Catechism Level 4: Basic Spirituality

OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES FOR LEVEL IV CATECHISM:
Grow in love for God and His Church through deeper knowledge of Theology, Scripture, Saints, History, and Spirituality in order to live and share these truths.

LEVEL IV CATECHISM COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Class will begin with an opening prayer, followed by a short discussion on a topic. This helps students to feel comfortable in class and build community amongst the students and to check that their microphone works properly.

Material covered in each class will consist of Time Line review, “Word(s) of the Day”, and any Saints relevant to the material. Relevant passages from the Bible, Church Fathers and literature will be read together and discussed. Students at times will be asked to read aloud. Part of basic spirituality is learning to be respectful of others, to behave towards others in a Godly manner. This will be emphasized as we learn dates, definitions and lives of saints. Students will learn to encourage and not discourage fellow Students.

Please note: Parents are needed for the success of their child’s participation in this class. Parents after each week’s class need to be given an oral explanation of each word of the day, any Saints discussed and help their child to memorize the time line.

LEVEL IV CATECHISM SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
1. To expand their vocabulary of words found in the Bible, the services and writings of the Saints.

Expanded understanding of words bring an expanded understanding of their faith.
2. To have a basic framework of sacred history.
3. To be able to articulate their faith in front of others.
4. To make friends with other Orthodox kids their age.

Required Materials:
Books and supplies are not included in the purchase of the course.

Orthodox Study Bible

Fr. Gabriel Souza

[email protected]

Father Gabriel Souza was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of blessed memory in February of 2021. He currently serves under the Omophorion of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Eastern America & New York in the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. Fr. Souza’s education and priestly formation prepared him to serve in various positions as an educator, director of religious education and faith formation for youth and young adults, and pastoral counselor. With strong interpersonal skills, he builds and develops strong relationships with parishioners and students.

Passionate about working with youth and leading the liturgy and prayers of the church, it is through teaching and preaching that his passion for Jesus truly comes alive. He enjoys spending time with my very close-knit family and socializing with my friends- especially other clergy. Reading, traveling, learning about the great treasures of Orthodoxy, meeting people, and learning about and experiencing different cultures are also the great joys of his life.

Fr. Nikolai Meyers

[email protected]

Father Nikolai Meyers is a native of Southern California. He holds a bachelor of arts in Bible and cross-cultural ministry from Manhattan Christian College, Manhattan, Kansas. He earned his master of divinity from St. Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary, in South Cannon, Pennsylvania. He was ordained Deacon in September of 2007 by His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochain Archdiocese at St. Tikhon Monastery in South Cannon, Pennsylvania, and to the holy Priesthood in July of 2008 by His Eminence at St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, California. He served 6 years as assistant pastor of St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and concurrently was the priest in charge of the St. Paul Orthodox Mission in Tupelo, Mississippi. From October of 2014 to July of 2019 he was the pastor of St. George Orthodox Church in New Hartford, New York, where he was also the spiritual adviser for Teen SOYO in the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York. He now serves as the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Topeka, Kansas. He is married and has 5 children. [email protected]

Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with a processor with a speed of 1 GHz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with Mac OS 10.7 or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do not recommend using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.

High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with a download/upload speed of 5/1 Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.

Webcam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer. Webcam Recommendations: Good (PC only) | Best (Mac and PC)

Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class. Headset Recommendations: USB | 3.5mm

Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use. To download Zoom:

Visit zoom.us/download.
Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
Open and run the installer on your computer.
In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.

Scanner: In this class, students frequently submit homework assignments by scanning pages from their workbooks. Students and/or their parents should have easy access to a scanner and the ability to use it.

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