Frequently Asked Questions

“Rotating Helper” is a parent, guardian, or other adult family member who assists the religious education program on a rotating basis. This model was piloted during the 2019-2020 year in Pathfinders.

Beginning in 2020-2021, one adult from each family will be expected to assist with one program, either as a “Rotating Helper” (much like Pathfinders had helpers sign up in the 2019-2020 year) or as a committed volunteer (catechist/teacher, aide, hall monitor, etc), for those families with one or more children in Grades 1-8. This replaces the expectation that one adult attends regularly with a child in the younger grades. Rotating helpers, who assist once every two or three classes, may lead activity or service project stations, run ice-breaker games, assist with set up or clean up of class sessions, and other similar roles.

It is our hope that this Rotating Helper model will better engage the adults who are present and assisting in the religious education program.

We welcome your feedback as this model is tried during the 2020-2021 religious education year.

If you are unable to make your scheduled session, we invite you to make a one-time change to a different session during the same week. Please reach out to the appropriate grade-level coordinator in order to ensure there is space in the class session you into which you wish to make the one-time change.

Religious Education Classes follow a linear curriculum and each week’s class is different. So you might switch between Sunday and Wednesday in the same week, but you would not want to attend two classes in the same week, as both classes would be the same content. Religious Education is not like swimming lessons, which work on the same skills over and over.

If you know in advance that you have a conflict, you could switch to a different class earlier or later in the same week.

If a student is out sick, they are invited to return to a different class once they get better. Thank you for using your discretion.

Each year, we have made adjustments to the BCRE offerings based on registrations and volunteer commitments.  For the past few years, we have had a very hard time getting volunteers to commit to the St. Mary Sunday morning sessions.  Our registrations, particularly for Elementary grades, have been quite low as well.

Also, with the exception of Confirmation, we have found that requiring a Coordinator to be at more than one location on a given day shortchanges both locations.

Additionally, we want to help St. Mary recover the sense of the earlier morning Mass that was filled with children and families.  By taking religious education off Sunday mornings, we are helping the families who feel they do not have time for both Mass and class, so they are more free to attend Mass, as well as leaving room for hospitality after Family Masses (scheduled for St. Mary three times a year).

The BCRE team is committed to serving St. Mary families and providing excellent faith formation there.  We need St. Mary families to partner with us to make this happen.  Please contact us with further questions or comments.

Welcome to Religious Education! We are excited to partner with you, the family, to nurture the faith of each child and teen.

If you are new to having a child participate in Religious Education, we have created this chart to answer the question “what program should they sign up for?” Additionally, this chart provides guidance to know when your child/teen will have the opportunity to prepare to receive the sacraments of First Reconciliation (also called Confession or Penance) and First Eucharist (also called First Communion).

We are using a Google Sheet to inform you how many spaces we have available in each of our classes, and where we are in need of volunteers.  Click here.

Unfortunately, we are not able to connect this information directly into the online registration system. If that were available to us, we would be using it!

Yes, we try to maintain a wait list when a session fills up. Usually, families register for a first choice that has reached capacity at the time of your registration.

Often, however, the reason there are no more student spaces is due to a lack of volunteers. Volunteers get priority registration, meaning you will get into your desired time(s) if you are willing to help.

Occasionally, however, our limited spaces do fill. Our facilities, and the way we choose to use them, only allow so many student spaces per session.

Any of the BCRE Team would be happy to discuss your family’s individual situation and needs, because each person’s needs are unique.

Parents are always welcome to attend religious education classes with their children, and they are uniquely able to best serve their special needs child. Most of our volunteers are not trained to work well with special needs children, unlike the adults your child works with in a school setting.

For some families, the class sessions may not be the best environment for their child. This is why we offer the home study option for grades 1-8. Some families have found home study to work better for their child. Home study is not available for the Confirmation program due to the community environment that is part of the formation.

The registration deadline in order to attend the first class session is September 3, 2020, under non-pandemic circumstances.  This allows the BCRE Team adequate time to plan for the first sessions, including ordering any needed supplies, sorting Navigator and High School / Confirmation students into their small groups, and other administrative tasks.

The final registration deadline is in October.

Requests to register for the current school year after the final deadline will be handled on a case-by-case basis.  Please contact us!

Beginning in mid-August, we will e-mail you with verified class session placements for your children.  Registrations received after August 1 will receive notification roughly two weeks after we receive the registration paperwork.

This delay between the spring and August allows the BCRE Team time to recruit and schedule volunteers.

Yes, Billerica Catholic Religious Education offers a Home Study option for students in grades 1-8.

We believe that it is important to support parents to be the primary educators of their children in the way of the faith, in the manner they best see fit.

When registering, please write in the word HOME in the “First Choice” column of the Registration Form.

Families who choose Home Study will receive materials that students complete at home with the assistance of their parents/guardians. Periodically, they will be expected to return an assessment to the Religious Education Office.

• Home Study materials will be distributed in September and then periodically throughout the year, as needed.
• Home Study students participating in the First Reconciliation and First Eucharist preparation are expected to attend all scheduled meetings, rehearsals and workshops, with their parents/guardians (except the parent meeting in the fall, which is for adults only), pertaining to the preparation for those sacraments.
• Home Study is not an option for the Confirmation Program, since Confirmation sacramental preparation is embedded into the catechetical curriculum of the high school formation program.

If you have a rising second grader who missed Religious Education in Grade 1, we expect that the child will participate in one year of Religious Education in order for your child to be better prepared for receiving the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.  We ask that you sign up your second grader for the Seekers program, and postpone sacramental preparation until the second year of Religious Education, when the student is in grade 3.

Occasionally, some families have been allowed to make up Grade 1 at home – please contact the Religious Education Office for more information, as these decisions are made based on a variety of circumstances.

Additionally, we have sometimes offered a Grade 1 Summer Make-up in August.

Please contact the Religious Education Team for more information.

Beginning in the fall of 2020 (under non-pandemic circumstances), BCRE is expecting one adult from each family, with one or more children in Grades 1-8 religious education classes to have one adult assist with one program (Seekers, Explorers, Pathfinders, Navigators, or High School) by either:

1. Being a Committed Volunteer who has a regular role, receives a discount on religious education fees (which are calculated later in the registration process), and has met the safety requirements for participating in ministry in the Archdiocese of Boston (completed the Virtus Training Program “Protecting God’s Children,” completed an annual CORI background check, and signed the Archdiocesan Code of Conduct Forms).
OR
2. Being a Rotating Helper who chooses which periodic assisting role to which you will commit, which may be before, during, after, or outside of the class time. The BCRE team will contact you at the time of class placement schedule confirmation (mid-August or later) to choose your specific role.

God has blessed you with many talents! Please use them to to enrich our Religious Education family. Visit our website or speak to a BCRE staff member for more information about these opportunities.

If none of these are possible, please speak with us about other options.

Yes, we really require you to attend with your child in Grades 1-6. We believe that it is important to have parents participate actively in the teaching of their children in the way of the faith. Many families have a great experience and find themselves growing in their own faith!

If this arrangement will not work with your families circumstances, we recommend choosing the Home Study option.

The RelEd team proposes that the older children come with the parent and the younger child with schoolwork or some other quiet entertainment, if no other child care opportunities are available. A “quiet work table” will be made  available.

We understand that it is important for all students to have the same teachers and Small Group Leaders from session to session.

Except in times of illness and other unavoidable time conflicts, teachers will teach and SGLs lead,  during the same time periods each session, and therefore have the same children.

Children may switch class times three times in one school year. Please call the Religious Education office at 978.667.3733 Monday-Friday 10a-4pm to arrange this. More than 3 switches will require the approval of the RelEd staff.

Welcome to Religious Education! We are excited to partner with you, the family, to nurture the faith of each child and teen.

If you are new to having a child participate in Religious Education, we have created this chart to answer the question “what program should they sign up for?” Additionally, this chart provides guidance to know when your child/teen will have the opportunity to prepare to receive the sacraments of First Reconciliation (also called Confession or Penance) and First Eucharist (also called First Communion).

Since the CHOSEN program requires an hour and 30 minute class block, and we wanted to allow for Sunday Hospitality after the 9:00am Mass, we were pushed into a later start time. There are also High School classes available at St. Theresa around the 5pm Mass, and at St. Andrew following the 10am Mass.

The BCRE Team, Pastoral Staff, and Bishop Hennessey (our regional Episcopal Vicar, or Assistant Bishop to Cardinal Sean) have found it easier to have each parish in a collaborative hold their Confirmation Mass(es) in the same season.  We decided in our first year of collaborative religious education to favor the spring (Easter Season) traditions of St. Andrew and St. Mary, rather than waiting until the following fall as St. Theresa had done for a number of years.

Each parish still holds its own Confirmation Mass.  Candidates for Confirmation may choose to receive the sacrament in any parish, though they are encouraged to receive the sacrament of Confirmation in their home parish.

St. Andrew is continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass at a regularly scheduled 4:00pm Mass on Saturday afternoon.

St. Mary is continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass on a Thursday evening.

St. Theresa has been continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass(es) on a Saturday, however, since moving from the fall (after 2015), St. Theresa’s Confirmation Masses had been held on a Saturday in June.

For the spring of 2020, at the request of Bishop Hennessey, St. Mary’s Confirmation will likely be held in later May while St. Theresa’s Confirmation will be held in earlier May.  This is due to heat / air-conditioning that is not at St. Theresa but is at St. Mary.

Parents will be allowed to choose the parish in which their children will receive First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation.  While we encourage you to choose your home parish, we realize that some families may choose to receive sacraments at another parish in the collaborative for reasons of family convenience, schedule conflicts, etc.

Our First Reconciliation and First Eucharist program, for children and their parents, is designed for those in Elementary School, Grades 2-4.

Adolescents (Grade 5 and older) who have not yet received their First Eucharist (Communion) or First Reconciliation (Penance/Confession) should contact Tony Carbrello, Assistant Director of Faith Formation.  He, or a volunteer he entrusts, will work with each of these students individually, or sometimes in a small group, as circumstances allow.  We usually have a few students each year who prepare for and receive these sacraments.  At an initial meeting, we can discuss the process and timing of the reception of these sacraments.

Yes, they do, since our Confirmation Preparation program, Chosen, is a comprehensive 2-year Confirmation-focused program that builds with each session. It also provides proximal (near) preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

While a number of topics and themes may be also covered in their Catholic High School Theology / Religion classes, Chosen is intended for parish use only, so it will be a unique experience.

“Rotating Helper” is a parent, guardian, or other adult family member who assists the religious education program on a rotating basis. This model was piloted during the 2019-2020 year in Pathfinders.

Beginning in 2020-2021, one adult from each family will be expected to assist with one program, either as a “Rotating Helper” (much like Pathfinders had helpers sign up in the 2019-2020 year) or as a committed volunteer (catechist/teacher, aide, hall monitor, etc), for those families with one or more children in Grades 1-8. This replaces the expectation that one adult attends regularly with a child in the younger grades. Rotating helpers, who assist once every two or three classes, may lead activity or service project stations, run ice-breaker games, assist with set up or clean up of class sessions, and other similar roles.

It is our hope that this Rotating Helper model will better engage the adults who are present and assisting in the religious education program.

We welcome your feedback as this model is tried during the 2020-2021 religious education year.

What is the process for online registration?

Using our Online Registration process involves two steps:
1. Complete the online registration form, through “Submit Registration”.
2. Use the link sent in an email directing you to the online payment system of your home parish (St. Andrew, St. Mary, or St. Theresa, which you will indicate at the end of the registration process), and complete your payment there by credit card or bank account. You may need to add the email “BCRE.registration@billericacatholic.org” to your address book to avoid this email message going to a spam/junk folder.

Why is it a two step process?

The payment process has been one of the hangups in developing Online Registration for BCRE.  Since BCRE is not a financial entity itself, nor is the collaborative (Catholic Community of Billerica), all fees and finances are retained within each parish.  By having the online registration form set up to send someone an email, which responds conditionally based on which parish you choose, a user would receive a different emails with different links.  When we tried putting the link into the form before you choose submit, we were concerned that people would fill out the form, follow the link to pay, and never actually submit the registration.  It is a two step process, but given the tools we have it seems to be the only way to make it work for us at this time.

If you have expertise in online forms and would like to help us make improvements, please contact Tony Carbrello.

Welcome to Religious Education! We are excited to partner with you, the family, to nurture the faith of each child and teen.

If you are new to having a child participate in Religious Education, we have created this chart to answer the question “what program should they sign up for?” Additionally, this chart provides guidance to know when your child/teen will have the opportunity to prepare to receive the sacraments of First Reconciliation (also called Confession or Penance) and First Eucharist (also called First Communion).

We are using a Google Sheet to inform you how many spaces we have available in each of our classes, and where we are in need of volunteers.  Click here.

Unfortunately, we are not able to connect this information directly into the online registration system. If that were available to us, we would be using it!

Yes, we try to maintain a wait list when a session fills up. Usually, families register for a first choice that has reached capacity at the time of your registration.

Often, however, the reason there are no more student spaces is due to a lack of volunteers. Volunteers get priority registration, meaning you will get into your desired time(s) if you are willing to help.

Occasionally, however, our limited spaces do fill. Our facilities, and the way we choose to use them, only allow so many student spaces per session.

Yes! Please do not lack a lack of financial resources keep you from registering for Religious Education.

For those families unable to pay in full at the time of registration, both our paper forms and online registration provide two options:

1. Bill Me Later – we will invoice you the balance, which you may pay at once or in installments

2. Financial Aid – you are unable to pay – please have a simple conversation with us about your situation, so we may best care for you.

All financial assistance requests are kept confidential.

Another option to consider is to assist with Religious Education, as many of our volunteer roles come with discounts.

Any of the BCRE Team would be happy to discuss your family’s individual situation and needs, because each person’s needs are unique.

Parents are always welcome to attend religious education classes with their children, and they are uniquely able to best serve their special needs child. Most of our volunteers are not trained to work well with special needs children, unlike the adults your child works with in a school setting.

For some families, the class sessions may not be the best environment for their child. This is why we offer the home study option for grades 1-8. Some families have found home study to work better for their child. Home study is not available for the Confirmation program due to the community environment that is part of the formation.

Yes – we first offered online registration in the spring of 2019, and for the 2020-2021 year we are offering Online Registration for all participants. If you encounter any concerns, or have any suggestions, please e-mail Tony Carbrello (BCRE Staff) at tony.carbrello.ccb@gmail.com.

Additionally, you may view the Class Openings and Volunteer Needs

The registration deadline in order to attend the first class session is September 3, 2020, under non-pandemic circumstances.  This allows the BCRE Team adequate time to plan for the first sessions, including ordering any needed supplies, sorting Navigator and High School / Confirmation students into their small groups, and other administrative tasks.

The final registration deadline is in October.

Requests to register for the current school year after the final deadline will be handled on a case-by-case basis.  Please contact us!

Beginning in mid-August, we will e-mail you with verified class session placements for your children.  Registrations received after August 1 will receive notification roughly two weeks after we receive the registration paperwork.

This delay between the spring and August allows the BCRE Team time to recruit and schedule volunteers.

Discounts are available for many volunteer positions. Please see the registration materials for more information.

The Religious Education fees partially offset the costs of administering our Religious Education program.  The total cost per student is greater than what we charge – the remaining balance is paid for by the parishoners of St. Andrew, St. Mary and St. Theresa.  The Church’s mission is to evangelize and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, which includes our Religious Education program.  However, it would not be fair to expect the parishoner-in-pew to completely support religious education, as participating families should also contribute to the faith formation of their children.

The fees we change offset the costs of supplies (books, materials, technology), overhead (heat/lights), and salaries.

While most of the Catechists, Aides, Small Group Leaders, Hall Monitors and other helpers are volunteers, they are supported, trained, and led by a dedicated team of paid staff.  Billerica has, for many years, been able to offer religious education with a variety of part-time Religious Education professionals.

Billerica Catholic Religious Education (BCRE) operates as a collaborative ministry of the Catholic Community of Billerica, which is St. Andrew, St. Mary, and St. Theresa parishes in Billerica.  Payments given to BCRE must be in the name of one of the three parishes, and is credited back to each of those parishes respectively.

Yes, Billerica Catholic Religious Education offers a Home Study option for students in grades 1-8.

We believe that it is important to support parents to be the primary educators of their children in the way of the faith, in the manner they best see fit.

When registering, please write in the word HOME in the “First Choice” column of the Registration Form.

Families who choose Home Study will receive materials that students complete at home with the assistance of their parents/guardians. Periodically, they will be expected to return an assessment to the Religious Education Office.

• Home Study materials will be distributed in September and then periodically throughout the year, as needed.
• Home Study students participating in the First Reconciliation and First Eucharist preparation are expected to attend all scheduled meetings, rehearsals and workshops, with their parents/guardians (except the parent meeting in the fall, which is for adults only), pertaining to the preparation for those sacraments.
• Home Study is not an option for the Confirmation Program, since Confirmation sacramental preparation is embedded into the catechetical curriculum of the high school formation program.

Unfortunately, no. High School students may not choose to participate in Home Study during either 9^th or 10^thgrades. CHOSEN is a comprehensive 2-year Confirmation-focused program that builds with each session. It also provides proximal (near) preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

For more information about our High School / Confirmation program, please click here.

Since the CHOSEN program requires an hour and 30 minute class block, and we wanted to allow for Sunday Hospitality after the 9:00am Mass, we were pushed into a later start time. There are also High School classes available at St. Theresa around the 5pm Mass, and at St. Andrew following the 10am Mass.

Home Study is not required for students who are enrolled in Catholic Schools.   This is because the students are receiving their catechesis (faith formation) from the school during their school day.

Home study is not required for Catholic School students who are preparing for their First Reconciliation and First Eucharist, however, we expect those students and parents to enroll and participate in the First Reconciliation and First Eucharist preparation program.  This is because Catholic Schools (typically) do not offer sacramental preparation, since sacramental preparation and celebrations are intended to happen in parishes.

In general, Elementary and Middle school Catholic Students (Grades 1-8) do not need to attend Religious Education classes.

However, Catholic School who need to prepare for their First Reconciliation and First Eucharist need to enroll and participate in the Reconciliation and Eucharist sacramental preparation program.

We greatly appreciate all Catholic School students to notify the BCRE office, however, so that the parishes may properly track the faith formation of all parish children.  There would be no fees, except for those participating in the First Reconciliation and First Eucharist sacramental preparation program.

If you are unable to make your scheduled session, we invite you to make a one-time change to a different session during the same week. Please reach out to the appropriate grade-level coordinator in order to ensure there is space in the class session you into which you wish to make the one-time change.

Religious Education Classes follow a linear curriculum and each week’s class is different. So you might switch between Sunday and Wednesday in the same week, but you would not want to attend two classes in the same week, as both classes would be the same content. Religious Education is not like swimming lessons, which work on the same skills over and over.

If you know in advance that you have a conflict, you could switch to a different class earlier or later in the same week.

If a student is out sick, they are invited to return to a different class once they get better. Thank you for using your discretion.

Unfortunately, no. High School students may not choose to participate in Home Study during either 9^th or 10^thgrades. CHOSEN is a comprehensive 2-year Confirmation-focused program that builds with each session. It also provides proximal (near) preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

For more information about our High School / Confirmation program, please click here.

Since the CHOSEN program requires an hour and 30 minute class block, and we wanted to allow for Sunday Hospitality after the 9:00am Mass, we were pushed into a later start time. There are also High School classes available at St. Theresa around the 5pm Mass, and at St. Andrew following the 10am Mass.

The BCRE Team, Pastoral Staff, and Bishop Hennessey (our regional Episcopal Vicar, or Assistant Bishop to Cardinal Sean) have found it easier to have each parish in a collaborative hold their Confirmation Mass(es) in the same season.  We decided in our first year of collaborative religious education to favor the spring (Easter Season) traditions of St. Andrew and St. Mary, rather than waiting until the following fall as St. Theresa had done for a number of years.

Each parish still holds its own Confirmation Mass.  Candidates for Confirmation may choose to receive the sacrament in any parish, though they are encouraged to receive the sacrament of Confirmation in their home parish.

St. Andrew is continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass at a regularly scheduled 4:00pm Mass on Saturday afternoon.

St. Mary is continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass on a Thursday evening.

St. Theresa has been continuing their tradition of holding their Confirmation Mass(es) on a Saturday, however, since moving from the fall (after 2015), St. Theresa’s Confirmation Masses had been held on a Saturday in June.

For the spring of 2020, at the request of Bishop Hennessey, St. Mary’s Confirmation will likely be held in later May while St. Theresa’s Confirmation will be held in earlier May.  This is due to heat / air-conditioning that is not at St. Theresa but is at St. Mary.

Yes, they do, since our Confirmation Preparation program, Chosen, is a comprehensive 2-year Confirmation-focused program that builds with each session. It also provides proximal (near) preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

While a number of topics and themes may be also covered in their Catholic High School Theology / Religion classes, Chosen is intended for parish use only, so it will be a unique experience.

Yes! Please do not lack a lack of financial resources keep you from registering for Religious Education.

For those families unable to pay in full at the time of registration, both our paper forms and online registration provide two options:

1. Bill Me Later – we will invoice you the balance, which you may pay at once or in installments

2. Financial Aid – you are unable to pay – please have a simple conversation with us about your situation, so we may best care for you.

All financial assistance requests are kept confidential.

Another option to consider is to assist with Religious Education, as many of our volunteer roles come with discounts.

“Rotating Helper” is a parent, guardian, or other adult family member who assists the religious education program on a rotating basis. This model was piloted during the 2019-2020 year in Pathfinders.

Beginning in 2020-2021, one adult from each family will be expected to assist with one program, either as a “Rotating Helper” (much like Pathfinders had helpers sign up in the 2019-2020 year) or as a committed volunteer (catechist/teacher, aide, hall monitor, etc), for those families with one or more children in Grades 1-8. This replaces the expectation that one adult attends regularly with a child in the younger grades. Rotating helpers, who assist once every two or three classes, may lead activity or service project stations, run ice-breaker games, assist with set up or clean up of class sessions, and other similar roles.

It is our hope that this Rotating Helper model will better engage the adults who are present and assisting in the religious education program.

We welcome your feedback as this model is tried during the 2020-2021 religious education year.

Discounts are available for many volunteer positions. Please see the registration materials for more information.

The Religious Education fees partially offset the costs of administering our Religious Education program.  The total cost per student is greater than what we charge – the remaining balance is paid for by the parishoners of St. Andrew, St. Mary and St. Theresa.  The Church’s mission is to evangelize and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, which includes our Religious Education program.  However, it would not be fair to expect the parishoner-in-pew to completely support religious education, as participating families should also contribute to the faith formation of their children.

The fees we change offset the costs of supplies (books, materials, technology), overhead (heat/lights), and salaries.

While most of the Catechists, Aides, Small Group Leaders, Hall Monitors and other helpers are volunteers, they are supported, trained, and led by a dedicated team of paid staff.  Billerica has, for many years, been able to offer religious education with a variety of part-time Religious Education professionals.

Billerica Catholic Religious Education (BCRE) operates as a collaborative ministry of the Catholic Community of Billerica, which is St. Andrew, St. Mary, and St. Theresa parishes in Billerica.  Payments given to BCRE must be in the name of one of the three parishes, and is credited back to each of those parishes respectively.