St. Mary's Annapolis | Elementary School Faith Formation

Elementary School Faith Formation

“You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him/her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him/her up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” (Rite of Baptism for Children)

Our Faith Formation Elementary Program for 2020-2021 offers a more family centered approach to Faith Formation at St. Mary’s. The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought more restrictions upon us, as we implement new changes for our elementary school families.

Family Faith Formation 2020-2021 entails both students and parents attending, learning, praying, and participating in the faith journey together. This year at St. Mary’s, our faith formation approach includes one monthly “LIFT: Living in Faith Together” session, where parents and students will gather once a month following the format described below. Families will then be provided online lessons, activities, discussions, and prayer geared toward growing the faith of your family, the faith of your individual children, and your own faith as a parent, for the next two “at-home” lessons.

We will also provide “Our Catholic Identity” catechism workbooks for the grade level of each of your children as an extra resource, or for families who would prefer to use a book rather than online materials for family catechesis. Each lesson in the book is very user-friendly and only two pages, including an activity page.

Program Details

First Semester: Anne Arundel County Public Schools has announced that all schools will be virtual through the first semester. Therefore, we feel that we should also meet virtually until it is deemed safe for those students to attend school in person. To accomplish this, our monthly Family LIFT sessions will be held via Zoom. We hope that the second semester of the year will allow us to meet together again.

Second Semester: Once our students are back in school, our monthly Zoom sessions will be replaced by families gathering one Sunday a month for our family “LIFT” (Living in Faith Together) sessions at St. Mary’s. As we are unsure of what safety precautions will need to be followed, we are planning to split our families, A-L one week and M-Z the following week. These sessions will be 1 1/2 hours, following this format:

9:00am – 10:30am: Parents bring their children to their classrooms for a lesson and activities taught by catechists, and then head to Marian Hall. During our parent session in Marian Hall, parents will be introduced to the next two lessons they will facilitate at home with their children using the resources we are providing - online Catholic Brain https://www.catholicbrain.com/ (password will be sent after families register for FF), and the “Our Catholic Identity" catechism workbook.

10:30am: Parents will receive a monthly packet of materials to take home with them to help with their "at home" lessons, and be socially distanced at dismissal to retrieve their children and depart.

Once we are able to gather without social distancing, children will be able to join parents in Marian Hall for a fun snack and faith activities from 10:00 – 11:00am.

Use our easy online registration to register your family and pay online, or print off registration forms and send them in with your check to the Faith Formation Office at St. Mary’s Church. You may also contact Meagan for more information.