Faith formation PROGRAM

CCD / Faith Formation Class Mission

To teach the Syro Malabar Catholic faith in partnership with parents, the primary educators of their children. The journey of faith begins at Baptism and calls for children to actively participate with their parents in the full life of our Catholic Church. In order for this journey to enrich the lives of everyone involved, each catechist, parent and student must understand and embrace his/her role. 

St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago : Echo Catechetical Directory 

Director: Fr. Antony Xavier Pullukattu

Principal: Minesh Joseph

Vice Principals: Teseline James / Jojimol Kallarackal/ Marydasan Thomas 

Health/Safety team: ff-health-support@stthomassyronj.org 

Announcements/CCD Message Center

CML Lenten Chart 2023.pdf

Updated - February 20, 2023

1) Lenten Chart- Please see above the Lenten Chart for this season. Kindly print a copy for your child and encourage them to follow. You may modify as it suits your child.


2) Lenten Retreats-  The Lenten Retreat schedule  & details for CCD students are as follows: 


Kids Retreat (Grades 1 to 8)  on March 11th (9:00 am to 4:00 pm) and  March 12th (9:30 am to 4:00 pm)  led by Anointing Fire Catholic Ministry, Atlanta. 

Registration Link for Kids Retreat  


Youth Retreat (Grades 9-12) on March 18 (9:00 am to 7:00 pm) and  March 19th (9:30 am to 2:00 pm). 

Registration Link for Youth Retreat 


October 28 update

1) Dei Verbum Quiz Registration- Children (Gr 4 & up) and Adults are encouraged to participate in the 2023 Quiz. Please register by November 6th using the following link: https://forms.gle/RPSHnSpXyJAntYKp6


2) Holyween Celebration on Sunday October 30th-  Children are encouraged to come early for 9:30 am mass in a saint costume and be seated in the front pew. Please sign up using the following link: CML_Saints_Costume.xlsx   Youth team has planned fun filled games from 12:30 pm onward for all children. Here is a you tube link explaining the Holyween celebration.  What's Holyween?! | Young Disciples


3) Pending CCD fees- Please use following link to pay your dues if not already paid ($125 per family) Give to St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church


4) New Kids Adorer Group- We are planning to start a new group of kids who will meet weekly with a focus on prayer & adoration. Children from grades 4 to 7 are encouraged to join. They will be taught songs, how to pray and participate in adoration. It is optional to join. Jolly Thadikaran will be leading this initiative. More details to come. 


5) Upcoming Volunteer opportunities- Volunteering is key to experiencing our faith in action. Please save the following dates to help out in the Somerset Summer Olympics. Volunteers need to be at least 14 years of age. More details to come. 

January 21 - Bowling meet  / March 25 - Swim meet / May 13 - Track & field meet. 


6) Google Classroom- Please ensure/help your child to accept their google classroom invite. Teachers often post homework & other relevant class materials for students. Please reach out to your teacher if you need help with access.


September 21 update

1) Parent Meeting - As announced earlier, the parent meeting of all CCD students is scheduled for next Sunday, September 25th 2022 at 1:00 pm in church. Please plan to attend this ~ 1hr mandatory meeting as we will be highlighting key expectations of the Faith Formation program.

2) Dei Verbum Quiz 2023 -  The 2023 Dei Verbum Quiz kicks off with the Parish level quiz to be conducted in December on Gospel of John. All three levels will be conducted online as before. Winners will receive cash awards, certificates and trophies. Registration fee is $10. Please register using the link below. Children grade 4 and up as well as adults are eligible to participate. Deadline to register is November 6th 2022. 

https://forms.gle/RPSHnSpXyJAntYKp6

3) Confession for 12th grade - Next Sunday, September 25th there is an opportunity for 12th graders to go for confession during CCD time. Please help the children prepare. Confession sessions for other grades will be scheduled through the year.  

4) Registration for Current Academic Year - We still have few children attending classes without registering. Kindly register at the earliest using links below. Registration fee for the year is $125 per family payable online or via check. 

Returning Student Registration: https://stsmcc.breezechms.com/form/ccdregistration7968

New Student Registration: https://www.cognitoforms.com/CCD11/_202223FaithFormationNewStudentRegistrationForm


September 11 update

Dear Parents,

Academic year (2022-23) for the Faith Formation Program will be starting on Sunday, September 11th, 2022 after 9:30 AM Holy Qurbana. Please register your children by tomorrow Sunday, September 4th using the links below.

For returning/current students, please use this link to register:

https://stsmcc.breezechms.com/form/ccdregistration7968


For new students please use this link to register:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CCD11/_202223FaithFormationNewStudentRegistrationForm


Please also note, the first Parent meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 25th after lunch. This meeting is mandatory for all parents of Faith Formation children. Please save the date & plan accordingly.


Additional information on the Faith Formation Program including Academic Calendar can be found on the Faith Formation website


If you have any questions, please reach out to us @ faithformationadmin@stthomassyronj.org


Thank you

Faith Formation Admin Team

Announcements- PAST UPDATES 2021-22

Updated Date: 10/31/2021


Updated Date: 10/20/2021

We are in our 6th Sunday of Faith Formation classes and approaching the first quarter of our faith formation program for this academic year. Hope and pray that all our families are being showered with God’s mercy and love during these difficult times. 

 

It was our desire and our Bishop’s guideline that we must provide in-person faith formation program classes to all our children on every Sunday.  But, taking into consideration various scenarios, we decided in September to start our program in a hybrid mode and then to revisit our program schedule after 2 months depending on the prevailing situations.

 

Even though our current pandemic situations do not show much improvement;  because of the feedback and experiences shared from our families by participating in a Sunday Holy Qurbana & Faith formation program together in-person, made us decide to switch over to Plan B schedule from October 31st. Just like we decided to start with our September schedule of the faith formation program, this Plan B will also be on a trial mode, and we will revisit the plan depending on our situations.

 

Plan for Faith Formation Program classes starting October 31st will be as follows: -

 

 

Example Schedule: 

October 31st as per our schedule, Group 1 has in-person sessions and Group 2 has Virtual Classes. This will be changed to the following schedule.

*Group 1: Rosary/Sapra/Holy Mass  09:10 AM; CCD Assembly & CCD Time: 11:00 AM -12:30 PM.

*Group 2: Rosary/Sapra/Holy Mass: 11:10 AM; CCD Assembly & CCD Time: 09:30 AM - 11:00 AM

 

Please notice this change is effective from October 31st and plan your calendar accordingly. Also, please note that there will be a back to school schedule on Oct 31st after the 11:30 AM Holy Mass as announced in the CCD News at our Faith formation website (ccd.stthomassyronj.org). More details will be followed. If you have any questions, please reach us @STSMCC Faith Formation Admin

 

Thanks & Prayers,

Faith Formation Program Admins.


Updated Date: 10/16/2021


Updated Date: 09/26/2021


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Updated Date: 09/21/2021

CONGRATULATIONS 

TO OUR 2019-2020 DEI-VERBUM BIBLE QUIZ WINNERS


Talent show sign up form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dWvwdNxWdcMSGke074qRGQHIg8DfKCuHiWLGGZY-6LI/edit?usp=drivesdk

Breeze link for payment: https://stsmcc.breezechms.com/give/online?fund_id=669482&amount=0

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Updated Date: 09/18/2021

Dear Families,


Welcome to our 2nd Day of Faith formation program Classes for the academic Year 2021-22.


Any health related communication must be email to Health/Safety team @ ff-health-support@stthomassyronj.org before 8 AM on Sundays.


Welcome to our first day of IN-PERSON FOR GROUP 1 Faith Formation Program Classes! 


September 19 will be an IN-PERSON SESSION for Group 1 Families.

All the children are required to attend the Children's Holy Mass @9:30 AM and is followed by an IN-PERSON class until 12:15 PM.


Please see the link for our calendar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mkj2NvxbMXZzuxFKrks0wTYM9D5eC9AF/view?usp=sharing


All the families are required to submit a one-time Health Check Form by clicking the link 

https://forms.gle/Sq1zoN8uu5ukGdJd6



Welcome to our first Day of Virtual Faith Formation Program for GROUP 2 !!


Coming Sunday, September 19 will be a VIRTUAL SESSION for Group 2 Families. This will start at 2PM.

Please see the link for our calendar: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1R21KFjPFBMlIJJo5ynBpzqyPjU42ytYX


Families and Children are welcomed to come for the Children's Holy Mass @9:30 AM. 


Google Classroom/Google Meet/Church Email Account Details

There will be a church email account for every child from Grade 1 to 12. 

Group 2 - KG students will be getting a google meet link for attending their virtual session. 


Returning students from last year will be using their same email address for logging into their google classroom. Passwords will remain the same. 

If you have any issues with your password and need to reset, please email to tech-support@stthomassyronj.org

or submit  your issues in the form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kaGUR4um2EYRAWmkc2UOos3LJUSvfFE9WDEdHqsmU5Y/edit


For new families joined this year and for Grade 1 children, your email account will be in the format as follows:-


The email address will be in the format: <firstname >.<lastname>@stthomassyronj.org

Example if your child's name is Mathew Jacob, his email address is mathew.jacob@stthomassyronj.org


Temporary Password for this account (if you are a new student registering this year): NewStudent1

The system will ask you to change the password upon login. Please follow the prompts.


Please login to the google class room for your child by browsing the link below:

https://classroom.google.com/


username: Church email address assigned for your child

password: Temporary password provided above. (for returning students password will be your old password)


If you have not yet registered, please register and email tech team get the credentials. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us @faithformationadmin@stthomassyronj.org



Thanks,

Admin Team.

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Updated Date: 09/06/2021


Welcome to our new Academic year 2021-22!!  Our Faith Formation program classes officially starting on September 12th.  We expect all our children enrolled for our faith formation program (both Group 1 and Group2) in the Church/Fellowship Hall. 


Gathering of each individual grade and group after the Holy Qurbana will be outside the church in specific allocated open area (on Sept 12th) and it communicated. 


First day schedule will be as follows: -


9:20 AM – Sapra (Morning Prayer)

9:30 AM – Holy Qurbana

10:40 AM – Prayers and Blessing by Achan for our New Academic Year/Guidelines and Announcements

11:00 AM – Commissioning of Teachers by Grade Level

11:30 AM – Dismissal for Picnic


Note: Family Group allocation is shared in our Faith Formation Program Website and link is below:-Click here to see your child's group in faith formation program classes 


Updated Date: 08/22/2021

The registration Forms are available for both new and existing students in the below links"

CCD FAQ

SCHEDULE 2022-23

Faith FOrmation Parish advisory board

Director: Fr. Antony Xavier Pullukattu 

Principal: Minesh Joseph 

Vice Principals: Tesline James, Jojimol Kallarackal, Marydasan Thomas 

Ex Officio: Renny Polo , Nisha Alex 

Safe Environment :Theresa Tomy,  Jason Alex

Holy Communion: Benny Thomas

CML/Youth:  Sophia Rijo Mathew

Resources

Download Breeze Check-in App - Android | iOS Device


Google Classroom access

All the students will have access to the church email account to use for google classroom.  If any of the student do not have access, please contact your student's class teachers.

Visit https://classroom.google.com to access your classroom. Click here for help with Google Classroom

Instructions to login to the google classroom  available click here

CONgRAtS TO OUR 2022 GRADUATES!!!!!