Have you ever wondered what someone was talking about when they mentioned a program offered at church? If you have, there’s a good chance that program relates to teaching the faith to children! It’s easy to get lost in all of the new terminology, asking yourself: What is CCD? What is discipleship formation? Is that religious education? Are they the same thing? I can’t think of any other area of church life where there have been so many changes! Here is a quick breakdown of what these children’s programming titles mean and why they were changed.
First of all, many of us ‘older’ folks remember “religion class,” which was a subject in our Catholic school curriculum. Along with the many immigrants coming into the United States, especially in the early twentieth century, came clergy and religious brothers and sisters, who oversaw the building and staffing of Catholic schools. At the same time, Pope Pius X made a demand that all parishes provide classes using the direction of the existing “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine,” which had been established in Rome in the mid-1500s. The term CCD comes from that organization. That group put together catechisms (i.e., books that list important teachings of the Church), handbooks, and other resources, including a national gathering to discuss religious education. They worked like a well-oiled machine in the United States until 1975, when the National Center of Religious Education–CCD was suppressed and its ministry assigned to the department of education of the United States Catholic Conference (now called the United States Council of Catholic Bishops). For a while, CCD served as a generic term for non-school programs, but it no longer signified the highly organized and, in many places, very successful program of the early years. Some parishes, though, still use the antiquated term today.
With the movement past the term “CCD,” we had programs being labeled “religious education,” instead. These classes mirrored the classroom model for teaching and learning facts about the faith. It was from them that the title “Director of Religious Education,” or DRE, was formed. Additionally, those programs were still reliant on textbooks and catechisms, much like the offerings of the past, so the word “education” was still fitting.
The gradual switch to the term “religious formation” has happened in the last thirty years, or so. The parishes that embraced the term “formation” have done so to assert that they do more than educate. “Formation” entails their programs are aimed at: forming the heart for a love of Jesus and others, forming the head to understand the facts of the faith, and forming the hands to do service for the betterment of their communities and the glory of God.
Finally, today, we find the beginnings of a shift to the term “Discipleship Formation,” where you get my title, “Director of Discipleship Formation.” The idea behind this change is the recognition that Jesus told the apostles to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and not to form people in religion/religious beliefs. The term “religion/religious,” which had stood for years, was now seen as inadequate. “Religion” is, after all, a system or worship and beliefs. Discipleship is so much more than that. The term “formation” could stand, but it was determined that the new label for formation programs needed to include “discipleship.”
Having said all of this, you might still see parishes, or people, using the “old” names for their programs and personnel. You might also see unfamiliar names like “Parish Catechetical Leader (PCL),” that is often used for someone in catechetical leadership who doesn’t have a master’s degree (or maybe they do)! Back in the day, the Archdiocese of Detroit encouraged the use of “director” for degreed, professional staff and “coordinator” for the leadership that served under them. In reality, parishes did whatever they wanted. Heck! Even the words “catechist” and “catechetical” can seem crazy to us! The word “catechist” comes from a Greek word, which is translated as “to echo,” meaning Catechists echo the Word of God to their learners. It is also rooted in the idea of a person who catechizes, especially someone who instructs catechumens, all while connected to the use of a “catechism.” Phew! That was a lot! I hope this trek into describing what terms have been used and why they have been used was informative. That will, hopefully, set you up for your next card night with your Catholic friends!