Religious Education Programs in the Parish

Most of the teaching in the parish Sunday school programs for the elementary, middle, and high school is  done by college students. The education programs for our students are important for the future of the Church. This was made  clear in the Declaration of Christian Education from the Second Vatican Council. 

A priest writing in the Catholic Times reminds the readers of the importance of education both in the schools run by the church and in our Sunday school programs. However, he sighs, when he thinks of what is  happening in our formation programs for the students in the parishes. 

College students are busy preparing for employment after graduation. This requires preparation in getting their special training to meet the expectations of the different work places. They have to take aptitude  tests  for the different places of work, they even    have  academies to  prepare the students for these  exams and interviews. College  students  who have their eyes  on a civil servant job will need to prepare for these exams. Many need to work part time to  pay the tuition; colleges have become places to prepare for employment. 

This kind of environment society is asking college students to accept is making it difficult for them to prepare to teach in the Sunday school programs in the parishes. Problems are not limited only to one segment of society but the blame has to be shared by the churches, industry, colleges, and politics. Problems come from the choices made. Structures of society  are making it difficult to prepare for the future with the necessary religious knowledge that students need to have.

This is true for the college student teachers and those they are teaching. This is one  reason for the secularization of the Church and the members. The formation of our Christians for the future is not being done properly. He wants us to reconsider the whole issue of education for our young people and find ways to solve the problems.