(Formerly known as P.S.R.)
555 St Joseph Lane, Manchester, MO 63021 636-391-1404 FAX 636-391-1462
PSR Office is located in the Education Office.
Dear St. Joseph Parents,
Welcome to a new year of Faith Formation at Saint Joseph Catholic Church, I am excited that you have made the commitment toward your child’s spiritual development. St. Joseph believes that Parents are the first and most important teachers of their children. To assist you in this important role, we are committed to providing the best faith development programs available. This means that our grade K-8 Faith Formation Program will look a little different moving forward as we will be adopting the Faith and Family model of Catechesis.
The Faith and Family model of catechesis grounds itself in the realization that family life is the place where faith and religion can have the most positive impact and the best chance of taking root in a child’s life.
The Faith and Family Formation Program is shaping up at St. Joseph to include the following: each month parents and children will attend one session at the parish, and complete two in home lessons. In addition to the academic work families will be expected to attend a few Faith and Family enrichment events spread throughout the year, and to take advantage of the plenty of opportunities to explore you and your child’s Catholic faith through other parish activities.
We are asking each family to sign up to be a part of one of four Journey Groups.
Faith & Family Programming | ||
Journey Group | Day Of Month | Time |
Journey Group B | First Tuesday | 4:45 - 6:15pm |
Journey Group C | Second Sunday | 9:00 - 10:30am |
Journey Group D | Second Tuesday | 6:00 – 7:30pm |
Journey Group E | Fourth Sunday | 9:00 - 10:30am |
When your journey group gathers for its sessions, everyone will start off in the Cafeteria for a brief introduction. Following the introduction the students will be escorted to a classroom where they will go through lesson one of this month’s teaching. While they are busy learning, parents will be given the information they need to teach lessons two and three at home.
In addition to attending your cohort’s meetings at the parish, we expected families to attend the following enrichment events that will involve all Faith and Family Journey groups. The following enrichment events are considered important for those attending the Faith and Family Formation Program.
*September 15, 2020 New Beginnings BBQ - Cancelled do to Covid Restrictions
*October 27, 2020 All Saints Mass & Halloween Party
*November 17, 2020 Thanksgiving Prayer Service & Service Opportunity
*February 23, 2020 Lent Prayer Service & Service Opportunity
*April 6, 2020 Easter Mass & Party
*May 18, 2020 End of Year Mass & Party
The Parish community will be hosting a wide variety of events this academic year and we want to participate in as many of them as possible so that you will truly feel that St. Joseph is your spiritual home and your child will receive an even great experience of God’s love and grace than he or she would if they simply attended a class for one night a week.
Children who desire to prepare to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time are expected to participate in our First Reconciliation and First Eucharist Preparation Program called Blessed in addition to our Faith and Family Programming.
Those who desire to participate in the Sacrament of Confirmation are expected to attend our Confirmation Preparation Program in addition to our Faith and Family sessions.
I pray and hope that you will find that our new approach will help your child grow closer to Jesus this year and that you will also find yourself being drawn closer to God throughout this process.
As I conclude this note to all of you, I want to ask you to ponder the fact that God gave the awesome task of raising up His son Jesus to Mary and Joseph. He did not entrust His beloved Son to angels but to normal human beings like you. In the same way God has blessed you with the great gift of your child but this gift comes with the responsibility of training him or her up in the faith. Know that we at St. Joseph want to help you in any way possible and we believe that you are up to the task God has entrusted to you.
St Joseph PSR is EXCITED…to offer a religious education class for children with special education needs!
Who can attend? Any child, 6 – 14 years old, with special needs whose needs cannot be met in a general religious education classroom. The classes are held Tuesday evenings at 6:30-7:15pm.
What will we teach? It is our desire to provide quality religious education, sacramental preparation and a living faith for children with special learning needs. We have a high ratio of teacher/helpers to students and work with parents to help the children benefit in the best possible way. Our primary goal is for children to know that God loves them.
What will we do? Have FUN learning about God! Jesus wants your child to grow in faith, too! Have courage! Contact us about religious education for your child!
Whenever possible children with special education needs will be integrated into a regular PSR classroom.
If you have a background in special education and would like to help by teaching a child or assisting in any other way, contact us!