Our registration has closed for 2022-2023; please contact us in the spring of 2023 for information regarding 2023-2024 registration.
The Christian family is ordinarily the first experience of the Christian community and the primary environment for growth in faith; it is the “church of the home”, the domestic church. In his 1994 Letter to Families, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area: they are educators because they are parents.” It is through the living witness of parents that children first experience the faith; faith-filled moments permeate all of family life. This experience is irreplaceable and lasts throughout life.
As parents, you teach your children through your example every day. You teach them to walk, talk, tie their shoes, and say their prayers. As parents you are blessed with the love and grace to foster your children’s spiritual growth and it is in the family that children learn to love and serve God. Indeed, as parents you are uniquely able to teach your children – first because you yourselves are persons of faith and second because you are parents. It is this religious formation that is the foundation of all other forms of religious education a person receives.
Faith Catechesis Program
For children to be registered in our Elementary Faith Formation Program at St. Mark, they need to be in grades Pre-K4 – 6 grade for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year and have received the Sacrament of Baptism. If you have a child over the age of 7, who has not been baptized, please contact Ruth Sanchez at [email protected] or by phone at 972-423-5600, ext. 225.
In order to participate in sacramental preparation for the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion, the child must be at least in the 2nd grade or above AND have completed the previous year in a parish Faith Formation program. If you are unsure if your child qualifies for sacramental preparation this year, please call our Parish Office.
For those receiving Sacramental Preparation this year:
If the child has received the Sacrament of Baptism at another Catholic parish, we will need a copy of their baptismal certificate prior to the reception of the sacrament of First Reconciliation. A copy of the certificate may be dropped off at our Parish Office during our business hours or you may scan and email it to the Director of Children's Faith Formation and Youth Sacramental Preparation , Peggy Theis at [email protected]
If your child received the Sacrament of Baptism at St. Mark, we do not need a copy of a certificate, as we will have it in our records; please be sure to let us know the date, including the year.