Parish Religious Education Program (PREP)
Overview of Program
The parish community of St. Patrick is especially attentive to Jesus’ command to go out and teach all nations. The PREP provides faith formation and instruction for children who attend public school as well as sacramental preparation for all children of the parish. Our religious education program is not meant to be the sole provider of your child’s faith formation. Instead, PREP has been established to aid you in meeting you responsibility as your child’s primary educator of the Catholic faith. We are here to support and supplement the religious formation you are already giving your child at home. As such, PREP is not an extracurricular activity, but rather instructional classes built on the foundations of the Catholic teachings. Therefore, regular attendance is necessary to progress and our class dates/times are contingent upon securing enough volunteer catechists and classroom aides.
Our volunteer catechists strive to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a model for the children. We focus on the six fundamental tasks of catechesis which include: promoting knowledge of the faith, liturgical education, moral formation, teaching to pray, education for community life and missionary initiation. In conjunction with the Archdiocesan Guidelines we will assist you in teaching the basic truths and traditions of the Catholic Church.
Our PREP is possible due to our faithful catechists. Anyone interested in becoming a catechist needs to be a person of deep faith and a desire to share their faith. Training is available for anyone who is interested.
Registration for the 2024-25 Religious Education Program
Of note:
Regardless of the child’s grade in school, a child in need of sacramental preparation (such as Level 2 for First Penance & First Holy Communion and Level 7 for Confirmation) MUST complete the previous year of religious education before advancing to the next level (i.e. Level 1 must be completed before Level 2; Levels 3-6 must be completed before entering Level 7 to receive Confirmation). Additional details can be found in the PREP Handbook.
If you have questions regarding what level to register your child(ren), please contact St. Patrick Parish’s Director of Religious Education, Maria Miller, at 610-444-2214 or email at mmillerdresp@gmail.com.
How to Register
ONLINE REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED. PAPER REGISTRATION FORMS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2024.
To register, please download the registration form and mail payment to the Parish Office:
- Option 1: Click here to download the registration form (mail with payment to Parish Office).
How to Volunteer
The success of the parish’s Religious Education Program depends on the efforts and support of volunteers. There are a number of ways that you can help. If you are interested in learning more and/or becoming a volunteer, please click here to download the Volunteer Interest Form.
- Option 1: Return completed form to Maria Miller, Director of Religious Education, to the Parish Office at 205 Lafayette Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348.
- Option 2: Return completed form to Maria Miller via email at mmillerdresp@gmail.com.
PLEASE NOTE: All of our volunteers must complete some basic background checks and two required training courses prior to volunteering. Please see the requirements found here under SAFE ENIVORNMENT.
2024-25 Calendar
- To view the 2024-25 PREP Calendar click here.
- IMPORTANT DATES TO NOTE FOR CONFIRMATION STUDENTS
- IMPORTANT DATES TO NOTE FOR LEVEL 2 STUDENTS
Important Forms for Level 2 Students
Important Forms for Level 7 Students
St. Patrick PREP Family Commitment Form
As members of the Body of Christ and sharing in the growth of your children’s love for God it is time once again commit anew to living and sharing faith with our wider community. Your family holds a significant place here at the parish and your participation in Sunday Mass and in other aspects of parish life helps to build a deeper sense of parish community. To help continue in this spirit, we have previewed the events and activities for the year to come and ask that our PREP families to continue in their involvement in the life of our parish. This year we ask the PREP families to commit once again, to the three areas of parish life – spiritual, family and adult faith formation. We ask each PREP family to select from the variety of choices we have provided with the hopes that they and their children would find their efforts fruitful, enjoyable and spiritually rewarding. You will receive an e-mail reminder before each gathering. Please remember that regular attendance at Sunday mass is imperative for all families. Attendance at Mass and religious education go hand in hand.
Policies
- To review and download the PREP Handbook, please click here.
- For more information, please contact St. Patrick Parish’s Director of Religious Education, Maria Miller, at 610-444-2214.
Catholic Youth Organization (CYO)
Children in grades 5 – 8 who are interested in playing sports through the CYO must be registered within a parish and attending PREP. For more details, click here.