By Olga Ptach

Several years ago, Archbishop Michael blessed an educational program for 3-6-year-olds which was developed at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary and then brought to the parishes of the NY-NJ diocese in 2019. Since then, this program, called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS), has been training volunteers to go back to their home parishes and establish an atrium (classroom). The most recent of these trainings took place on June 3rd through 7th, 2024, on the grounds of St. Tikhon’s Seminary.

What happened when these ten faithful Orthodox Christians gathered with a seasoned formation leader to study this innovative program called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd? They experienced joy and peace. These “fruits of the Spirit” will be transmitted to the 3–6-year-old children that these adults have been called by God to work with. These adults are not the “teachers” (they are “catechists”) in this program. Christ is the Teacher. This amazing program seeks to have everyone “fall more and more in love with the Good Shepherd,” who loves them, takes care of them, and protects them.

This plane of child development is a sensitive period when the children have the most “absorbent” minds and actually yearn to deepen their relationship with God whom they already innately know! So how does it work? This approach to spiritual formation:

• Allows children to unite the heart, the mind, and the hand.
• Nourishes “the most irrepressible hunger of the human person [‘to receive and return’ the love of God], and enlightens all that surrounds one.”

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd permits the prepared adult (which this training offered) to become able to:

• Observe the needs of each child.
• Announce God’s love and encourage the education to “wonder.”
• Be amazed at parables such as the “mustard seed” that emphasizes how something so small can become something so great.
• Educate us to pray; the atrium is a place of listening to and responding to God where contemplation in the silence often produces a joyful song of the heart.
• Help our children to learn about Scripture and the Church, deepening their relationship with the living God, while enriching the spiritual life of the catechist as well.

Stay tuned (in a couple of months) to Ancient Faith Radio’s podcast, “Spirit of Saint Tikhon’s,” where a few of us involved in CGS were interviewed!

With God’s help, we hope to offer more of these kinds of training. If you are interested in impacting your church school program in a profound way, contact Olga Ptach, NY-NJ Diocesan Coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, at olgaptach@gmail.com or 914-262-1061.