Dear Visitor:

The Eastern Catholic Bishops of the United States and the Board of Eparchial Directors of Religious Education are pleased to welcome you to the new “God With Us Publications” website. We have much to offer in Religious Education of children, youth and adults and encourage you to browse our ‘new home’ and familiarize yourself with the site and all it offers.
We have an on-line store, a Prayer and Reflection Room; an on-line reading Room, and a Promotion Room wherein special offers are listed.

You and your spiritual growth are our number one goal! You are the reason we exist and it is our hope and prayer that your spiritual lives and those of your loved ones will be enriched. More importantly, with the materials and options we offer, may you grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Thank you for visiting and come back soon! With warm regards and best wishes from all of us,
(Very Rev.) Gregory J. Noga
ECED Chairman

TOTAL EASTERN CHRISTIAN FORMATION AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

GOD WITH US PUBLICATIONS is a non-profit enterprise dedicated to providing resources for life-long faith formation according to the Eastern Christian Faith Tradition.

GOD WITH US PUBLICATIONS is a vehicle for catechesis under the auspices of the Eastern Catholic Bishops (ECA) responding to the episcopal responsibility for the transmission of the Faith in the particular Church entrusted to each. This catechetical endeavor is a collaborative effort between the Bishops and the Eastern Catholic Eparchial Directors of Religious Education (ECED) who oversee the preparation, publication, promotion, management and distribution of the materials. A bishop representative is chosen by ECA to serve as liaison to ECED.

HISTORY:
The publishing effort began in the early 1970s with catechetical renewal in the Byzantine Eastern Catholic Churches in the United States and organized as the “Total Eastern Christian Formation and Development Program.” A committed and dedicated number of priests and religious/catechists, initially from the Byzantine Ruthenian and Melkite jurisdictions and then joined by representatives from the Ukrainian jurisdictions, donated their time and in many cases personal funds out of love for God and church to reach their goal. They tirelessly wrote, edited, published and supplied the God With Us catechetical series. The Grade 1 Book led the way with publication in 1971 with 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.

To address ‘Total Eastern Christian Formation,” the organization, in 1980 known as the Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education, 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 referred to as the Catechism for Eastern Christians.

TODAY AND THE FUTURE:
Entering into the 21st century, pre-school and Kindergarten programs have been added and revision of the original God With Us catechetical series has been completed to Book 7. In 2008, the official title of the organization became Eastern Catholic Conference of Eparchial Directors of Religious Education (ECED) which functions as the Board of Directors of GOD WITH US PUBLICATIONS. Today, members represent the Byzantine Melkite, Romanian, Ruthenian and Ukrainian Jurisdictions.

Moving forward, GWU will be introducing revised editions of some classic books, adding new products and co-sponsoring a national conference in fall 2012: “ENCOUNTER: Eastern Catholic Churches Together in Christ” As 2012 begins GWU proudly announces a new website highlighting the publications with an on-line store, prayers and reflections, on-line reading room, catechist connection, home schooling resources and products of client partners. This website also gives promise to new avenues of catechesis along with other means of the digital age. Staying true to the initial aim of the pioneer group, ECED will work to ensure life-long faith formation in the Eastern Christian faith tradition with emphasis on ‘formation’ not just imparting information.

GOD IS WITH US! HE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE!

Pictured:
EASTERN CATHOLIC ASSOCIATES (Bishops), 2011

Chairman: Bishop John Kudrick,

Vice President: Archbishop Stefan Soroka, Urkrainian Catholic Archeparchy of
Philadelphia

Secretary: Bishop John Michael Botean,

Treasurer: Bishop Robert Shaheen

Liaison to ECED: Bishop Nicholas Samra, Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton

EASTERN CATHOLIC EPARCHIAL DIRECTORS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Chairman: Very Rev. Gregory J. Noga
Ruthenian Eparchy of Passaic

Vice Chairman: Rev. Elias Rafaj

Treasurer: Dr. Barbara Y. Lutz
Business Manager: God With Us
Publications
Ruthenian Eparchy of Passaic