Your Perfect Guide Through Renewed & Received

Read This if You Want to Hold the Attention of the Children in Your First Reconciliation and First Communion Prep Program Engaged and Get Their Parents Engaged with the Faith

Ascension's First Reconciliation and First Communion Preparation Program

These programs are called Renewed: Your Journey to First Reconciliation and Received: Your Journey to First Communion. We’ve designed these programs to work together seamlessly, but if you prefer to use one or the other individually, they’ll work that way as well.

Each program offers 12 lessons of content. That content includes some wonderful short videos, usually less than five minutes each, to keep children engaged.They have also both been granted inclusion on the USCCB conformity list and a Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur.

Explore the program further by browsing its stunning visuals and seeing how it engages students, parents, and leaders.

 

View the Program Videos and Workbook Illustrations

Program Videos

These videos tell the story of a little girl named Felicity as she prepares for her First Reconciliation and First Communion. The children in your program will learn alongside her about things like sin, mercy, forgiveness, Christ’s love for each of us, and his Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Teaching about these things can be a little tricky. We believe in “the visible and the invisible” after all, right? So how can you teach about the invisible in a way that makes it easy to understand?

The videos in these programs solve this challenge. We had a team of animators help us to show the children what is truly happening in these sacraments. Just take a look at this clip!

Program Illustrations

You see, children this age are full of awe and wonder. The videos will engage their senses, but as we know these children can be pretty fidgety too. We made these programs with them in mind.

These children struggle to sit still for a long time. We know that asking students to sit while we lecture about the sacraments is ineffective. Children need to move!

On top of that, many prep programs are held in the evening after children have spent an entire day sitting still at school. At that point in the day, we’d just be fighting a losing battle trying to get them to sit still and listen, right? This is why we present a range of activities in Renewed & Received, including interactive activities to get children engaged and moving!

Another thing about children this age is that they’re very visual. Every lesson in Renewed and Received has original artwork to capture their imagination. These are the kinds of images that stick with you and you carry into adulthood, like Jesus, David and Goliath, and the Good Shepherd.

Those Are Some Ways This Program Engages Children, But What About Their Parents?

We know how important it is to get the parents involved in their child’s catechesis. They are the primary catechists, after all. Don’t worry. We made sure to take care of your parents too with Parent Certification Courses, At-Home Lesson Guides, Parent Guides, and Take-With-You Books.

Click below to learn how Renewed & Received equips parents during First Reconciliation and First Communion preparation!

How Renewed & Received Equips Parents

Free Program Guides

Free At-Home Lesson Guides and Parent's Guides offer additional ways for parents to be involved!

Click here to learn about the difference between the At-Home Lesson Guides and Parent Guides.

Parent Certification Courses

In these Parent Certification Courses, we don’t try to re-catechize these parents and cram 20+ years of religious education into them,

Instead, we focus on helping them rediscover God’s infinite, personal love and his desire for relationship, a reality that sparks faith and draws them deeper. As they go deeper, we come alongside them and provide tips and strategies to help them to accompany their children through the sacramental preparation period and beyond.

Parent Certification Courses

In these Parent Certification Courses, we don’t try to re-catechize these parents and cram 20+ years of religious education into them,

Instead, we focus on helping them rediscover God’s infinite, personal love and his desire for relationship, a reality that sparks faith and draws them deeper. As they go deeper, we come alongside them and provide tips and strategies to help them to accompany their children through the sacramental preparation period and beyond.

Take-With-You Books

The first one is a Reconciliation book called Renewed by Jesus: My Guide to Reconciliation. For many children, going to Confession can be intimidating, and we wanted to give parents something to help them calm those fears. 

This little book is something their child can bring with them right into the confessional. It helps children remember what to do and say at the different points in their confession.

Take-With-You Books

The second resource is a Mass book titled Receiving Jesus: My Guide to the Mass. It seems like everyone else knows when to stand, sit, and kneel and what to say the whole time at Mass. That can leave children who don’t know these things feeling like they stand out.

This Mass book helps them understand what to do and why we do it, so they’ll feel more comfortable coming to Mass. (And when they feel more comfortable coming to Mass, they’re more likely to come, right?)

But Maybe You're Concerned About How to Have Your Team Switch Over to a New Program

Don't worry! We’ve made it easy.

The Leader’s Guides for the Renewed & Received programs are thorough without being overwhelming. Even a first-time catechist can use them to lead children through the lessons with confidence. Everything they need is right there in front of them.

Each program includes 12 lessons of content, more than you will find anywhere else. That means no more scrambling to create extra material or piecing together activities, videos, and worksheets online. Every lesson contains the student workbook content with leader notes wrapped around it, plus activities, prayers, objectives, stories, and original sacred art.

To be sure these resources truly meet parish needs, we asked Directors and Coordinators of Religious Education to review them and give us feedback. We also spoke with catechists who shared their struggles, especially with feeling prepared. In response, we created an Online Leader Certification course with guidance on classroom set-up, engaging students and parents, building an inclusive environment, and maintaining a life of prayer.

Your team will learn from trusted Catholic leaders like Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jackie and Bobby Angel, Sister Josephine Garrett, Mari Pablo, and Charleen Katra. With these tools in hand, catechists can step into their role and succeed.

 

How Renewed & Received Equips Leaders

Leader Certification Courses

To be sure these resources truly meet parish needs, we asked Directors and Coordinators of Religious Education to review them and give us feedback. We also spoke with catechists who shared their struggles, especially with feeling prepared. In response, we created an Online Leader Certification course with guidance on classroom set-up, engaging students and parents, building an inclusive environment, and maintaining a life of prayer.

Your team will learn from trusted Catholic leaders such as:

  • Fr. Mike Schmitz
  • Jackie and Bobby Angel
  • Sister Josephine Garrett,
  • Mari Pablo
  • Charleen Katra

With these tools in hand, catechists can step into their role and succeed.

Fill Out the Form Below to Access Your Leader's Certification Free Preview

See Renewed & Received in Action

Renewed & Received Working in a Real Parish

Here is just a glimpse of what these programs offer:

  • Channel children’s natural energy with engaging, faith-filled activities in every lesson.

  • Keep attention and explain even the “tricky” parts of Reconciliation and Communion with stunning live-action and animated videos.

  • Get parents involved and excited as their own faith is reawakened through the online course.

  • Build the domestic church with Reconciliation and Communion Crates full of games, activities, and prayers for families to use at home.

  • Lighten your workload with easy-to-use leader resources and an online training course that boosts confidence and makes implementation simple

If This Sounds Like Something You’d Like to Take a Look At, We Have Great News.

You Can Review the Entire Program Completely Risk-Free.

How is it risk-free? Simple.

  • Click the button below and fill out the form there, then we'll send you your review pack with all the materials for the program absolutely free. You will receive online access to the programs immediately.
  • Your materials will arrive with an invoice that is due in 60 days.
  • If you look the program over and decide it's not for you, just reach out to support@ascensionpress.com and we'll send you a return label for the materials and cancel the invoice.
  • See? If you love it, great! You're on your way. If not, then you have no risk.

Watch this video to join Renewed & Received presenter Jackie Angel for a step-by-step video walkthrough of how the program materials included in the risk-free review work together to equip your leaders and engage your students.

Get a Risk-Free Review for Renewed & Received

Invoice Price: $179.95
(Due 60 days from the shipment of the physical materials)

Ascension offers you the opportunity to review these sacramental prep programs before you decide to implement them. We understand that there are many factors that go into choosing a program for your parish or school, so we equip you with all the tools you need to make the right decision.

This opportunity to review our program materials risk-free is available to priests, religious, DREs, deacons, teachers, youth ministers, and others who are authorized to make purchase decisions for their parish, (arch)diocese, or school and who are located in the continental United States.

For any additional questions feel free to reach out to our customer support team at support@ascensionpress.com or by phone at 1-800-376-0520.