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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
CCD Classes
For many years, religious education was based on the Baltimore
Catechism. This basic book taught the faith using a series of
questions and answers. (Q: "Who made us?" A: "God made us.") The
Baltimore Catechism is gone now, but even today, religious education
is still occasionally referred to as "catechism." It is also called
Sunday School, even if it isn't held on Sunday. Religious education
is now the province of The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD),
the oldest church-wide organization responsible for the religious
education of youngsters.
Religious education began as soon as the mission parish was
formed. The Victory-Noll Sisters were in charge until they left in
the mid-1960's. After that, lay people took on this responsibility.
Classes eventually were held in the Robert Morris and then the N.K.
Brampton schools in South Bound Brook. Classes covered all the grades
from First through High School. Children were prepared for the
reception of the sacraments in addition to learning the basic tenets
of the faith. Eventually, the high school program was discontinued
due to lack of participation, though various youth groups have picked
up some of this education.
In 1980, the New Jersey Supreme Court declared that churches and
other community groups could use public facilities only on a
temporary basis. The CCD program had been using the Robert Morris and
N.K. Brampton Schools for almost 20 years. The Board of Education of
South Bound Brook had the option of issuing a grace period while
other suitable quarters could be found, but the Board chose to evict
Our Lady of Mercy's CCD program. That summer, partitions were
installed in the basement of the church and classes have been held
there ever since. The Sunday mass schedule was changed to accommodate
two class sessions, one before the 10:00AM Mass and one after that
Mass. The 10:00 Mass became the Folk Mass with a definite youthful
orientation.
Holy Family Academy
Throughout the years, a number of children from the parish have
attended the two parochial schools in Bound Brook, St. Joseph's and
St. Mary's. By the end of the 1980's, the student population
attending St. Mary's had declined to a point where the economic
viability of the school came into question. At the same time, St.
Joseph's church was also experiencing fiscal difficulties. Our Lady
of Mercy was asked to take part in a plan to combine these two
schools into one unit and assist in the financial support of the
enterprise.
Father Steve Congdon chaired a committee of representatives from
all three parishes beginning in 1990. The two schools were merged
into a single entity named the Holy Family Academy. The original
charter calls for representatives of each parish on the Board of the
Academy and each to contribute a share of the upkeep in proportion to
the number of students attending from each parish. Holy Family
Academy officially began with the new school year in September, 1991.
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