ABOUT US

God With Us Eastern Catholic Formation is the official catechetical apostolate of the USCCB Eastern Catholic Association of Bishops (Region XV). It is served by a committee of Eastern Catholic directors of religious education appointed by the their respective bishops. Bishop Francois Beyrouti, Melkite Eparchy of Newton, has been chosen by the ECA to serve as the Episcopal liaison to ECED.

Mission: God With Us Eastern Catholic Formation’s mission is to educate, equip, and inspire missionary disciples in Eastern Catholic Churches to serve in the vocation of evangelization and catechesis.

This is accomplished through four primary apostolates: Radio, Books, Online, and Institute.

HISTORY

In the late 60’s and early 70’s a committed and dedicated number of priests, religious and lay catechists from the Ruthenian, Melkite and Ukrainian jurisdictions joined in a collective effort for the catechetical renewal of Eastern Catholic Churches in the United States. Donating their time and in many cases personal funds out of love for God and church they organized themselves initially as the “Total Eastern Christian Formation and Development Program.” Soon after its inception, the effort was embraced by the Eastern Catholic Bishops of the United States and the committee was named Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education and given the episcopal mandate to publish catechetical material on behalf of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.

Publishing efforts began in the early 1970s and through countless hours of dedicated writing and editing the God With US catechetical series began to take shape. Grade 1 Book led the way with publication in 1971 with the publication of subsequent grade-level books to Grade 8. These books created the framework for the religious education curriculum, Grades 1 through 8, in the many Eastern Catholic parochial schools and Eastern Catholic and Orthodox church-school programs in the U.S. and Canada.

In an effort to fulfill its original mission of “Total Eastern Christian Formation,” the Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education established God With Us Publications and embarked on producing many books for use by youth and adults addressing Eastern Christian theology, morality, Liturgy, Tradition, spirituality, scripture and a trilogy of books called Light for Life referred to as the Catechism for Eastern Christians. God With Us Publications are available here.

Formerly under the name of Eparchial Directors of Religious Education (ECED) and now God With Us Eastern Catholic Formation, the mission of “Total Eastern Christian Formation” continues as a catechetical committee of the Eastern Catholic Bishops Association of the USCCB and is a collaborative catechetical renewal effort of all of the Eastern Churches in the United States. God With Us ECF seeks to fulfill its mission through catechetical publications as well as national, regional and local educational opportunities.