
Premium members of The Religion Teacher have access to hundreds of practical resources to lead their students into an encounter with Christ.
Or learn more:
The three bonuses (details below) expire at 11:59 p.m. on September 27, 2023. Join today to get these gifts when you become an annual member of The Religion Teacher.
Make disciples, not lukewarm students.
It’s time to talk about a big problem we will all experience in religious education this year:
Lukewarm Souls
So many of our students and their parents have lukewarm souls.
They have good intentions.
They want to be good people.
They want to receive the sacraments.
But they are not always motivated by a deep desire to know, love, and serve the Lord.
These kids come from “Christmas and Easter Catholic” families.
Their parents have a “drop-off mentality.”
They drop their kids off and leave it up to us to teach the faith.
Many times parents even skip mass and just bring the kids in for the classes.
In Catholic schools many, if not most, of the kids are bored in religion class.
As they get older they start to call themselves “spiritual not religious.”
On the parish side, we see big spikes in enrollment in the 2nd and 8th grades.
These are the years for the sacraments. Parents want their kids to receive First Communion and Confirmation.
A lukewarm soul loves Comfortable Christianity.
Comfortable Christianity only requires the bare minimum effort.
The heart is not required.
Conversion is not required.
Just show up, say your prayers, then get back to normal life.
That is not the kind of Christianity we are forming young people to embrace.
Instead, you and I will set out this year to ignite the hearts of our students and their parents.
We are going to set their hearts on fire with faith.
We are going to help them see the need for a conversion of the mind and heart.
Resources that Lead Kids to Encounter Christ

As a religious educator, know that you don’t have to be alone. There are resources to help.
My name is Jared Dees.
I’m the founder of The Religion Teacher.
In the last fourteen years I have created and shared hundreds of lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and videos with practical ways for religious educators to lead their students into an encounter with Christ.
The textbooks we get at the beginning of the year do not provide enough ideas and resources to accomplish everything we want to do.
Many of the tools we find online don’t work for our students.
There is a better way.
The resources at The Religion Teacher are meant to save you time and energy as you serve your students and their parents.
These tools will make it easier for you to cultivate encounters with Christ in class.
So that lukewarm souls do not stay lukewarm
The biggest problem isn’t the existence of lukewarm souls.
The problem is that these students come in with lukewarm souls and stay lukewarm all year long.
They are not being transformed by their experience in religious education.
What can we do about it?
There are two traps we fall into while trying to reach lukewarm souls.
Comfortable Catechesis takes it easy on them and presents faith with fluff that doesn’t challenge kids to change.
Forced Faith takes the opposite approach with rules and requirements that actually motivate kids to seek out and do only the bare minimum to get through our programs.
I want to share a different perspective.
What has the greatest chance of transforming the hearts of the students with lukewarm souls in our classrooms?
It is a simple mindset shift.
This year we will . . .
Make disciples, not students.
We are responding to Jesus’s parting words to his disciples to “Go make disciples of all nations . . .” (Mt 28:19)
But unfortunately we have inherited a system that says “Go make good students of all classes . . .”
If we treat our kids like students, they will remain students.
But if we treat them like disciples, they will become disciples.
How to Make Disciples
So, what will make disciples?
People became disciples in the gospels in two ways.
- They encountered Jesus and he called them to follow him. (see Mark 1)
- Another disciple invited them to come and see Jesus for themselves. (see John 1)
You will be that disciple inviting other disciples (your students) to come see Jesus for themselves.
You will be creating opportunities for encounter in class so they can hear the call to follow Jesus.
Offer Encounters vs. Ideas
Focus on encounters more than ideas.
Be a Disciple vs. Teacher
Be a disciple more than a teacher.
I have been a religious educator nearly 20 years and spent most of that time developing resources for other teachers and catechists to use in class.
This year members of The Religion Teacher will have access to 1,000 downloadable tools with one goal in mind: lead kids into an encounter with Christ.
The Religion Teacher membership exists to save you time and energy in planning your lessons.
You will be able to teach Catholicism with confidence.
You will have access to easy-to-use, practical resource for every topic you could teach this year.
Plus, you will get books and online courses to help you become a better disciple along the way.
Here is what you will get as a member:
What Do Members Get?
The Religion Teacher membership website provides three kinds of resources for members:
- Printable Worksheets: Downloadable handouts that challenge students to think, meditate, and pray. There is no “busy work.”
- Class Videos: Class videos with graphic organizers to help students understand the most challenging Church teachings.
- Online Courses: Online training on how to engage and evangelize students and parents.
The philosophy behind each of these resources is to keep the students actively learning, engaged, and encountering Christ in class.
700+ Engaging Worksheets and Graphic Organizers
“I do not have to spend as much time pulling resources off of the web because The Religion Teacher has such great ideas for members.”
Karan Giera
Middle School Catechist
The Religion Teacher’s worksheets require students to think, reflect, and make connections between Scripture, Tradition, and their personal lives.
They help get students beyond knowing ABOUT Jesus Christ and truly reflecting on their RELATIONSHIP with Jesus.
Sunday Gospel Reading Worksheets
“The weekly reading worksheets have given me a jumping off place to discuss the gospels.”
Nancy Pretto
Middle School Catechist
Each week you will get a worksheet to help teach about the Sunday Gospel. These weekly reading worksheets are based on the principles of Lectio Divina, an important Catholic devotional practice that leads people into an encounter with God in Sacred Scripture.
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*The Weekly Gospel Reading worksheets are also available in Spanish.
Share the Lives of 200+ Saints with Your Students
“These activities bring our saints alive to the students.”
Elizabeth Kogler
Director of Religious Education
Celebrate the major saint feast days throughout the year with a series of saint worksheets. Each worksheet includes a brief saint biography with questions to help reinforce and challenge students to reflect on the life lessons these saints have to teach us through the way they lived and died. Multiple saint worksheets are available for every week of the calendar year.
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The Religion Teacher’s Activity and Worksheet Packs
“My teachers have saved time by being able to easily access worthwhile worksheets.”
Heather Irvine
Religious Education Coordinator
Members have access to the many collections of worksheets and activity packs that are usually sold separately for $8-12 each including The Religion Teacher’s Catholic Mass Worksheets, Beatitudes Worksheet Collection, Ten Commandments Worksheets, The Lord’s Prayer Worksheets, Seven Sacraments Worksheets, and the Catholic Social Teaching Activity Pack. Every new product from The Religion Teacher will be available to members at no additional charge.

The Religion Teacher’s Advent Activity Pack and Lenten Activity Pack are available to all members. These two products have sold more than a thousand copies each, but members can access to the lesson plans, videos, activities, prayers, and worksheets without an extra purchase.


200+ Catechetical Class Videos
“The Religion Teacher videos seem to fill a hole in our religion curriculum. In particular, there is excellent resources for the liturgical year.”
Becca Gann
Middle School Religion Teacher
Supplement your lectures and lessons with a series of short videos about Catholic Scripture and tradition.
Members have exclusive access to graphic organizer worksheets students can use to listen and learn from each video.
These catechetical videos include lessons in a variety of topics including Scripture, the Sacraments, the Saints, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Symbols, Advent, and Lent.
The combination of the videos with the graphic organizers will allow religious educators to introduce new topics or support in-class lessons in an engaging way.
Online Courses for Religious Educators
“After so many years of teaching and getting a bit worn out, the beginning of the year course helped re-focus and re-energize me and remind me of some things that I had forgotten.”
Judy Carney
Middle School & High School Religion Teacher

“The Religion Teacher membership has made me a better catechist and DRE for my catechists.”
Olga Saenz
Director of Religious Education
The easy-to-implement strategies and formation ideas in the courses and online seminars will help catechists and religion teachers focus on how they can become a better religious educators for the students they teach.
Members will have access to highly effective courses including:
- Classroom Engagement: Motivate Your Students to Love Learning the Faith
- Empowering Parents
- Teaching with the Joy of the Gospel: A Series of Reflections on Evangelii Gaudium for Religious Educators
- Starting the New School Year Off Right
- Contagious Classroom Prayer: Convincing Kids to Pray Now and Forever
What are people saying about being a member?
“Being a member of The Religion Teacher has given me countless ideas about lesson plans and material to accompany lessons, as well as tools to get children and parents more engaged.”
Darijana Kline
Elementary Grade Catechist
“I can provide useful ideas for my catechists especially since they are not teachers.”
Bridget Murphy
Director of Religious Education
“The Religion Teacher has given me many ways to help my students see how they can personally be a light to others. I love the way the questions get students to think and reflect.”
Cathy Singleton
Elementary School Religion Teacher
Join Today to Get These Bonus Gifts!
The three bonuses (details below) expire at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Join today to get these gifts when you become an annual member of The Religion Teacher.
I am confident that the resources available to premium members of The Religion Teacher will help you lead your students into an encounter with Christ. To encourage you join, I am offering a collection of bonuses for anyone who becomes a member by the deadline.
(Already an annual member? Email Jared Dees for information on how to access these bonuses, too, if you have not received them.)
If you sign up as an annual paying member today, you will get:
1) A Copy of My Most Popular Book, 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator

31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator is full of exercises you can do to become a better disciple so that you can be a better teacher and leader. This book will help you open up to the Lord so your heart will be on fire with faith.
With more than 14,000 copies sold so far, this book is a key resource for religious educators at all levels and in both schools and parishes.
Value: $11
Note: Only available to those registering in the contiguous United States. Everyone in other countries, email Jared for an alternative bonus.
2) The Religion Teacher’s Lectio Divina Worksheets (Revised & Updated)

This resource is sold separately at The Religion Teacher. The Religion Teacher’s Lectio Divina Worksheets enable teachers, catechists, and home-schooling parents to guide their youth through a lectio divina process with very little instruction required.
The simple, easy-to-use format of each handout invites students and young people to engage personally with the word of God.
After introducing and practicing each activity, students will be able to come back their favorite handouts again and again for many different Bible passages throughout the year.
Note: Check the box to add this to your order at checkout.
Value: $10
3) Digital Version of Beatitales

The eighty fables and parables in this short story collection for kids will give young people a greater appreciation for the ways they can live out the teachings of Jesus from the Bible. Religious educators have been reading these stories to their students, assigning them as group work, and inviting them to make up skits to act them out.
As an annual member, you will get access to the eBook version of Jared Dees’s best-selling children’s book.
Value: $7
Offer expires on September 27, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.
How do I join?
There are two kinds of memberships: individual and group.
As an individual member, you personally gain access to all of the worksheets, videos, and online courses. (This option is for individual catechists and teachers.)
As a group member, your entire parish and/or school of religious educators and teachers will have access to the resources. (This option is for DREs, pastors, and principals to set up to share with all staff and volunteers.)
You can cancel at any time with a quick email or by using the customer hub link in the receipt.
Individual Membership (Annual)
$49.99/year
Special Offer! Get summers free.
Access for individual religious educators
Group Membership (Annual)
$179.99/year
Special Offer! Get summers free.
Access for an entire parish or school staff
*Monthly memberships are also available but are not eligible for all bonuses.
What Else Are People Saying?
“I’m able to provide catechists with timely material to supplement their regular curriculum. Jared Dees has supplied great resources for my catechists to look at why they’re doing what they’re doing when it comes to sharing their faith with our children–and how to do it better!”
Laura Mack
Director of Religious Education
I’ve changed how I teach. I focus on them learning instead of me conveying. I use suggestions on teaching methods like the first week of class ideas.”
Kelli Norman
Elementary Grade Catechist