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NCCL Mission

CATECHETICAL LEADER MAGAZINE:

 

Below you'll find the full collection of NCCL's proprietary publication (61 issues).

Articles within span a variety of topics related to spirituality, Catholic culture, and ways that catechists can embrace education and engagement. Permission is granted for downloading, printing, and freely sharing content with your leaders and students. 

CONFERENCE RECORDINGS:

In an effort to make catechetical education accessible for Catholic dioceses nationwide, NCCL gathers our community together for Free Online Conferences throughout the year.

Below, you'll find descriptions of past events, access to session videos, and associated documents.

Issues Published from 2004 - 2020:

Discernment & Discipleship

February 2020

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Cry of the Earth in Pan-Amazonia
  2. Catholic Social Teaching: Illusion or Vision
  3. Motherless Children: The African American Youth & Young Adult Ministry Struggle
  4. Get Started in Social Media with These Simple Steps
  5. Dealing with Doubt:What We Can Learn from Famous Doubters
  6. Bringing Hope to Marriages and Families Initiative
Download PDF

Accompanied by the Spirit

November 2019

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Prophetic Dimension of Catechesis in Difficult Times
  2. Accompaniment: The Melody Continues
  3. “Take Five”: Basic Principles for Cultivating Catechists
  4. Engaging Parents
  5. NCCC: Time to Take a Good, Hard Look
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A New Generation of Faith

August 2019

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Discipleship Isn’t as Exciting as Youth Ministry Makes It Seem
  2. Let’s Watch Our Language
  3. Why Children in the RCIA Need a Community, Not a Classroom
  4. Front and Center: The Eucharist and Missionary Discipleship
Download PDF

Forming Leaders to Evangelize

May 2019

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Unity in Diversity: Ministering in an Intercultural Parish
  2. Reaching the “Nones” as Missionary Tacticians
  3. Go, Make Disciples!
  4. Catechetical Leadership as Evangelization
  5. What We Learned From Storefront Evangelization
Download PDF

The Fire of Faith

February 2019

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. With Fire in Our Hearts: The Journey to an Evangelizing Catechesis
  2. No Hablo Español
  3. Accountability and Pastoral Care:
  4. Leadership in Thorny Situations
  5. Engaging Teenagers: Reclaiming the Art of Scavenging
  6. Proclaiming Joy through Social Media
Download PDF

Our Story of Faith

October 2018

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Minding the Gap: Ministry and Transition from Youth to Young Adulthood
  2. Rediscovering the Journey: The Catechumenate Inspires All Catechesis
  3. Stories Have a Role in Nurturing Faith
  4. Sharing the Message of Mercy through the Big Screen
Download PDF

Steadfast Witness

August 2018

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. We Need Witnesses: Forming Young People and Adults through Stories of Grace
  2. How to Put Adults at the Center of Formation
  3. Walking with Youth: Preparing for the Synod on Young
  4. People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment
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The Joy of Walking with Christ

May 2018

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Sophia’s Circle: Comforting the Brokenhearted
  2. Setting the World on Fire:Catechesis through an Evangelizing Lens
  3. Seeking Spiritual Balance in an Off-Kilter World
  4. Moving from Disability Ministry to Disability Integration
  5. The Art of Accompaniment
Download PDF

Grace and Faith

April 2017

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Faith Formation for the Generations & Seasons of Adulthood
  2. Faith Formation with Young Adults
  3. They Could Trample Me: Overcoming Fear in Middle School Ministry
  4. Leaving a Legacy of Faith:Naming Grace in the Domestic Church
  5. A New Approach: Evangelizing in the Classroom
Download PDF

Discipleship, Evangelization, and Mercy

February 2017

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Catechetics for a Field Hospital Church
  2. How to Make Saints and Evangelize People
  3. Moving in the Direction of Mercy
  4. Joined to Christ: Confirming Adolescents
  5. Matthew’s Gospel and the Process of Transforming Leaders
Download PDF

Call to Merciful Missionary Formation

October 2016

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Hour of the Laity
  2. Tú Eres Mi Otro Yo— Mercy and Immigration
  3. Shifting Our Focus: A Missionary Approach to Catechesis
  4. The Dynamics of Conversion in the RCIA
Download PDF

Inspiring Mercy through Ministry

July 2016

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Face-to-Face with Jesus:Helping Children Experience the Year of Mercy
  2. A CatholicImagination—Imagine That!
  3. Merciful Ministry
  4. All Are Welcome: Catechesis and Special Needs
  5. Meeting Them Where They Are: Catechizing Young People through Visual Language
  6. Igniting the Domestic Church
Download PDF

Mercy, Prayer, Openness

April 2016

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Master Catechist: Pope Francis’s Pedagogy of Mercy
  2. Challenging Conversations: Strategies for Working Through Ministerial Conflicts
  3. Water and Oil, Robe and Candle: The Symbols and Significance of Baptism
  4. I’m Over Facebook! What Parish Leaders Must Know About Social Media Today
  5. The Problem and the Antidote to People Leaving the Church
Download PDF

Encountering a Merciful God

January 2016

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Misericordiae Vultus: Connecting Mercy with Mission
  2. The Shape of a Rite of Reaffirmation
  3. Ever Ancient, Ever New: Encounter-Driven Catechesis
  4. Red Ink and BlueSkies: Planning for Renewal While Managing Decline
  5. Six Amazing Things Every RCIA Inquirer Has to Learn
Download PDF

Evangelization through Accompaniment

November 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Sorting Fish: What the New Evangelization Might Learn From the RCIA
  2. Take Aim: Family Involvement in Faith Formation
  3. Create a Family Culture of Spirituality 
  4. First Sacrament Preparation with Families
  5. Mercy Me,Mercy You: A Parish Catechetical Leader’s Primer for the Coming Jubilee
Download PDF

Innovative Discipleship

September 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Sharing the Great Story
  2. Invest in the Church Today for a Better Tomorrow: U.S.-Born Hispanic Youth
  3. Disciple Building in Youth Ministry
  4. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd: Where a Child Can Fall in Love with God
  5. Is Faith a Private Matter?
Download PDF

Imaginative Evangelization

July 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Unleashing Your Imagination: Living Joyfully is Not a Fantasy
  2. Fourteen Ideas for Adult Faith Formation: Send the Faithful Out on Mission to the World
  3. Who, Me, An Evangelist?
  4. ​Growing Up Catholic: Coaching Parents to Form their Own Children in Faith
  5. Preparing Those with Special Needs to Receive the Sacraments
Download PDF

Responding to God's Call

May 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. God’s Gift of Forgiveness
  2. Youth Ministry is Everyone’s Ministry
  3. God’s Gift of Forgiveness
  4. Church Authority and Assent:Clarifications Ahead of Pope Francis’ Encyclical
  5. Who Will Fill These Shoes?
  6. How Mary Taught Jesus to Bring Peace to Relationships
  7. Religious Education Tuition and Financial Assistance: Balancing Value
Download PDF

Leading in Faith

March 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Methodologies for Effective and Successful Adult Faith Formation
  2. What Parables Can Teach the Synod Fathers and the Church Today
  3. The Synod on the Family—and Religious Educators
Download PDF

Culture, Community, Invitation

January 2015

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Living the Life! Parish Life as the Curriculum 
  2. Born Into a Culture, Shaped by a Culture
  3. “For the Forgiveness of Sins”
  4. Adult Faith Formation: A plan for parishes
  5. The New Evangelization and Disseminating the Good News
Download PDF

Catechist as Witness

March 2014

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. To Know the Place for the First Time
  2. Effective Witness Formation:Developing Catechists for the New Evangelization
  3. Pope Francis: “I am a Catechist” 
  4. Marriage and Holy Orders: Sacraments of Witness for the Modern World
  5. The Elephant in the Room: Catechetical Leaders Speak about the Sunday Homily
Download PDF

Encountering Christ

January 2014

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Encountering Christ in the Family
  2. Mentoring Young Adults into Ministry
  3. Becoming an Evangelizer: Paul’s Story and Yours
  4. Making Disciples—for a Lifetime! 
  5. Mentoring Young Adults into Ministry
  6. Following @Pontifex
Download PDF

The Family of Faith

November 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Catechesis: Six Ways to Strengthen Families in Your Parish
  2. Connecting with Parents:Seven Skills That Will Make Your Job Easier
  3. Life Long Faith Formation
  4. Called to be Witnesses in the New Evangelization: Lessons from the Saints
  5. Rural Catechesis
Download PDF

Preparing for the Journey

September 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Catechesis: Equipping for Encounter
  2. Adult Faith Formation: A Lifelong Journey
  3. Catechetical Resourcing: From Center to Service, 
  4. New Pope, New Evangelization, New Return to Old (but Good) Ideas 
  5. Celebrating Ten Plots in One Story: Catechesis and the Catholic Imagination
Download PDF

Making Disciples

July 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Breaking Open the Six Tasks of Catechesis in the Classroom and in Life
  2. The Evangelizing Parish Today
  3. The Effective Catechetical Leader
  4. Ministry to Families Interagency Task Force Report
  5. Leading to Christ 
  6. Baptismal Preparation Ministry and Beyond: The Richest Ministerial Soil for Evangelizing Young Families
Download PDF

Catechesis in a Secular Age

May 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. C​atechetics in the Years After Vatican II
  2. Embrace New Methods: The Intersection of New Media and Catechesis
  3. Teaching Against Capital Punishment
  4. My Heart Burns within Me: Sunday Preaching and the Catechesis of Young People
  5. The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
Download PDF

Small Steps to a Great Faith

March 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Catechesis in the Year of Faith
  2. The Little Way of the New Evangelization
  3. The Year of Faith and the New Evangelization
  4. Catechetical Leaders, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Facts, Figures, and Questions
Download PDF

New Ministry in a New Age

January 2013

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Creating New Witnesses for New Evangelization
  2. We Never Did It That Way Before!
  3. Young Adults, Baptismal Preparation, and the Invitation to Belong
  4. Faith Formation for the 21st Century
Download PDF

The Door of Faith

November 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. wo Big Ideas to Help You Open the Door of Faith
  2. The Door of Faith Reflects the Experience of Our Lives
  3. Faith: Holding It All Together
  4. Porta Fidei: A Door for the New Evangelization
  5. A Catechetical Response to the Church’s Teachings on Caring for God’s Creation
  6. Catechesis since the Second Vatican Council: An Incomplete Reflection (Part 2)
Download PDF

New Evangelization

September 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Two-Millennium-Old New Evangelization
  2. The Encounter with an Event, a Person
  3. The New Evangelization: New and Improved or Just New Packaging?
  4. Co-Workers Leads to Cohort
  5. Catechesis since the Second Vatican Council: An Incomplete Reflection (Part 1)
Download PDF

Unity and Diversity

July 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Ministry of Catechetical Leaders in Pluricultural Parishes
  2. Discipleship Training: Helping Children Be Like Jesus
  3. Home and Parish: Partners in Faith Discipleship Training:
  4. Focus on a Catechetical Pioneer: Reverend Pierre Babin, OMI
  5. Anchoring Confirmation’s Place to the Eucharist: A Catechetical Success Story
Download PDF

Eucharist, Mystery, Faith

May 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Formed by Eucharist, Sent in Mission
  2. Mystagogy: Seek the Mystery 
  3. ​Ten Advantages of Intergenerational Catechesis
  4. Connect, Awaken, and Share: Three Ways to Engage Parents in the Faith Formation of their Children
Download PDF

Catechesis and Cultural Change

March 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Changing Ministry of the Parish Catechetical Leader
  2. The New Framework for Adolescent Catechesis
  3. Invitations to Growth
  4. The Development of Catechesis in 20th Century America
Download PDF

Imagine

January 2012

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Imagine Making Disciples of all Nations
  2. Immigration as Pilgrimage
  3. Storytelling as a Catechetical Tool in Eucharist Formation
  4. Called to Discipleship
Download PDF

Saints, Scripture, and Solidarity

November 2011

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Vincent de Paul’s Recipe for Solidarity
  2. Connecting Catholic Families with the Bible
  3. Becoming a Saint by Being Drawn into Trinitarian Conversation
  4. Transitions — A Transformational Journey
Download PDF

Symbol, Sacrament, and Witness

October 2011

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Thinking about the New Evangelization
  2. Catechizing with Symbol, Ritual, and Story
  3. Catechetical Leaders and Pastoral Planning
Download PDF

Catechesis through a Spiritual Lens

September 2011

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Future of Catechesis through a Spiritual Lens
  2. Accept a Life of Peace and All that It Embraces
  3. The American Experience of “Catechism"
Download PDF

The Past, Future, and Present of Catechesis

July 2011

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Life-Giving Spirit of Jesus in the Gospel of John
  2. The Future of Catechesis
  3. We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe
  4. National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis
Download PDF

Eucharist and Catechesis

June 2011

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Eucharist: Source and Fulfillment of Catechetical Teaching
  2. Catechesis on the Eucharist: New Testament Models
  3. The Eucharist and Conversion
Download PDF

Sharing the Earth's Resources Equitably

Sept-Oct 2010

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Sharing the Earth’s Resources Equitably: Not Constraint, But Conversion
  2. Sharing the Earth’s Resources Equitably: ​Environmental Justice in the Catholic Imagination
  3. Catechesis in the Military: Building on a Sense of Community
  4. Catechesis in the Military: To Feed His Lambs
Download PDF

Catechesis in the Multi-Ethnic Community

July-Aug 2010

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. At the Crossroads of Faith and Culture
  2. Catechesis in la familia is Communal
  3. Don’t Things Slow Down in the Summer Time?
  4. Summertime: Sacred Time for the Diocesan Director
  5. Vacation Bible Camp Is Worth the Trip
Download PDF

At the Table of the Lord

May-June 2010

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Eucharist and Divine Pedagogy
  2. Eucharist: A Short History
  3. Apprenticeships for Our Next Generation: Where Church Meets World
  4. Apprenticeships for Our Next Generation: Bridging the Ideal and the Real
  5. Apprenticeships for Our Next Generation: Addressing the Work Within
Download PDF

Catechesis for Easter People

March-April 2010

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Outside the Box: Mary as Reflecting the Risen Christ
  2. Illuminating the Paschal Mystery
  3. Passion-ate Catechetical Pioneers
  4. Ideas for Catechesis to Young People
Download PDF

Relational Leadership

Jan-Feb 2010

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Leaving the Door Open
  2. Leadership: Not the Same As Management
  3. Mid-year Evaluation of Programs: Red Flags and Green Lights
  4. Evaluation Embraces Diversity
Download PDF

How Evangelization Happens

Jan-Feb 2009

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Catechesis and Evangelization: It’s All One
  2. The New Evangelization: Mind the Gap
  3. Preach Always — and Sometimes Use the Internet
  4. InternetWeb 2.0: A New Forum for Catechetical Leader
Download PDF

Adult Faith Formation & Youth Ministry

July-Aug 2008

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Has Our Vision Been Renewed? Shifting Perspectives/Shifting Methodology
  2. Have Our Hearts Burned Within Us: Fire in Our Hearts
  3. Problem/Opportunity
  4. Education for Love
  5. The Overlooked, Ignored, and Rejected 
  6. Benedict XVI: Pilgrim of Hope with a New Apologetic
Download PDF

NCCL Conference Issue

March-April 2008

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. NCCL Conference 2008: A Unique Opportunity
  2. Bienvenios a Houston
  3. Transforming Catechesis
  4. Doctrinal Formation from the Liturgical Year
  5. Just Live the Liturgy
  6. Towards an Anamnestic Catechesis
  7. Spiritual Development of Catechetical Leaders: Growth in the Spirit
  8. Spiritual Development of Catechetical Leaders: Following Jesus’ Lead
Download PDF

Revisiting the Ten Commandments

Jan-Feb 2008

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Commandments in the Language of Our Time
  2. Commandments in the Spirit of the Gospel
  3. Adult Faith Formation and the GDC: Ten Years Later
  4. Adolescent Catechesis: An Unfinished Agenda
  5. Catechesis Amidst Religious Pluralism
  6. The Field That Is the World
Download PDF

Political Issues and Catechesis

Nov-Dec 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Value of Public Talk in a Public Church
  2. Standing Our Ground
  3. Catechesis and Public Engagement in a Transformed University
  4. Adolescent Catechesis in a Culturally Diverse Context
  5. “Console Another with These Words”
  6. Liturgical Catechesis: Come Lord Jesus
  7. Liturgical Catechesis: Mary: The First Welcome
Download PDF

Catechesis & the Environment

July-Aug 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Called to be Faithful Stewards
  2. Augustine and Aquinas on Loving Earth
  3. A Parish Guide for Renewal
  4. Recognizing the Encounter
Download PDF

The Role of the Diocesan Staff

May-June 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Doing More with Less
  2. Trinitarian Vision in Broad Strokes
  3. Diocesan Staff Wear a Lot of Hats
  4. Abrienda la puerta / Opening the Door
  5. Continuing the Partnership for Adolescent Catechesis
  6. “Engaging”: A Report
  7. Catechesis and the Baptismal Catechumenate 
  8. Will We Take the Leap?
  9. Fresh Eyes on the Baptismal Catechumenate
Download PDF

The Role of the DRE

March-April 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Leading from the Second Chair
  2. From DRE to DELFF
  3. The Perfect DRE...
  4. Dear Catechetical Leader
  5. Visions and Dreams
  6. Clustering Parishes: When Enough Is Enough
  7. Multiple Parish Pastoring Models
  8. Our Little Cluster
Download PDF

Diocesan Director as Catechetical Leader

Jan-Feb 2007

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Learning to Prune and Cultivate the Vineyard
  2. Leadership in Wide Open Spaces
  3. Diocesan Catechetical Ministry: Gift, Grace, and Call
  4. The American Cultural Context for Adolescent Catechesis
  5. Leadership Training Continues with Prison Vigil
Download PDF

Incarnational Catechesis

Nov-Dec 2006

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. The Word Becomes Flesh
  2. God Has Come to Dwell Among Us
  3. Celebrating Confirmation: By Order
  4. Adolescent Catechesis: On the Road to Transformation
  5. USCCA — A Gift for All Catechists
  6. Tenacity and Technology
  7. Using the US Catholic Catechism for Adults: Writing Home - An Exercise in Praxis
Download PDF

Catechesis in an Age of Doubt

Sept-Oct 2006

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Both Trust and Doubt
  2. Using the C-R-E-E-D
  3. Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord
  4. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
  5. Eucharist for the Journey
  6. The Digital Catechist
  7. From Advice to Nuns to Joan of Arcadia
Download PDF

Catechetical Dimensions

July 2006

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Cord of Catholic Identity Is Entwined with Justice
  2. Nurturing Wonder and Awe
  3. On Ten Years of Conformity Reviews 
  4. ​Operation Catechesis Is a Catechetical Moment
Download PDF

Catechesis and Global Mission

May-June 2006

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. How Big Is Our Tent? 
  2. Together As Equals
  3. Catechesis in a Globalized Context
  4. Embracing the Messiness of Adult Faith Formation
  5. The State of Adolescent Catechesis Today A Review of the Literature
  6. Young Adult Catechesis: Turning On the Light
  7. Jesus Was a Young Adult
Download PDF

Balancing the Pastoral Year

September 2005

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Diocesan Planning from the Foundation Up
  2. Tending the Vineyard — Attending to the Holiness
  3. Catechesis Is Not a Field of Dreams
  4. Adolescent Catechesis and the NDC
  5. Catechesis in an Age of Terrorism: Seeing the Big Picture
  6. Catechesis in an Age of Terrorism: A Psychologist’s Perspective
Download PDF

Religious Imagination

January 2005

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Imagine Crossing the Great Divide
  2. Adventure Into What Might Be
  3. Tapping Imagination
  4. “Sowing the Seeds of God’s Peace”
  5. Liturgy: Source for Catechesis
  6. Year of the Eucharist
Download PDF

Enhancing  Formation through Innovative Approaches

November 2004

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Formation: Lifelong and Local
  2. Schooling Our Intelligence
  3. The Hispanic Catechist: Assessing Our Strengths
  4. Staying Focused on the Basics
  5. Personal Spirituality: Theological Reflection on Everyday Ministry
  6. Raw Material for Spiritual Growth
  7. Looking at Seven Essentials for the Spiritual Journey
  8. Eastern Christian Spirituality
Download PDF

The Catechetical Entrepreneur

September 2004

WHAT'S INSIDE:

  1. Let Me Be Your Server: Tim Ragan and the East Coast Conference
  2. Stepping Stones to New Ways to Work
  3. Publishing the Word: William H. Sadlier, Inc.; RCL Resources
  4. for Christian Living; E. T. Nedder Publishing, Inc.
  5. 10 Making Plain the Way to an Adult Church
  6. Outsider/Insider:Doing Catechesis on the Road
  7. Focus on Leadership: Looking Good - Preparing and Delivering Presentations at Conferences
  8. Lay Ecclesial Ministry: A Work in Progress
  9. What’s the Buzz about Certification Standards?
  10. Certifying Parish Pastoral Ministers
Download PDF

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