Teaching RCIA: ecumenism in practice

Tonight was my first night teaching the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (or RCIA) for Catholic inquirers at Princeton University. As a Protestant, I have the unique opportunity to teach the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a group of young students who seek to be either baptized or confirmed in the Catholic faith. For the past eleven years, Princeton Seminary students have taught this program as part of their ministry internship. I landed this position because my neighbor taught the program last year. This internship gives me the opportunity to teach through the entire catechism. This will include teaching through all the doctrines of the faith, presenting a brief history of the church, and instructing the inquirers about the particulars of Catholic teaching.

People raise their eyebrows at me when they hear that I am a Protestant instructing people in the Catholic faith, but I view this as a wonderful example of true ecumenism—that is, engaging another tradition carefully and sympathetically. I am also thrilled about the opportunity to teach through the catechism, a document that I think every Protestant should read. Karl Barth once said that a person doesn’t have the right to be Protestant unless she has been tempted by Catholicism. I would say the same. Protestants need to know what they are “protesting” against; it cannot simply be a knee-jerk reaction to papal authority (or whatever scares them away). In the end, I expect this to be a challenging experience for me, as I both learn about the Catholic faith in depth and seek to communicate it effectively to people who are relatively ignorant about the teachings of the church.

For those of you who are interested, here is the outline for what I will be covering in the RCIA program this year. This outline goes through the entire catechism. I expect I may have to adapt the schedule in order to spend more time on the sacraments and the Ten Commandments, but here is the current schedule:

Week 1: Revelation, Jesus Christ, and the Word of God (¶1-100)

Week 2: Scripture and Tradition (¶101-84)

Week 3: The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (¶185-267)

Week 4: Creator and Creation (¶268-354)

Week 5: Humanity and the “Image of God” (¶355-84)

Week 6: Sin and Evil (¶385-421)

Week 7: Jesus Christ: True God and True Man (¶422-570)

Week 8: Jesus Christ: Savior of the World (¶571-667)

Week 9: Holy Spirit: The Power of New Life (¶683-747, 1987-2029)

Week 10: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church with an Excursus on Mary (¶748-975, 2030-51)

Week 11: Forgiveness of Sins, Resurrection of the Body, and Life Everlasting (¶668-82, 976-1065)

Week 12: Liturgy & Sacraments (¶1066-1209, 1667-90)
Week 13: The Seven Sacraments (¶1210-1666)
Week 14: Christian Ethics (¶1691-1876)
Week 15: The Christian in the World (¶1877-1986)
Week 16: The Ten Commandments (¶2052-557)
Week 17: Prayer (¶2558-758)
Week 18: The Lord’s Prayer (¶2759-865)