How do I Register?

You do not need to register to start coming to class.  However, if you would like to register, please fill out the following simple form (click here).  That would also be of help to us.   Please feel free to see or email Fr. Joseph (click here) if you have any questions. 

If you are baptized and intend to join join the Church, please send us a copy of your Baptismal Certificate, or call our church of baptism to send us one.  This is one thing in which it is perfectly acceptable for an adult to ask mom for help.

We will receive new members into the Church on the Easter Vigil, Saturday night, April 20, 2019 at St. Paul’s Parish.
 
Additional information about RCIA is available from the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops (click here).

RCIA Topics

• God seeking Man
• Who is God?
• Revelation: The Church
• Revelation: Scripture
• Who is Jesus?
• The Holy Spirit
• Prayer
• The Blessed Virgin Mary
• The Saints
• The Four Last Things
• The Story of Salvation: the Fall, Sin and Redemption
• The Sacraments
• The Eucharist
• The Mass
• Penance
• Anointing of the Sick
• Moral Theology
• The Theology of the Body (including sexual teachings)
• Catholic Social Teaching​

Already Baptized and Practicing the Faith?

Though RCIA is a great way to join the Church, some are baptized as Christians and have a significant level religious instruction, spiritual formation, and involvement in the Church.  Respectful of individual needs, please email Fr. Joseph (click here) to discuss other options for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Becoming Catholic

Whether you are interested simply in learning more about the Catholic Faith or becoming a fully confirmed member of the Catholic Church, the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program is for you.  This class is also for you whether you are be a baptized non-Catholic, or a Catholic seeking baptism and/or confirmation.

RCIA is a discernment process to help people experience the fullness of the Faith.  Our desire is for people to confidently enter full communion of Faith and to feel the warm embrace of the Church family.  

This does not mean attendants must be committed to entering the Church when they join.  In fact, they are welcome to be a part of RCIA for the whole year without the intention of joining the Church.  But if you are looking for the Sacraments, this needs to be communicated by the start of the spring semester, and discerned with the instructor.  

Classes

Classes are on Tuesdays starting at 7 pm, and end no later than 8:15 pm.  We meet downstairs in the North/South Rooms adjacent to Higgins Hall (the cafeteria). Classes begin September 4, 2018.

Because many of our RCIA students attend Indiana University or work there, we simply follow IU’s schedule.  When they begin, we begin.  When they are on break, so are we.

Topics cover the most fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church.  Please see topic list to the left.  We also discuss the obligations and rights of Catholics, as well as the some of the things that distinguish the Catholic Faith from other religions.

Service Work

Jesus by his life, work and teachings (e.g., Mathew 25:31-46) emphasizes the importance of service to those in need.  This is an integral part of our faith.  If it does not lead to works, our faith is dead (James 2:14-26).  To be a Catholic is to serve.  We ask those seeking full membership to the Catholic Church to perform at least 10 hours of service work with an approved organization, preferably, but not necessarily, a Catholic program.

Sponsors

Becoming Catholic is not simply a mental consent to believe in the things the Church teaches or that it is the Church that Jesus Christ founded (Matthew 16:18).  The Church not only has an institutional element by which She formally welcomes new members into the Body of Christ, there is also the mystical, a heart-to-heart element.  Church members personally welcome men and women into the Faith and guide them through the traditions and cultures which have helped millions of people fall deeply in love with the God Who loved them first.

​A Sponsor is a part of the mystical body of the Church, a Catholic in good standing with the Institutional Church, who personally welcomes a new member.  This may be a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a parishioner selected by St. Paul’s staff or volunteers to meet the needs of the new member.  The Sponsor agrees to attend some of the ceremonies of initiation, especially the Easter vigil.  In some special occasions, a proxy can represent the sponsor if the sponsor is unable to attend an event.