DISCIPLE: CGS Takes Children Deep Into Their Catholic Faith

This article appears in the Spring 2023 issue of the DISCIPLE Newsletter. If you are not receiving DISCIPLE in your mailbox, contact the parish office at 763-497-2745 to register as a parishioner or to update your address.

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The church is bustling—but in a peaceful corner on the lower level, the atmosphere is hushed. A boy prepares a small replica of our altar as it would be for Mass. Nearby, a girl works through Bible stories using small wooden figures. Younger students practice pouring from one vessel to another in preparation for cruets of water and wine, and a spirit of prayerful attentiveness pervades.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori-based approach to religious formation, rooted in sacred scripture and the liturgy of the Catholic Church.  At Saint Michael, it’s a weekly program offered October through May, with 90-minute sessions for Level 1 (ages 3-6), Level 2 (age 6-9), and Level 3 (age 9-12). 

Faith Formation Coordinator Andrea Zachman brought CGS to St. Michael in 2017 and has grown it quickly over the past several years.

“When I first heard about it, I truly had no interest—I didn’t want to learn a whole new method,” she recalls. “Then we went to see it firsthand with Jessica Soden at St. Henry’s in Monticello.”

Soden knelt quietly on the floor of the atrium—her dedicated CGS learning space—and taught her visitors as she would children. Several were moved to tears.

“I remember thinking, ‘Do I wait ’til we get back? Do I give it a couple days?’” Zachman says. “Then, before we even left the parking lot, I said, ‘How can I learn this? What do I need to do?’”

She trained for Level 1 and launched CGS right away in a tiny corner classroom. She moved to Level 2 training almost immediately and, over the next five years, oversaw knocking down walls, repainting, recarpeting, and equipping a larger atrium for Levels 1 and 2.
 
Last year she completed Level 3 training; now she and two other trained catechists lead four Level 1 sessions, two for Level 2, and a Level 3 session every week. Her dream is to offer CGS to every parish family, but the program needs dedicated volunteers. While certification isn’t required to assist, to be a lead teacher requires 100 hours training per level.

“It’s a commitment, whether you are called to be trained or just to assist,” Zachman says. “You have to want to teach children about who they are and who God is; you have to be calm and patient. And you have to be vulnerable and open to understanding things in a whole new light yourself.”

Parents see the fruits firsthand: a deepening of their children’s faith, life of prayer, and participation in the Mass.

“Children have such immense worth and dignity,” Zachman says. 
“If we can help them fall in love with God before they learn all the ‘rules,’ that’s the greatest fruit I can imagine, because then God is a loving Father who knows what’s best and wants them to have life to the full. Once children fall in love with God, they want to be close to Him, following His commandments.”

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LEARN MORE AND GET INVOLVED

We need more adult assistants and, ideally, more trained catechists before we can offer additional sessions.

CGS open houses are planned for Tuesday, April 18 (Mass at 6:30; open house at approximately 7:00 PM), or Wednesday, April 19 (Mass at 5:30; open house at approximately 6:00 PM). Andrea  will provide adult tours of the atrium on the lower level of the church and answer your questions about the program, training, and more!

If you are interested in volunteering as an assistant or training as a CGS catechist, contact Andrea Zachman at 763-497-2745 ext. 216 or azachman@stmcatholicchurch.org.

You can also contact her with questions or to sit in on an upcoming session to see the program firsthand. Registration opens on August 1 and fills very quickly!