St Mary of the Visitation

Faith Formation

Schedule                                                                                                     2009-2010

October                                                                                                               Chapter(s)

18-Registration/ first class for Pre-k- 8 parent meeting                                             5 & 6

25-Think 1st,  Stay Safe program-Pre-K-8                                                                7

November                                                                                                                             

1-All Saints                     1st Rec-lessons 1&2   parent meeting                                 8

8                                      1st Rec- lesson 3                                                                  9

15                                    1st Rec-lesson 4                                                                10 & 11

22                                    1st Rec- lesson 5                                                                 12

29               ADVENT BEGINS **THANKSGIVING** NO CLASS

December                                                                                                                             

6                                       1st Rec-Retreat-lesson 6                                                   13 & 14

13                                                                                                                               15 & 16

20                          CHRISTMAS FAMILY CELEBRATION

27                          CHRISTMAS WEEKEND ** NO CLASS

January                                                                                                                                 

3                                HAPPY NEW YEAR! **  NO CLASS

10                                 1st E & C -lesson 1                                                              17 & 18

17                                                                                                                                 19

24                                 1st E & C -lesson 2                                                                 25

31                                 1st E & C -lesson 3                                                                 26

February                                                                                                                                              7                                   1st E & C -lesson 4                                                                 27

                         LENT BEGINS ** ASH WEDNESDAY FEB 17

21                             ALL AGE LENTEN RETREAT

28                                1st E & C -lesson 5/6                                                               20            

March                                                                                                                                     

7                                  1st E & C -lesson 7/8                                                               21

14                                                                                                                                 22

21                                1st E & C -RETREAT                                                             23

28                                1st E & C RETREAT (snow date)                                           24

April                                                                                                                                        

4                          HAPPY EASTER! **  NO CLASS

11                                                                                                                                 28

18                       CONFIRMATION & 1st EUCHARIST**  NO CLASS                        

25                                                                                                                                 1 & 2

May                                                                                                                                        

2                                                                                                                                     3

16                                                                                                                                   4

23                    ALL AGE EVENT TO HONOR MARY ** LAST CLASS

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St Mary of  the Visitation

                                                    Religious Education Handbook

Mission:  It is the mission of the Religious Education Commission to provide continuing education and formation for the adults of our parish and assist parents and guardians in the education and faith formation of their children.

Persons responsible for implementing programs:

      parish priest:  Fr. David Raymond

      religious education coordinators:  Mary Armour, PCL

                                                             Janet Barker

      Office hours:  Sundays, 8AM-1PM and weekdays by                                                                                                appointment.  532-9122- St. Anthony’s Hall

                             Mary  (h)757-8507        Janet (h) 532-3581

Introductory Note:  This handbook is intended to inform and guide students, parents, and catechists in participating in religious education programs.  The information here is not comprehensive nor intended to limit the practices and duties needed for the completion of the mission stated above.  Rather the following should be considered as guiding principles to help participants decide in their particular situation what will be most constructive toward reaching our mutual goals.  We ask families to promote within each of your own families respect for the guidelines set out in this handbook.  We also ask that you attempt to live out the spirit of our parish Mission Statement and the values which are espoused both in the statement and in this handbook.  No part of this document should be considered a promise of any particular service or result and may be changed without notice as circumstances warrant.

General Provisions:  It is our intention that all students, catechists, and other participants use their own good sense in providing a safe setting and circumstances that are conducive to the activity at hand.  This will require preparation and rule setting by the leaders and cooperation and involvement by all others.  Program leaders will do their best to provide plans and schedules for events and participants are expected to follow these plans and schedules unless alternate arrangements have previously been made with the responsible leader.

      Though relationships between participants are an important part of our programs, our programs are only intended to educate and provide spiritual development.  Any situation appropriate to counseling or other specialized service will be referred to others qualified to provide that service.

      As a private program we are not bound by the constitutional requirements placed on government programs.  We intend to provide the best services possible to parish members as a whole and as is consistent with the values of the Church.  For example, presentation of some topics may be restricted if it is judged to not be consistent with the effective conduct of the program or contrary to the values of the Church.

Admission:  Admission is available to members of St. Mary’s Parish except for the RCIA program which is intended to welcome those who are not members into our parish.   Age limits are applied to many education programs.  Other criteria may be imposed on individuals or classes when the director of religious education judges this to be in the best interest of the program goals.

      Availability of programs and schedules will be announced through the church bulletin and by other postings.  Generally a sign up sheet will be made available as part of this process.  In some circumstances individuals may be contacted by director of religious education or activity leader.

      A similar process will be used to recruit volunteers to lead program activities.  Employees will be recruited by the director of religious education.  The director of religious education will be responsible for selection of employees and volunteers.

Supervision:  The director of religious education supervises and is responsible for training all other employees and volunteers of religious education programs.  The general goals and direction of programs and operations are overseen by the Religious Education Commission.

Participation:  All students and their parents are expected to be present for scheduled activities and to participate in those activities including making their individual contributions.  If a parent brings a child to a scheduled activity they should be brought to the activity leader so that person can accept responsibility for supervision during that activity.  Likewise the parent is expected to pick up the child from the activity leader at the scheduled end of the activity.

      Catechists will be expected to participate in training arranged by the director of religious education.

Off Site Activities:  Some programs will involve activities that take place away from the premises controlled by the Parish.  Transportation may be provided by the participants, family members, activity leaders or others.  Any vehicle used will be registered, inspected, and have liability insurance.  All drivers must be at least 21 years old and have a good driving record.  It is the responsibility of the participant or parent to notify the activity leader or director of religious education of any limitations they want to place on transportation or destinations.

Curriculum:  Programs and the curriculum for programs are selected and developed by the director of religious education in consultation with the Religious Education Commission.

Discipline Policy: 

Participants:  If a student disrupts the class, they will be sent to meet the catechetical leader.  Upon returning to the class, they must apologize to the catechist and the class.  if a student is sent to the catechetical leader more than three times in a three month period, the parents will be called.  The parents must come in for a conference before the child returns to class.

Employees and volunteers:  Employees and other activity leaders will be expected to set an example for other participants by their professionalism, respect, and compassion for participants.

      Parish material and equipment will be prudently used only for the activities conducted in pursuit of the above mission.

      Sexual harassment and other forms of demeaning behavior have no place in a catechetical program.  Guarding the dignity of all members of the parish community should be a priority for all participants.

Abuse monitoring and reporting:  When a parish employee or volunteer knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child participating in a parish program has been or is likely to be abused or neglected, that person will immediately notify the pastor.  In cases of imminent danger and the pastor is unavailable, the parish employee or volunteer will report directly to the state Department of Human Services (DHS) at 532-5000 or (800)432-7338 during 8 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. on weekdays or at (800)452-1999 on evenings, weekends, or holidays.  The child should not be allowed to leave the premises without the knowledge of DHS in the case of imminent danger.

      Any allegation involving employees or volunteers of St. Mary’s Parish will be investigated and dealt with as appropriate by the parish priest.

Health:  parents are asked to notify the Religious Education office at the beginning of the school year if a child has a physical or mental problem.  This is especially important if the child is subject to seizures, is asthmatic, or has serious allergies to certain foods, insect bites, etceteras.  Since we do not have a nurse on staff, we do not administer medication.  Any medication needed by a child should be administered by the parent or school nurse before our classes begin.  If a child has a temperature or does not feel well in class, the parent or guardian will be called to take the child home.

      Participants who suspect or know that their presence may risk infecting others are asked to not attend activities.  Our program does not have any medical or first aid specialists and cannot provide any of those services.  If any accident or illness results in a spill of any body fluid the activity leader will be responsible for using personal protective equipment and disinfecting the area.

      A participant who is ill or injured should immediately report to the activity leader who will take appropriate action.  Every effort will be made to contact the parent or guardian but the church will secure emergency treatment if necessary.  it is the parent or guardian’s responsibility to pay for any emergency services.

Incident Reporting:  Any accident or serious incident should be described in writing, signed, and dated and submitted to the parish priest.  Any serious problems, e.g. disciplinary breaches, talk of harm to themself or another, or physical or emotional distress should be reported to the person’s guardian if they have one.  It is our position that communication with and involvement of the family is a high priority in the resolution of any problems.

Confidentiality:  Any record containing information about any participant involved in our programs is considered confidential and will be released to no one other than the person, their guardian, or Church employees or volunteers that need to use that information in performing their duties.  A written release signed by the person or their guardian and specifying to whom and what records are to be released can give permission to others to access records.  Records will be stored in areas that are considered not generally available to those not authorized to have access to those records.

      Any area controlled by the Parish for program purposes should not be considered private and any material in these areas may be accessed by program leaders and disposed of as they judge appropriate.  The person of anyone involved in our program is always protected by the laws of the State of Maine and no personal searches will be conducted under any circumstances.  If any dangerous or illegal materials is known or suspected to be in the possession of a participant the person’s parents or appropriate authorities will be contacted to address the situation.

Appeal:  Any appeal of program practice or decisions should be addressed to the director of religious education and if then unresolved to the parish priest, his decision will be final.

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I , __________________________, a participant in St. Mary’s religious education program have read the Religious Education Handbook revised  02/09 and agree to participate in accordance to the principles presented here.

________________________________________    _________________

name                                                                            date

I , __________________________, a parent or guardian of the above participant in St. Mary’s religious education program have read the Religious Education Handbook revised  02/09 and agree to abide by and support the principles presented here.

________________________________________    _________________

name                                                                            date

__________________________________________________________________________

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St. Mary of the Visitation

Faith Formation Program

2009/2010 Catechists

Pre-k  Melissa Berube

K  Cruz Cruz

1 Jenifer & Brent Conley

2 Cory &  Don Ardell

3 & 4 Debra Guiod & Betty Ann Childers

5 & 6 Rudy Levesque

          Marie Wiggins

          Kim Levesque

          Isaac Brown

7 & 8 Piotr Banas

Faith Formation Coordinators

Office hours:  Sunday 7-11 AM, and by appointment

207-532-9122

Mary Doster Armour.  PCL

207-757-8507 (h)

Janet I. Barker

207-532-3581 (h)

Our Faith Formation Program at St. Mary’s includes classes , events and groups for all ages,  beginning with our preschool,  (We ask that the very young children be accompanied by a parent).  We have classes,  retreats and events for children of school age. Parents and parishioners of all ages are invited to our multi-age events.  St. Mary’s has Youth Ministry for Jr. High and High School students,  which are made up of service and faith formation components.

For adults,  we have a newly formed Young Adult Ministry,  which meets monthly and provides the opportunity for prayer,  faith enrichment,  and fellowship with other young Catholics.  During the year,  there are many opportunities for adults of all ages to participate in classes,  Bible Study and prayer groups, some ongoing,  and some centered around specific times in our Liturgical year,  such as our Disciples in Mission Program. 

An important component of our Faith Formation Program is Sacrament Preparation.  There are opportunities for anyone who wishes to learn more about the Catholic Faith,  and for those who wish to complete the Sacraments of Initiation and fully participate in a life of Faith in our Catholic Church.  To learn more about any of the programs we offer, we encourage you to contact the Rectory or our Faith Formation Coordinators.