Although it is typical that children begin the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation with Baptism in infancy, today pastors, pastoral associates, catechists, and others involved in parish formation often meet older children who have not been baptized (they are true catechumens) or have been baptized in other Christian church or have not received the Eucharist (in which case they are candidates). The Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults makes it clear that in these cases, the norms of adult initiation should apply: a cathechumenate or candidacy in the presence of the whole Church with public celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist, in that order) during the Easter Season.

But how do you prepare older children, from elementary to high school ages, for Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist? Thomas L. Long and Emily F. Filippi asked that question a decade and a half ago when they began working together at St. Joseph's Parish, Petersburg, Virginia.

Children's Catechumenate (formerly Let The Children Come to Me) was developed in Catholic parishes beginning in the 1980s to meet this need. There were no published materials available at the time and so they began to develop their own. First published in 1988, this cathechetical series is now in its second edition.

Emily F. Filippi, M.A., is a consultant to parishes for religious education and catechumenal formation. She has been associated with the North American Forum on the Catechumenate for several years. She was Minister of Religious Education for over a decade at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Petersburg, Virginia, and currently serves as the Associate Director for Children's Catechesis of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond (Virginia).

Thomas L. Long, PhD, is associate professor in the Communications and Humanities Division of Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia. His parish ministry has included serving as associate pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Petersburg and pastor of Christ the King Church in Norfolk, Virginia.