All are welcome here at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The love of God is experienced in its fullness in and through His Church. For adults and even some teens who seek to become Catholic and all the wonderful benefits that entails, with great excitement, we offer a process known as Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults, or RCIA.
RCIA is for:
- Any person who is unbaptized and wishes to be a full member of the Church.
- Any person who may have been baptized in the Catholic Church, but has not recieved any other sacraments yet (First Communion, Confirmation, etc).
- Any person baptized in another Christian faith community or denomination who wishes to become Catholic
- Any person who has been baptized, recieved First Communion, but might not have been ready to recieve Confirmation.
- Any parishioner, or other person of good will, who just wants to learn more about the Catholic faith.
RCIA includes a class that meets weekly, at which we discuss one of the many teachings of the Church, some of which are important and must be believed in order advance through the process. Classes begin in August each year. Anyone seeking to receive any of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation) must join the class before Advent of that given year (roughly at the end of November).
RCIA participants who wish to recieve the Sacraments and become Catholic must also have sponsor. We recommend that the sponsor be a practicing Catholic, knowlegdable of the Church's teachings, and who can serve as a role model during this time of preparation. If you do not know of anyone who can sponsor you, we will ask a parishioner on your behalf.
If everything goes smoothly, RCIA participants will be adequately prepared to receive the Sacrements of Initiation and become a full, practicing Catholic at the Easter Vigil Mass (taking place the evening before Easter Sunday).