Learn About Echo
Echo is simultaneously about forming leaders and serving the Church. As an Echo apprentice, you will benefit from a wide-ranging process of preparation that fosters your development both as a person of faith and as a lay ecclesial minister. The Echo staff works with partner dioceses and parishes to provide the best possible growth opportunities for all Echo participants, called “apprentice catechetical leaders.”
As an Echo apprentice you will benefit from studying at the University of Notre Dame with one of the finest faculties in the world as you pursue a master’s degree in theology. Learning with other Echo apprentices will allow you to deepen your understanding of the Catholic faith in order to pass it on enthusiastically, authentically, and completely.
Professional-Ministerial Formation
Working on-site with an experienced catechetical leader will enable you to develop skills and capacities for leadership in ministry. This mentor-apprentice relationship is complemented by workshops and training in professional ministry at the University of Notre Dame, including seminars that assist you in integrating theology and ministry, as well as coursework devoted to catechesis.
In Echo, you and other apprentices have the opportunity to participate in a variety of formative communities and experiences that foster your human development. As a member of an intentional faith community, you commit to growing and sharing daily life together through common meals, prayer, ministry, and household responsibilities.
Spiritual formation in Echo is both essential and comprehensive, inviting you to deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ and the Church by participating in a rich sacramental life, dynamic retreats, personal and communal prayer and required spiritual direction—all of which contributes to human and spiritual development.
In addition to the formation benefits detailed above, you will receive the following:
- a competitive stipend for your on-site parish service;
- a graduate degree in theology tuition-free;
- housing and utilities at no cost;
- an educational allowance the first summer, and other allowances periodically;
- rent-free housing during summers at Notre Dame; and
- a full meal plan during summers at Notre Dame.
