Presentation Children's Religious Education Program Overview
 
The mission of the Religious Education Program is to facilitate the continuing spiritual growth and faith formation of the children of Presentation Parish so that the kingdom of God may be realized more fully in our world.

Regular Meeting Times:
Sunday mornings 9:00 am - 10:15 am at the school
 
The goals of the program are:

• To develop an awareness of God’s great love, discern it’s meaning in one’s life and respond with gratitude through formal and informal prayer.
• To grow in the Christian values of love, peace, justice, friendship and trust as daily means of enriching personal and communal life.
• To nurture the Sacraments of Initiation and of Reconciliation as a means of personal renewal and identity with the Catholic Church community.

The purpose of Presentation’s Religious Education Program is to teach children about God’s Word, the Catholic Church and their responsibilities as Catholic Christians. In class, the children will hear about the importance of prayer in their lives. The children will learn that one of the privileges of “being Catholic” is worshipping within the community at Mass. Attending Mass regularly is one of the most important factors in religious education. During this sacred celebration, children put into practice what is taught in class and encouraged and lived at home.

Presentation Religion Education for children strives to be a “family-centered” program. We partner with parents to nourish and develop children’s faith according to the basic principle defined by the Church: Parents are the primary educators of their children. Our classroom volunteers work to support the efforts of parents, but we assume that parents are the primary educators of their children in the faith, teaching both traditional prayers and the art of prayer, attending Mass every Sunday together as a family, and leading them in living a life a charity. We work with students with learning disabilities and also offer a Special Education class.

  
Regularly scheduled, weekly religious education classes meet on Sunday mornings from September through May.
 
Sacrament Schedule:

• The Sacrament of Holy Eucharist will be received in 2^nd grade.
• The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be received in 2nd grade.
• The Sacrament of Confirmation will be received in 8^th grade.

Baptized children who have not received Holy Eucharist and/or Reconciliation may attend special sacrament classes at their grade level. Details on these sacrament classes will be available later in the year.
 
Pre catechumenate/Inquiry classes are provided for children ages eight through fourteen years. After a few months of study these children are accepted into the Catechumenate with the adults in the Rite of Christian Initiation of adults (R.C.I.A.). During Lent the children, with the adults go through the “Rites of Sending/Election”. Both groups meet at the Cathedral for a special ceremony in the presence of the Bishop. These children and adults are Baptized in the Catholic faith at the Easter Vigil, and received into the Church.
 
First grade classes begin the remote preparation for the reception of the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation in 2^nd grade. Beginning in 3rd and continuing through 8^th grade, the children study the Catholic faith, learning more about the sacraments already received, and preparing to be confirmed in the Holy Spirit at Confirmation.
 
Through out the Religious Education school year there are many opportunities for families to grow in their Catholic faith: Rites of Enrollment for the sacraments, Sunday Masses, Holy days of obligation, parent meetings, Family Reconciliation  Services, Advent and Lent activities, service projects, Stations of the Cross, May Crowning of Our Blessed Mother, Corpus Christi procession and many more.