All Parents: Plan to join your children this week in the main church worship space at the beginning of classes August 29/30! Our parish priests would like to personally welcome you all and offer a blessing to RE families. Our Director of Religious Education, Sandy Kimmey, will have some important information about the upcoming year as well. Following the welcome, parents are asked to accompany your children to their classrooms to meet their Catechists! (We suggest starting with your youngest child’s classroom and popping into the others afterward to say a quick hello and collect an Information sheet from your additional catechists. If you do not make it to all your children’s classrooms, do not fret! Our catechists will be emailing all parents a welcome letter with their contact information in the first few weeks. After meeting the catechists, parents are invited to the Gonderinger Parish Center (GPC) for refreshments (sample the cookies from our upcoming fundraiser!) and fellowship while the children finish up the second half of the hour in their classrooms. Dismissal will be as usual.

Please join us—we’re looking forward to connecting with you all!

FAQ's for Religious Education Classes

How do we enter the building for classes?

All Students should enter through school doors by flagpole and wait in commons till bell rings at the top of class. Once the bell has rung, children may walk to their classrooms. All classes are held in the school classrooms. No students are allowed into the classroom before class time and the catechist must be present.

How long is class?

Class time is one hour.

Do they need to bring anything?

All supplies are provided in the classroom unless specifically requested.

Will all children be dismissed at the end of class?

Grades 3-8 will be dismissed by their catechist at the end of Pre-school through Grade 2 will not be dismissed from class till an adult or older sibling picks them up. Please let the catechist know who will be picking up your child. If you are running late, please let the office know (402-896-5683) and we will have the students wait in the office.

Parking Lot Safety

Please pull into a parking space to pick up your child/children. DO NOT pull up and sit in the right of ways. This causes congestion and students darting into the parking lot. We will have adult crossing guards to help children cross at the end of class. Please follow the crossing guard instructions if they ask you to pull into a space. Safety First!!

I have a child who will be absent. What do I do?

Please use the following email to inform us if your child/children will be absent.

RE.attendance@stephen.org or call us at 402-896-5683. Informing the catechist is fine, but you must also inform the office. Parents will receive a phone call during class time if a child is absent and no notice was given to Rel. Ed. Office.

I need to change my class time. Can I do that?

We will change a child's class time if there is room where you are wanting to switch to. All class assignments are done on a first come, first serve basis. At this time, many classes are full and a waiting list me be started. Students will be assigned as space opens up. Please contact Eileen at e.smith@stephen.org or 402-896-5683 to request a class change.

In order to do this in most cases, we need more catechists. Please volunteer or encourage someone you know that might be able to volunteer. See below for openings.

Catechist Needs

We rely on adult and high school parishioners to volunteer as “Catechists,” witnesses of the faith who teach and share the Catholic Catechism with children in our parish and prepare them to receive the Sacraments. We supply everything you need to present PREPARED LESSONS with K-8th grade students for one hour a week on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. All you need is a love for the Lord and a desire to share it. You will be amazed at how much your own understanding of the Catholic church, as well as your faith itself, grows as you share it with others.

Please prayerfully consider volunteering this year!

Wednesday at 5:30 pm: Grade 6

Additionally, many of our larger classes need a co-catechist: a high schooler or an adult, to assist our Catechists during classes! Please prayerfully consider helping out this year!

For more details, please call us at 402-896-5683 or email Eileen at e.smith@stephen.org. Thank you!

Catechist Volunteer Form

Parent Meeting, August 28, at 7 pm

2024 Confirmation preparation is well under way! Next up is our Parent Information meeting on Monday, August 28th at 7 PM in the Gonderinger Parish Center (GPC). During this meeting we will walk through the Confirmation preparation process for this year and have time to answer questions. Archbishop George Lucas let us know that he will come to St. Stephen the Martyr to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation May 6th, 7th, and 8th! It truly is a joy to have the Archbishop, a successor to the Apostles, come and celebrate this Sacrament for us.

I look forward to meeting with you at our upcoming Parent Info Night!

Questions or concerns? Contact

Sam Jizba, Confirmation Coordinator, at 402-861-4512 or at s.jizba@stephen.org.