OCIA FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS

OCIA adapted for Children and Teens

The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, or OCIA, program offers children, teens and adults the opportunity to become fully initiated to our Catholic Church through four stages:

  • Pre-catechumenate
  • Catechumenate
  • Election
  • Final Initiation


Children who are not baptized (age 7 and up) will participate in our RCIA program for children which is held typically on Tuesdays evenings from 7pm-8:30pm. This weekly parent/child class provides age appropriate understanding of our Catholic Faith for our students, specifically nurturing the child’s relationship with Christ. It is through this weekly class, students will be prepared to enter the Church through the Sacrament of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation.


Children who are baptized (3 to 8th grade) but who have not received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and/or Eucharist will begin a two year program concluding in receiving All Sacraments of Initiation


High School students who are entering the Catholic Church or wish to receive sacraments of  Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, or Confirmation should contact Paul Laskowski at paul.laskowski@stmarknc.org.

OCIA

OCIA is the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults. We call our program OCIA for Children or Teens, or sometimes OCIC.

  • OCIC
  • This program is for Children over 7, 5th grade or below, who are not baptized.
  • They will receive Baptism, First Holy Communion And Confirmation.
  • This program is also for 6-12th graders missing any Sacraments.

Those in this program will come into The Church at either the Easter Vigil OR at Pentecost.

  • Easter Vigil
  • The night before Easter Sunday
  • Those who need to be baptized will enter The Church at this Mass.
  • Pentecost
  • The Seventh Sunday of Easter
  • Those who only need First Communion and/or Confirmation will receive those Sacraments on this Sunday.

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Baptism

  • If your child is NOT baptized, and UNDER 7 years old, please contact Emily Bixler to schedule them to be baptized ASAP.
  • If your child is NOT baptized and OVER 7 years old, but not older than 5th grade, they will need to enroll in our OCIA for Children class on Tuesday Evenings. 
  • If your child is NOT baptized and OLDER than 5th Grade, they will need to enroll in our OCIC class on Tuesday Evenings. 

Special Cases

If your child is missing a Sacrament and is not the typical age for that Sacrament, please reach out to us to make sure they get

placed in the correct class.

Here are some examples:

  • My child is in 1st grade, 6 years old and not baptized.
  • Get them baptized before they turn 7!
  • My child is in 5th grade, 10 years old, and not baptized.
  • They will need to be enrolled in OCIA for children.
  • My child is in 4th grade, 9 years old, baptized but hasn't received First Holy Communion
  • If they did not attend Faith Formation in 3rd grade, they will enter 4th grade, like normal, but then in 5th grade they will complete extra Sacramental prep to receive First Holy Communion at the end of that year.
  • If they did attend 3rd grade Faith Formation, they will enter 4th grade and complete extra Sacramental prep to receive First Holy Communion at the end of 4th grade.
  • My child is in 10th grade, 16 years old, hasn't received Confirmation because we just moved here from a parish where they received at the end of 10th grade.
  • Your child will join the OCIC class and receive Confirmation at Pentecost.
  • My child is in 9th grade, and just needs Confirmation
  • If they attended a year of Faith Formation in 8th grade they can join our Confirmation class
  • If they did not attend a year of Faith Formation in 8th grade, they will need to complete a year of Life Teen in 9th grade, and will enter our High School Confirmation class via OCIA for teens in 10th grade.

There could be so many special cases for needing Sacraments, please reach out and we will definitely help you find the right place for your child!

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