RCIA 2008-2009

The RCIA welcomes new adult members into theCatholic Church by preparing them for Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist. The RCIA also prepares adult Catholics for the reception of Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist if they have not previously received these Sacraments.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the process by which the Catholic Church welcomes an adult into our Catholic Community. This process involves personal prayer and meditation, the prayer and support of the parish community & learning about the Catholic faith. Sunday, October 12 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM in St. Philip Parish Hall. Do you know of anyone interested in learning more about the Catholic faith? Now is the time to join RCIA and get some questions answered. Call Mary Jo Kutch (360) 673-4812 to sign up, or the parish office (360) 225-8308.

The letters "RCIA" stand for the "Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults", the document flowing from Vatican II which guides the process by which adults are initiated into our Roman Catholic community. The RCIA describes a process in which men and women are guided and cared for as they awaken in faith and are gradually introduced to the Catholic way of life.

The RCIA process is a series of carefully planned stages, marked by liturgical rites in the presence of the whole community, in which new Catholics embark on and join us in a continuing and deepening conversion into faith and discipleship. The RCIA takes the distinctive history and spiritual needs of each person into account, differentiating between the baptized and the unbaptized, the catechized and the uncatechized. The needs of mature, practicing Christians from other faith traditions are considered on an individual basis.

The RCIA draws its model from the "catechumenate" of the ancient Church. Becoming Christian in the early days of the Church involved a sharp break with the surrounding culture. New Christians entered into the joy of new life and a life-sharing community of faith, but also entered into a way of living which demanded deep commitment and entailed great risks. In the modern world, our faith also demands deep commitment -- our beliefs and the beliefs of our society are often in tension. The Church revived the catechumenate -- embodied in the RCIA -- because new believers in the modern world need careful preparation and caring support as they enter into the mysteries of Christ and the commitment of Christian living.
Conversion: a Journey of Mind, Heart and Spirit

Awakening to Christ and seeking out the Church through the RCIA comes about in a variety of ways. The first step for some GRAPHIC is a sense that "something is missing" -- a sense, perhaps provoked by some crisis, that there is more to life than what they now have or a better way to live than how they now live. For many others, the journey begins because of a relationship with a Catholic -- a close friend or a potential spouse. Still others are drawn by seeing the example of a Catholic life well lived, or by exposure to a Catholic writer like St. Augustine, Thomas Merton or Dorothy Day. Whatever the reason for the awakening and decision to seek, the RCIA process is the first step on a lifelong journey of intellectual, emotional and spiritual conversion.

In her book Turning: Reflections on the Experience of Conversion, Emilie Griffin reflected that "conversion" is the process of "turning over one's life and energies to God." While we know that the concept of "turning" is apt -- the root image of conversion is the proverbial "one hundred eighty degree change" -- we also know from our own lives and experience that conversion is an ongoing, lifelong process of personal spiritual growth as well as a social process in which we strengthen and draw strength from others. The RCIA recognizes both the ongoing quality and the communal nature of conversion, providing an intellectual and spiritual framework and a faith community in which an individual's conversion experience can be understood and supported. Caring for people in the midst of this life-changing experience is the goal of the RCIA ministry.


The full RCIA process consists of four periods of awakening, growth and formation marked by celebration of three major rites involving the whole St. Thomas community.




During the first period of the journey, the inquiry period, seekers GRAPHICask hard questions about Christianity and receive truthful, life-sharing answers from Catholic Christians. The informal discussions during the inquiry period help the seekers link their personal life stories to the Good News as witnessed and lived by the Roman Catholic community.

As each inquirer desires to continue the conversion journey within our faith community, he or she is invited to experience the first major rite of the RCIA process, the Rite of Acceptance. Several times each year at Sunday Mass, inquirers enter the second period of the journey, the catechumenate, by being marked with the sign of the cross on the ears, eyes, lips, heart, shoulders, hands and feet -- a symbol of both the joys and the costs of Christian discipleship.



The word catechumenate means "time of serious study" and inquirers who become catechumens -- those who have not been baptized -- or candidates -- baptized Christians who have not been confirmed as Roman Catholics -- join us at Sunday Mass during the Liturgy of the Word, after which they move to the parish house to continue reflecting on the Scriptures. The length of the catechumenate varies according to individual need. The norm is a year or more.