Religious Education
RESOURCES & RESOURCE CENTERS

RESOURCE CENTERS
Office of Religious Education
65 Elliot Street
Springfield, MA 01105 		Berkshire Regional Office
75 Plunkett Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201

Come visit us. Office hours –
Monday thru Friday 9 am to 4:30 pm, Springfield
Monday thru Thursday 9 am to 2 pm, Pittsfield
Other times by appointment

 

Both offices offer a wide range of catechetical resources:

  • Publishers’ samples of recommended religious education programs for the parish setting are available for preview.
    • Samples of all major textbook series for Pre-K through adult, including sacramental resources; all available for preview.
  • Audio-visual resources, including video and audio cassettes and CDs are available at both sites, and are available at no charge to those parishes that are members of the resource centers. Parishes are able to subscribe to the video portion of the library for a reasonable annual fee. For a list of available videos click here to download the ALPHABETICAL INDEX, click here for the NUMERIC INDEX, and click here for the THEMATIC INDEX (PDFs).
    • Over 1,000 videos and DVDs available.
    • Parishes normally pay an annual fee (sliding scale) for unlimited borrowing, but videos/DVD’s may be rented individually at $15.00.
  • A full library of reference material and educational resource are available in many different areas. Some of these include theology, catechesis, ministry and spirituality. These materials are available to all and free to borrow for the public.
    • Over 700 volumes for borrowing (no fee), including
      spirituality, religious education, prayer, Scripture, etc.
  • Periodicals:
    • Subscriptions to keys resources on catechetics for perusal or borrowing [no fee].
  • Audio Tapes/CDs:
    • Presentations on ministry, religious education, theology, etc., for borrowing [no fee]. Some music tapes/CDs also available.

Both of these offices provide:

  • Consulting on catechetical programming, resources, and other pertinent issues, including: curriculum planning, textbook selection process, video/DVD resources, teacher training, etc.
  • Reading room/conference room
  • CONTACT US to request the presentation of a workshop at your parish or in your Deanery.
Handbook for Parish Catechesis
To assist parishes in their efforts to establish life-long learning in Their Community, the Office of Religious Education has published a Handbook for Parish Catechesis. This document is designed to offer practical suggestions for enhancing the parish efforts to reach out to all its parishioners with quality catechetics. The Handbook
has been distributed to parishes and is on line, click Handbook for Parish Catechesis.

HANDBOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1
SECTION 2
SECTION 3
SECTION 4
SECTION 5
CONSENT AND RELEASE FORM
CATECHIST APPLICATION FORM5 FILE
MINISTRY ANALYSIS WORKSHEET
SAMPLE JOB DESCRIPTION
The staff of the Office of
Religious Education
welcomes invitations to offer
presentations, workshops, or
courses in parishes or
Deaneries. Pleases call
either the Springfield (413-
452-0812) or Pittsfield office
(local: 443-3187; from
Springfield area: 452-0651)
for further information. Go to CONTACT US for more options.

See Calendar of Events page for more information on current activities and opportunities.

Silver Burdett www.blestarewe.com
Benziger
www.mhbenziger.com or
www.mhschool.com/benziger
Hartcourt www.harcourtreligion.com

Resource Publications
www.rcpinet.com
Good Ground Press www.csjst.paul.org

Loyola Press
www.findinggod.org

TwentyThird Publications		 www.twentythirdpublications.com
St. Mary’s Press www.smp.org
Center for Learning www.centerforlearning.org
Sadlier
www.coming to Faith.com or
www.cyerFaith.com or
www.sadlier.com
PFlaum www.pFlaum.com

Our Sunday Visitor		 www.osv.com

Resources for Christian Living (RCL)
www.RCLWeb.com
USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) www.usccbpublishing.org
Prayer:
Fr. Ron Rolheiser

www.ronrolheiser.com

Each of these sites offers many links to other helpful sites.

Publisher Resources
Catechesis for RCIA Catechumenate:
“Association for Catechumenate Ministry” ACM Publications, www.acm.org
“Come and See” St. Anthony Messenger Press 2004, www.americancatholic.org
“Foundations in Faith” Resources for Christian Living (RCL), www.RCLWeb.com
“Growing Faith Project” TwentyThird Publications, www.twentythirdpublications.com
“How to Teach with the Lectionary” Philip J. McBrien Twenty Third Publications
“Journey of Faith” (3 levels-children/adolescents/adults) Liguori Publications 1993, www.liguori.org
“Making Disciples” Our Sunday Visitor, www.osv.com
Breaking Open the Gospel:
“Bringing Home the Word” 1-800-488-0488
“The Word Among Us” 1-800-775-9673
“Disciples in Prayer” Oregon Catholic Press, www.ocp.org
“Share the Word” Paulist National Catholic Evangelization
Association, www.pncea.org
“Sunday By Sunday” Good Ground Press, www.goodgroundpress.com
“Quest” Pastoral Dept. of Small Christian Communities, Hartford, Ct.,
www.nafscc.org
“Good News” Gr. 1-2 Pflaum Pub. Group/Peter Li Inc., www.pflaum.com
“Ventures” Gr. 4-5-6 Pflaum Pub. Group/Peter Li Inc.
“Visions” Gr. 7-8 Pflaum Pub. Group/Peter Li Inc.

Publications
“Catechumenate” A Journal of Christian Initiation (Monthly Publication) Liturgical
Training Publications, www.@LTP.org

ORGANIZATIONS
Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association www.pncea.org
Landings International: Welcoming Returning Catholics
www.Landings-International.org
Office of Reconciliation www.paulist.org
North American Forum www.naforum.org

CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World
(Washington D.C. USCCB, 1975)

Pope John Paul II, The Mission of the Redeemer: On the Permanent Validity of the Church’s Missionary Mandate (Washington, D.C. USCCB 1991)

Go and Make Disciples:
A Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States
(Washington, D.C. USCCB 1993)
Published with commentary and planning guide through PNCEA.
Pamphlet also available.

Thy Kingdom Come: A Manual for Evangelizing Staff
(Committee on Evangelization National Conference of Catholic Bishops 1999)

Visit: www.OnceCatholic.org
www.BustedHalo.com