The Highland Ridge Explorers were gathered around a picnic table in Manuel’s back yard. It was late September and unexpectedly warm. Leaves were turning, and a few fell gently to the ground around them as they settled into their weekly meeting.
Manuel slid onto the end of one of the picnic table benches and announced, “My Mom just got home from her faculty meeting. She said she’ll bring us out some snacks shortly. We can go ahead and get started, Jake.”
Jake called the meeting to order and began. “I just want to remind everyone of where we are. We voted last time that we would each invite a classmate to come with us to our faith formation classes at the parish. Even though Keiko goes to Catholic school, she agreed that she and Ellie would invite a neighbor who is Catholic but doesn’t go to any kind of faith formation. So how did we do? Manuel, let’s start with you.”
Manuel said, “Well, I invited this boy I know. His name is Rodrigo, and as you know, he showed up. He’s from Guatemala. He said he liked the class o.k.. He hadn’t been to religion classes since he made his First Communion when he was seven. He was gong to ask his Mom and Dad if he could come all the time. Our catechist said it would be o.k. “
Benjie spoke next. “I brought a boy in my class who just moved to this country. ‘He’s from Nigeria. He speaks really good English but with a different accent than we speak. He has always been Catholic but his family didn’t know about the faith formation classes. His name is Tobi. When I went by his house his Mom said she wants his little sister to go too. She’s going to go and sign them both up this weekend after Mass—if it isn’t too late.”
Before anyone else could continue, Manuel’s mother came out with snacks. “There are polvorones cinnamon cookies from our family party last Sunday, and also some crackers and cheese sticks. I also brought some boxes of juice or milk. So enjoy yourselves, and don’t forget to use this bag for any trash,” she added with a smile.
“Thanks, Mrs. Lopez,” the group answered enthusiastically. “We’ll bring everything in at the end of our meeting, “ added Jake.
After they had all served themselves, Ellie reported her progress. “Well, Keiko invited me over and introduced me to her neighbor, Marissa. She’s from California and her family just moved here over the summer. Her family hadn’t even joined the parish yet, so Keiko’s parents invited them to come to Mass with them and then Marissa came to my class with me. Keiko came with us too, even though she isn’t a regular with us since she goes to the Catholic school.”
Manuel broke in. “Yeah, I met her too, since Ellie is in my religion class this year. She was nice.”
“Yes, and of course I met Manuel’s guest Rodrigo, too. I thought they both seemed happy to be there.”
“Well that’s great,” said Jake. “I invited a boy at my new school. His name is Cameron. He said he might come, but when I went by his house so we could ride our bikes to class together, he said he had changed his mind. He’s never been to a religion class and his parents don’t go to church very often. He said he didn’t think he really wanted to go. So I’ll just have to keep working on him.”
Manuel remarked, “Yes, I know who he is. He was in my class last year. He’s kind of quiet.”
“Yes, but he’s very good at sports. Well, I guess we were pretty successful with our plan,” concluded Jake. “All but one of the kids we invited showed up, and the ones who came said they liked the class. So what do we do next? Manuel and I will keep working on Cameron, but what’s our next group project?”
“I have an idea, “ said Keiko. “Remember we had the idea last week of creating a welcome booth for the parish festival in October to advertise our faith formation program. We could still do that. But I would like to make it a joint project between the parish program and the school. ” Everyone agreed it would be best as a joint project.
“Another thing we could do,” said Ellie, “is to invite the new kids to be part of the planning team for the booth. That would get them more involved.”
“Or, why don’t we ask if we could do a Disciple Power booth advertising what our club does? We could show other kids how to be disciples too,” said Ellie.
“Would that be too much like bragging, Ellie?” asked Keiko. “Maybe Disciple Power could be the focus of the parish/school booth.”
“ I don’t know,” Manuel said hesitantly. “I still want to focus on the new kids we just got to come to a class for the first time. Maybe the next step for us is to invite them to one of our club meetings so they can see what we do.”
“Whoa,” said Jake. “We’re getting a lot of ideas here. Let me sort out what I’m hearing: 1) We can organize a booth sponsored by both the parish and school programs; 2) We can organize a Disciple Power booth showing some of our club projects; or 3) We can invite these new kids to our next club meeting to help us find some more ideas.
“But what if they want to join the club then, “asked Ellie. “Is that what we want? That would be three new members, and it could be a little overwhelming. They aren’t as close as we are.“
“I’m just naming the options, Ellie,” said Jake. “I’m not saying which one we should choose. I think it is time for a vote,” he concluded.
-—————————
TIME TO VOTE