents, who then go to service, and pick the children up after it's over.

Like I said, Sunday School doesn't take place at the same time as the service, unless there are two services and they must go to two sessions of SS in order to accomodate a large congregation.

Quote:

But to say that no Protestant groups segregate children from the main worship service isn't true.

I don't think that's what I said.

BlestOne · #8 Jul 30, '08, 11:38 pm

Catholics are encouraged to bring their children to mass. So you will see alot of kids there usually. Some parishes have Sunday school on Sundays... some have CCD or PSR on weekdays after school. My parish has it on Sundays at a time when there are no masses... but my sister's parish has it on Weds after school.

We consider the parents to be the primary teachers and you will see if you are blessed with children, they love to learn about their faith. The best way to teach is by example and to teach them at home as well as take them to mass with you. Some ages are more difficult than others but any kid that goes on a regular basis usually will behave better than those whose parents don't bring them regularly.

One time I babysat my gf's kids while her and her dh went out of town. My kids were used to going to mass but hers were not. So I piled up the kids in the car and trekked off to mass... with 6 kids...by myself! The oldest was about 11 or 12 and the youngest was 6 mos... Hmmm... 6mos, 2 yrs, (2) 6yo's, 8 yo and 11... sounds about right. Anyway, I assigned all my kids a kid to watch (3 were mine and 3 were hers). It worked out beautifully and I had so many people come up to me and tell me how amazed they were at how good the kids were... my oldest had the baby, my middle had the 2 yo and my dd had a little girl her age... my kids set an awesome example because they had been going all their lives. After that my gf went every week with me and brought her kids too... because they begged her... they wanted to learn about Jesus.

By the time my kids were a year and a half to two yrs old, they could say prayers with me every night before bed and at meal times. Most of them knew their prayers before they knew the alphabet. By the time they were in school, they knew all the standard prayers and they knew the sacraments... it is repetitious but if you go over it every night they will learn quickly.

My earliest memories were praying before bed time and I was probably about 3-4 at the time... so generally those are the ages we teach them at home. The funny thing was that I had a harder time learning English than saying my prayers... I learned English at about 3 yo... but prayers were always in Polish at home and I understood them more than English...until I was about 4 and started reading in English. I guess my dad really wanted us to be bilingual.