When the 2021-22 academic year began, Delaware St. Mary School welcomed its students back with a new Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a method of religious education for children in which the values of contemplation and enjoyment of God are emphasized and experienced. The lessons take place in a particularly arranged space called the Atrium, which contains specific religious objects for children to explore, such as small chalices, candles or figurines.
Emily Wu, religious education coordinator at St. Mary, brought CGS to the parish. “When I started at St. Mary’s, I realized quickly that (the) community … was yearning for the truth for their children,” she said. “Parents and catechists continually shared with me their desire to have a program that their kids were excited … about.”
Wu said parishioners wanted a program that enabled children to encounter Christ, as opposed to simply learning facts about the faith. Wu had taught CGS in Michigan before moving to Ohio. “I had experienced in my previous position that CGS brought the community together, building relationships in the classroom community but also in the larger parish community,” she said.
In fall 2019, Wu received a grant from the Catholic Foundation for St. Mary to launch a CGS program. “Then COVID in 2020 put things on hold,” she said, “but I continued making the materials (for a CGS classroom) in hopes that one day it would be able to start.”
Also during that time, Wu befriended Cathy Johanni, the Columbus diocese CGS catechist trainer. “(Cathy) was such a helpful person to brainstorm ideas for building the program in the parish,” Wu said.
Then, at the beginning of 2021, Father Brett Garland became pastor at St. Mary and encouraged Wu to continue the process of bringing CGS to their church. “The advantage of CGS is that it creates an environment of encounter, a space in which the child is introduced to Jesus, the Good Shepherd,” Father Garland said.
“When you visit a CGS Atrium, you realize it is more like a chapel than it is a classroom. I think some catechesis programs are ineffective because they underestimate the spiritual capacity of children. CGS, on the other hand, recognizes that every child has a deep inner life that needs to be nourished. Rather than watering down the richness of Scripture and liturgy, CGS introduces children to these great treasures of the Church in an interactive yet substantive way.”
With the support of her pastor, Wu began marketing CGS to the parish. And, with the help of many others, she began transforming an old Victorian house on the church property into an Atrium.
Wu said she received donations of time and money from the Knights of Columbus, the Women’s Group and the Boy Scouts. “I also had the help of woodworkers to build beautiful custom shelves for the space,” she said. “It is just so beautiful and humbling to already see the community coming together. … When the Lord and his mother want something to happen, they pave ways and move mountains.”
By the end of summer, the Atrium was completed for level one (3- to 6-year-olds) and level two (6- to 9-year-olds) CGS programs. Johanni, who is now a teacher for the St. Mary level two program, said, “Working with the community at St. Mary’s has been a great blessing for me.”
As someone who is not a St. Mary parishioner, Johanni said she can observe the community with an outsider’s perspective. “I have done CGS for over two decades and in a variety of settings, … so I have a lot to compare with St. Mary’s. What I notice particularly about this community is the wealth of faith already within the families … and I, as a catechist, can build upon that groundwork of a strong domestic church.”
The parish’s CGS program includes St. Mary School students, some homeschooling children and the Parish School of Religion students. They range in age from 3 to 9, but program administrators hope eventually to serve children up to age 12.
