Yes, scholarships are available for parish catechists in Level I and Level II and can be requested by contacting us at [email protected].
Are there certain criteria to apply for scholarships?
Currently, there is no specific criteria for parish catechists. Scholarship funds are limited and intended to support parishes in need. These scholarship funds are distributed based on availability. For more information, please contact [email protected].
I am not seeking catechist certification but I am enthusiastic to learn more about the Catholic faith. What can I do?
The formation elements included in the certification process are suitable for any person seeking more knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith. You can find all the sessions in the online store, here, or you can contact us at [email protected] for more information.
I noticed on my dashboard that I have a course called “Introduction to the Life of Prayer”, which I do not recall purchasing or asking for access. Why do I have it and do I have to complete it?
The session “Introduction to the Life of Prayer” was given to the Archdiocese of Chicago as a free preview of the online program during the 2015 Catechetical Gathering. You do not have to complete it.
Level II – Witnessing the Call consists of the following requirements (they are the same for parish catechists and Catholic School teachers):
Spiritual Formation II Course (five sessions)
Theological Formation II Course (twelve sessions)
Ministry Formation II Course (five sessions)
Ministry Elective Sessions (eight sessions)
Retreat
What exactly is a session?
A session is equivalent to one full hour of content (breaks and lunch times do not count as content time).
Is there a specific time frame under which I need to complete Level II?
For parish catechists, we recommend completing Level II within two years, but not within less than a year.
For Catholic School teachers, Level II has to be completed within two school years by August 1.
The requirements for both parish catechists and Catholic School teachers are divided by:
Level II – Year 1
Spiritual Formation II Course
Theological Formation II Course
Level II – Year 2
Ministry Formation II Course
Ministry Elective Sessions
The retreat may be completed in either the first or second year of Level II
What are ministry elective sessions? Can you provide some examples?
Ministry Elective Sessions are faith-based formation opportunities that need to be completed in addition to those found on formedcatholiconline.com. These sessions are considered electives because each catechist is able to choose from a variety of options depending on one’s own interests.
Examples include:
Webinars
Virtual retreats
In-services
Bible studies
Parish retreats/missions
Day of reflections at parishes or schools
Professional development days
Ministerial trainings
Any faith-based formation experience
Do you recommend any webinars for my Ministry Elective Sessions?
The Archdiocese of Chicago has a great relationship with a variety of publishers and a couple of them have upcoming webinars and pre-recorded webinars on their webpage. In your browser search for any of the following sites:
As a Level II – Year 2, can I count the certification retreat approved by the Office of Lifelong Formation as part of my elective sessions?
Yes, if the retreat requirement was completed in year 1, the certification retreat completed in year 2 can be approved as an elective. Please include it in the Electives Form indicating the date, facilitator’s name, and number of hours.
What should I do if I’m uncertain about something counting as credit for my ministry elective sessions?
Ask your catechetical leader or principal if he or she approves it for you. The Office of Lifelong Formation entrusts catechetical leaders and principals with their approval of Ministry Elective Sessions.
You can also email [email protected] with the appropriate information and someone from the Certification Team will get back to you.
Once I upload my ministry elective form, will I receive an email stating that it has been received?
You will receive an email stating that it has been received. The Certification Team will review the approval request and will either approve or decline it depending on the information provided on the form. You can go back to your certifications page and check the status of the approval request.
How do I keep record of my ministry elective sessions?
Download the Level II and Level III elective form from your online account. It is available once you log into your dashboard, under the notifications area.
Save the document onto your computer with no special characters. The system does not allow files named with special characters to be uploaded.
Fill out the document, and once you’ve completed the necessary ministry elective sessions for your level, upload it onto your account following the instructions listed out on the form.
I am having problems uploading the form, what can I do?
Email [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will assist you.
Level III – Inspiring the Call is a three-year cycle which consists of the following requirements:
For Parish Catechists
15 elective sessions each year
Retreat (in year 1, 2 or 3)
For Catholic school teachers
One online package
Eight elective sessions
Retreat (in year 1, 2 or 3)
What exactly is a session?
A session is equivalent to one full hour of content (breaks and lunch times do not count as content time).
What is a Level III Elective Package? (Teacher Certification only)
A Level III elective package (found under “Teacher Certification” at formedcatholiconline.com) is a package made up of online electives, which count as seven sessions towards Level III. These elective packages should only be taken by Catholic School participants.
Is there a specific time frame under which I need to complete Level III?
Level III is a three-year renewal cycle parish catechists need to complete fifteen elective sessions each year.
The requirements for Level III parish catechists are divided yearly by:
Level III – Year 1
Fifteen sessions (may be completed through onsite electives and/or online electives)
Level III – Year 2
Fifteen sessions (may be completed through onsite electives and/or online electives)
Level III – Year 3
Fifteen sessions (may be completed through onsite electives and/or online electives)
Retreat may be completed in any of the three years
The requirements for Level III Catholic School teachers are divided yearly by:
Retreat may be completed in any of the three years
Will onsite courses be available for parish catechists?
Yes, onsite courses will be available as parishes request to host them.
What are ministry elective sessions? Can you provide some examples?
Ministry Elective Sessions are faith-based formation opportunities that need to be completed in addition to those found on formedcatholiconline.com. These sessions are considered electives because each catechist is able to choose from a variety of options depending on one’s own interests.
Examples include:
Webinars
Virtual retreats
In-services
Bible studies
Parish retreats/missions
Day of reflections at parishes or schools
Professional development days
Ministerial trainings
Any faith-based formation experience
Do you recommend any webinars for my Ministry Elective Sessions?
The Archdiocese of Chicago has a great relationship with a variety of publishers and a couple of them have upcoming webinars and pre-recorded webinars on their webpage. In your browser search for any of the following sites:
As a Level III catechist, can I count the certification retreat approved by the Office of Lifelong Formation as part of my elective sessions?
Yes, if the retreat requirement was completed in year 1, the certification retreat completed in year 2 can be approved as an elective. Please include it in the Electives Form indicating the date, facilitator’s name, and number of hours.
What should I do if I’m uncertain about something counting as credit for my ministry elective sessions?
Ask your catechetical leader or principal if he or she approves it for you. The Office of Lifelong Formation entrusts catechetical leaders and principals with their approval of Ministry Elective Sessions.
You can also email [email protected] with the appropriate information and someone from the Certification Team will get back to you.
Once I upload my ministry elective form, will I receive an email stating that it has been received?
You will receive an email stating that it has been received. The Certification Team will review the approval request and will either approve or decline it depending on the information provided on the form. You can go back to your certifications page and check the status of the approval request.
How do I keep record of my ministry elective sessions?
Download the Level II and Level III elective form from your online account. It is available once you log into your dashboard, under the notifications area.
Save the document onto your computer with no special characters. The system does not allow files named with special characters to be uploaded.
Fill out the document, and once you’ve completed the necessary ministry elective sessions for your level, upload it onto your account following the instructions listed out on the form.
I am having problems uploading the form, what can I do?
Email [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will assist you.
As a parish catechist in Level III, can I complete one of the elective packages found under the Teacher Certification track?
No, however, the individual elective sessions found under these elective packages are can be found here.
I do not recall if I have an account with www.formedcatholiconline.com, what do I do?
Email [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will help you.
I’m a Catholic School participant and I purchased one of the courses under the catechist certification track, but realized soon after that I actually needed to purchase the same course under the teacher certification track, what should I do?
Email [email protected] once you have fully completed the course and someone from the Certification Team will help you. You will not lose any progress you have completed, we will just transfer the credit to the correct certification under the teacher track.
My account has been locked, what do I do?
The Certification Team checks locked users twice during office hours (9:00 am – 4:45 pm). Your account will be reactivated and you will receive a login email with your new password from [email protected]
If you do not receive an email within a day, please email [email protected].
Can someone send me my username and password to log onto formedcatholiconline.com?
I tried logging in with the provided username and password, but I keep getting a message saying, "Your username is invalid in the site". What do I do?
Please email [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will help you. Our office will contact the online provider to resolve the issue.
My parish/school has already paid for my coursework, however when I go to formedcatholiconline.com, I am asked to enter my credit card information in order to purchase the courses. What do I do?
If your parish/school has already paid your coursework, the courses will already be loaded into your account. Login to your account, go to the “Learn” tab and begin your courses.
Access to your coursework will be confirmed once you receive an email from [email protected] providing you with your login credentials.
I completed the entire session, but it is still showing incomplete. What do I do?
Usually when this happens, either the pre- or post-assessment did not submit properly. Go into the session, click on the “Menu” button, click on pre-assessment, complete it and submit your answers. You can then go back and check if the session is now showing 100 percent. If not, please go back into the session and submit your answers to the post-assessment.
Afterwards, if it’s still showing incomplete, please email [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will assist you.
As I am finishing up a session within a course, I keep pressing the return button, but nothing happens. What do I do?
If this happens, click on the “Return to Course” button right below the Archdiocese of Chicago logo on the top left corner, it will take you to the list of the sessions in the course.
As I am checking my Level I certification, I notice I have three different certifications: Catechist Certification, Teacher Certification, and Pilot Certification. Do I need to complete all of them, or does only one apply to me?
If you are a parish catechist, you only need to complete the requirements under the certification titled, “Catechist Certification - Level I - Answering the Call”.
If you are a Catholic School participant, you only need to complete the requirements under the certification titled, “Teacher Certification - Level I - Answering the Call”.
If you were part of the pilot program from February to July 2016, you only need to show completion under the certification titled, “Level I - Answering the Call - Pilot Certification”.
As I am checking my Level II certification, I notice I have two different certifications, one titled Catechist Certification and the other titled Teacher Certification. Do I need to complete both of them, or does only one apply to me?
If you are a parish catechist, you only need to complete the requirements under the certification titled, “Catechist Certification - Level II - Witnessing the Call”.
If you are a Catholic School participant, you only need to complete the requirements under the certification titled, “Teacher Certification - Level II - Witnessing the Call”.
I had previously logged into my account and was able to see my courses. Now when I log in, I do not see any of my courses. What should I do?
Recommendation from the online provider: Clear the computer’s cookies and cache by clicking on the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner (under the X) of the internet page and go into History. Once you’re there click, the “clear browsing data” button, make sure cookies and cached images and files are checked, then click “clear browsing data” at the bottom of the box. Please note, these steps are for Google Chrome and may be a different process for other browsers.
Need more help? Please contact [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will assist you. Your password may have to be reset in order for someone from the team to go into your account and fix the issue.
When I go to the Learn page, there is no “Begin” or “Continue” button next to any of the courses. What should I do?
Recommendation from the online provider: Clear the computer’s cookies and cache by clicking on the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner (under the X) of the internet page and go into History. Once you’re there click, the “clear browsing data” button, make sure cookies and cached images and files are checked, then click “clear browsing data” at the bottom of the box. Please note, these steps are for Google Chrome and may be a different process for other browsers.
Need more help? Please contact [email protected] and someone from the Certification Team will assist you. Your password may have to be reset in order for someone from the team to go into your account and fix the issue.
I accidentally archived a course, how can I unarchive it?
Go to your “Learn” page, and under the list of your courses, click on the button that says, “View Archived Courses”. From there, you will see the course that you archived, and next to it, click on the “Unarchive Course” button. It will unarchive the course and make it available to you on your Learn page.
How do I archive a course?
Go to your “Learn” page and click on the course that you would like to archive. Once you’re inside the course, you will see an “Archive Course” button below the name of the session, or below the list of sessions. Click on it. A pop-up warning will appear asking if you are sure you want to archive the course. Click “OK” and the system will archive it.
Should I archive a course?
We recommend archiving a course once you’re completely done with a level.
How can I change my password?
Once you log in to your account, on the top right corner, click on your name and then click on “Settings”. Under the password heading, enter a new password (must be between seven and twenty characters, have at least two letters and one number, and contain at least one special symbol). Enter the same password next to “Confirm Password”, choose your security question and answer, and click on “Save” to activate your new password.
How can I change my name and/or my username (email address)?
Once you log in to your account, on the top right corner, click on your name and then click on “Settings”. Under the “My Account” heading, make the appropriate changes and click on “Save” to save all of your changes.
How can I add a user picture to my account?
Once you log into your account, on the top right corner, click on your name and then click on “My Profile”. From there, click on the link that says, “Upload User Picture”. A pop-up box will appear, click on “Select files” and find the picture you want, click on “Open” and then “Upload files”. Close the pop-up box and your user picture will be added.
How do I know if my device is compatible with the online program?
Login to your account using your device. On the top right corner, click on your name and then click on “System Check”. The system will check if your device is compatible with the program.