OCIA Intensive Workshop
REGISTER HERE!
Date: Friday, June 20, 2025. Starts at 9:00 AM and concludes at 4:00 PM.
Saturday, June 21, 2025. Starts at 8:30 AM and concludes at 3:30 PM.
***Participants may choose to attend Friday only, Saturday only or both days. ***
***If you register for a two-day session, the same person must attend both days. ***
Location: St. Anne Church (St. Basil Hall - 2140 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77098) - Campus Map
Click here for the workshop agenda
Description:
Join parish leaders—clergy and laity—in exploring the Church's renewed vision for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). These formation sessions offer in-depth guidance on the revised rites, liturgical catechesis, and concrete pastoral applications for new and experienced ministers, as well as resources for accompanying children and families. Discover the roots and impact of the relationship between liturgy and catechesis in the formation of a truly transformative faith.
Whether you’re a veteran or a new leader, this workshop is for you!
Our Goals for the OCIA Intensive Formation Days are to:
- DISCOVER how the OCIA is a restoration of Christian initiation from the early Church and prepare your team for the coming changes in the approved revised edition to be published next year.
- EXAMINE the stages of the OCIA process, the essential role of the rites in the initiation process, and how ongoing mystagogical catechesis can prepare and form participants into disciples of Christ.
- EXPLORE the many paths in the OCIA for various journeys of faith: unbaptized, baptized but non-Catholic, baptized Catholics but not catechized, children, and adults.
- UNDERSTAND the liturgical-catechetical process of Christian initiation, an organic, systematic, and integral formation in faith, that forms and transforms Christians into disciples of Christ.
- FOSTER our ability to develop integrated mystagogical catechesis for our parish and discover ways to involve your whole community in the initiation process.
- IMPLEMENT new insights from this formation intensive into your initiation team’s ongoing growth and development of your parish adult initiation process.
Presenter - Donna M. Eschenauer, Ph.D.
Dr. Eschenauer is the Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary and
College in New York, where she teaches courses in Liturgy (including “Confirmation and the OCIA” and “OCIA: Theology and Practice”), and various courses on Pastoral Ministry. She has been a part of Catechumeneon, a team with Liturgy TrainingPublications who work to promote the Church’s vision for the implementation of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults in the United States. She has also been a major presenter at the National Gathering on Christian Initiation with LTP. Professional memberships include the FDLC (Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Directors) and the Society for Catholic Liturgy. She also serves as a consultant for the Catechumenate for the Archdiocese of New York.
Her pastoral experience is reflective of her over twenty-two years of work in the Diocese of Rockville Centre at the Cathedral Parish of St. Agnes where she served as a religious educator, liturgist, and catechumenate director.
Dr. Eschenauer's publications include: Recruiting and Forming Your Parish Initiation Team. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2021. The Role of the Coordinator in Christian Initiation: A Pastoral and Practical Guide (2nd edition), Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2025; First Communion Liturgies: Preparing First-Class Celebrations. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014; How to Lead Children’s Liturgy of the Word, co-authored with Pat Fosarrelli and Paul Turner. Chicago, IL: Liturgy Training Publications, 2014; The Easter Triduum: A Ritual Pilgrimage. San Jose, CA: Resource Publications, 2013 (available at Liturgy Training Publications); and Reflections on Renewal: Lay Ecclesial Ministry and the Church, co-edited with Harold D. Horell. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2011; and several articles on Christian Initiation published by Liturgy Training Publications.
Dr. Eschenauer lives on Long Island, New York with her husband Paul, a long-time pastoral musician. She has three grown children and two granddaughters.
Fee Schedule
TWO-DAY SESSION (Friday AND Saturday). The same person attends both days if registered for both days.
Early Registration - $70 until Sunday, June 1st at midnight
Regular Registration - $80 until Sunday, June 15th at midnight
Walk-in Registration - $95 as space is available.
ONE DAY SESSION ONLY (Friday or Saturday)
Early Registration - $45 until Sunday, June 1st at midnight
Regular Registration - $50 until Sunday, June 15th at midnight
Walk-in Registration - $50 as space is available.
PARISH LEADERS - Please contact the Office of Worship by email at worshipoffice@archgh.org if your parish would like to pay the registration fee for your parishioners.
- Group Discount: Groups of 4 or more from the same parish will receive a $5 discount on each registration. You must have a minimum of 4 registered and present.
- Parish Check Payments: If a parish has less than 4 registrants, we can still invoice your parish after the workshop for those who attended.
Lunch is provided onsite by the Office of Worship with paid registration.
What to bring: Note taking supplies, snacks, refillable water bottle, sweater/jacket, blanket, gloves (something to keep you warm as the classrooms may get cold)
Please note that this facility does not provide childcare. Minor children or babies are not allowed in the workshop or on the grounds that day. Because all minors are required to have constant adult supervision, the Office of Worship cannot be responsible for them. Please make other arrangements.
Capernaum is currently undergoing an overhaul. You can still register as a walk-in if you do not have a Capernaum account.