Guild of the Good Shepherd
promoting the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program
The Guild is partially funded by the Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese.
The Guild of the Good Shepherd is a regional group, which supports and
promotes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) program to churches
throughout the New England area. Though most of our members are Episcopal,
the Guild enthusiastically includes fellow Christians from Roman Catholic
and Protestant churches in our formation classes. (The Guild believes
strongly in our Massachusetts Diocese's mission statement '...to send
our people to serve with Christ, inviting everyone...’)
The Guild's Board is comprised of lay people and clergy from our members’ churches. We offer information on CGS and can direct or provide courses for anyone wishing to use this curriculum. The Guild is partially funded by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and from membership dues and tuition from Formation courses.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, the CGS is an approach to the religious formation of children for ages 3-12. It is rooted in scripture, liturgy, and the educational principles of Maria Montessori. The program believes that God is already present to children. It is the purpose of this program to deepen that relationship.
CGS is used by Anglican, Roman Catholic and other Christian churches in this region. Over 200 people have completed training from the 10 Formation courses offered so far.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have concerning the CGS program!
What the Guild offers:
- Information on local, regional and national training opportunities.
- Formation courses held at churches in the diocese of Massachusetts that is spread over a 10-month period.
- Support in opening an atrium in your church. The Guild will offer consulting, training, resources and some grants to assist parishes in establishing this approach.
- Support for those parishes and individuals that have established this program.
- Workshops and speakers, who will introduce your church to the CGS.
- Connection to and resources from the National Association.
- Several material-making workshops throughout the calendar year.
- Networking with other Catechists and parents.
- Ongoing enrichment as a Catechist and development of your spiritual life.
- Advocacy for CGS within the diocese.
- Membership directory and mailings.
Information:
The Guild is a wealth of information about the CGS program. We can come
to you or you can come to us. We also have panels that give a succinct
overview of CGS. The panels are portable and stand upright for displaying
at your parish for meetings and the like. Please contact the Guild if
you are interested in finding out more about the panels!
In the future the Guild will be able to provide information on what it takes to start up a CGS program. Besides information about training, you'll find out what you should estimate for a yearly budget (which can be as little as $500-$700), receive a list of materials to get started with, and the like.
Training:
One of the main purposes of the Guild is to provide training for the
CGS program. So far, the Guild has offered over a dozen Formation courses
in the Metro-Boston area since 2002.
You may get training in any one of the 3 levels in the CGS program.
There is Level I for ages 3-6, Level II for ages 6-9, and Level III
for ages 9-12. Each course consists of more than 90 hours of training,
which is spread over several months - usually one Saturday per month.
However, it is not necessary to complete a whole course before beginning
CGS in your parish. The amount of material taught in a course covers
the full 3-year cycle of the level.
Financial aid (via scholarships) is available for training. Contact the Guild if you are interested.
For information, you may contact the coordinator for the Guild of the Good Shepherd,
Updated: April 26, 2009 06:09 PM
Do you have any comment or suggestions for this website? Then the webmaster.
Guild's website is maintained by Ron D.
.