Department for Parish and Family Catechesis.
Maryvale Institute’s Department for Parish and Family was founded in order to support the catechetical work of the Birmingham Archdiocese.
The Department seeks to respond to the desire of the Church, expressed in Novo Millennio Ineunte, to place the call to holiness and prayer at the heart of all pastoral planning.
The Department provides short courses and an advisory service for parishes and deaneries, including advice and support on special religious educational needs. The Department has collaborated in the production of a number of resources to support parish catechetics and adult formation; for example, a commentary on Ecclesia de Eucharistia, which was used by the diocese as preparatory study for a local Eucharistic Congress; a multimedia programme for adults bringing their children for baptism, undertaken with CaFE; and, most recently, a parish resource for the study of the Our Father in the Compendium.
An Advisor for Evangelisation aids parishes in developing strategies for evangelisation and outreach. Many parishioners have gone on to study for the Maryvale Certificate and Diploma in the New Evangelisation and Ministry. This one-year part time distance learning course is deal for those who wish to take an active role in ministry to the parish, the family, the sick, or youth.
The Department has a particular focus upon adult education and on supporting the mission of the family. Local deanery and area-based catechetical associations, with local chaplains, provide a point of reference for on-going in-service and training for lay catechists, and the Department makes use of Maryvale’s courses for this provision, especially Echoes and the two year Maryvale Certificate in Catechesis.
