Our SPRED group (SPecial Religious EDucation for the developmentally disabled) is a network of services designed to assist persons with developmental disabilities and/or learning problems to become integrated into parish assemblies of worship through the process of education in faith. 

There are 140 parishes within the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago that serve children, adolescents and adults. Ideally, each parish in a cluster of parishes serves one particular age group. http://www.spred-chicago.org/

What is SPRED? SPRED is the Special Religious Education Division of the Archdiocese of Chicago that assists parishes in their effort to welcome children and adults with developmental disabilities or learning problems.

Multiple churches in the area serve adn catechize differnet ages of children and adults. St. Alphonsus hosts ll - 16 year olds. The other age categories are children 6 - 10, young adults 17 - 21 and adults 22+. You are never to old to be in SPRED.

What is a SPRED Community? Up to 8 volunteers from the Parish agree to take SPRED training to learn how to offer appropriate religious education to those with special needs. There is no need however to have a background in special education. Most of our catechists have never worked with the developmentally disabled before. After everyone is trained, the volunteers start forming a small community of faith by welcoming no more than 6 friends with special needs.

You might ask "what happens to those individuals who need SPRED but don't fall into our age category?" A local parish that has a SPRED group can take individuals who currently come from another SPRED parish. For example St. James in Arlington Hts., St. Raymonds in Des Plaines, and Holy Family in Inverness all currently have a SPRED group or groups. Unfortunately not enough local churches have agreed to form a group and individuals are put on waiting lists. Our goal at St. Al's is to start a second age group in the near future.

What is the SPRED process? The goal of SPRED is to help the children or adults with disabilities develop an awareness of God in their lives; an awareness of themselves as persons of dignity who are loved by God; an awareness of themselves as an integral part of the Parish community and the entire Church. This is accomplished through meaningful one-on-one relationships within a small community of faith. God is discovered time and again in the midst of the life experiences of every person and also in the friendships within the SPRED community.

Who can be a volunteer and what is the time commitment? Anyone who is Catholic, 21 years or older and is willing to share faith and friendship with others from the Parish. Volunteer catechists meet once a week for 24 weeks out of the year. Twelve of those sessions include the friends with disabilities. The sessions last about 2½ hours.

Special Religious Education (SPRED)

With an increase in the awareness and diagnosis of autism in recent years, we have had a number of inquiries from our parish and neighboring parishes to enroll adolescents in our SPRED age group. Due to fact that the class size is intentionally small, many children have been on a waiting list.

It is our hope and prayer to open up a second group to serve the needs of our 11-16 year olds in the area. We are looking for compassionate people who feel called to work with these extraordinary kids. Special Education experience is not required although you will be required to attend training to gain knowledge of the very special and non-traditional method that is involved with our catechesis.

If you would like more information, please call Kathy Talken at 847-601-9823.

Volunteers Needed!

Our meetings are on Wednesday nights and we meet 20 times from September - May. Volunteers do not require any special background, but there is one day of training that is required. All of us who are in SPRED agree that we get so much more out of what we do than what we put in to it. If you have any desire to find out more about this ministry, please call Kathy Talken at 847-601-9823. 
 Looking forward to hearing from you!

Do you know of any Catholics in the Parish who have developmental disabilities and/or learning problems? A neighbor, or friend of a friend -- someone who perhaps does not attend Mass because oftheir child's disability? We are trying to reach out to those parishioners and get a better idea of what their needs are and how we can best serve them. If there is someone you know, please contact one of us and let us know their name, disability and approximate age.