All too often, religious education programs help prepare children for their First Reconciliation but struggle to assist the parents in preparing their children. They, after all, are the primary educators or might I say “prepare-rs”. This year I really wanted to look at our First Reconciliation parent meeting in a different way. I wanted to touch parents lives so that in return they would be able to impact their children. I found a very powerful video and showed it (outline below). I didn’t want the meeting to just be me or someone talking up front, but since all these parents are part of our church family I wanted them to grow together and share their lives together. That is why I then had them interact at tables with small group discussion questions. Below I have additional details regarding what I did but first and foremost it was about touching the hearts of the parents because if we can engage their hearts and minds it will naturally overflow onto their children. I was grateful to hear that it was well received and parents were in fact touched by what they experienced.

I opened with a prayer and then went right into this video:

Forgiveness Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9J6xOT3Ldw

Then I had parents answer some questions about the video and about how they have taught their kids about forgiveness and hope to prepare them as they prepare their child for their First Reconciliation.

Following the small group discussions our Pastor spoke for about 5 minutes encouraging parents and then I showed the following video:

Sacrament of Reconciliation Explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtbpOERgMvk

Afterwards, I shared a few thoughts and went into some specifics from a folder of material we give about helping their children prepare for their First Reconciliation.

I ran out of time but I wanted to then share this video:

Beautiful Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is6weMrenls 

What do you do to impact the parents at meetings like this? I’d love to hear from you!