Religious Educators work to translate the ‘message of Jesus’ into language that is easily understood and to do so with patience and without betrayal. It is helpful to take into consideration the work of Tuohy and Cairns who in their research Youth 2K recognised that students are at different places in their personal faith journeys. Further work in this area has given us an even earlier stage to begin with.

Stage 1:
There are students from other faiths and from other Christian denominations who have enrolled in Spiritan schools. Each tradition is respected. These students can grow in knowledge and appreciation of their own traditions.

Stage 2, Pre-evangelisation:
There are students who for one reason or another are have a limited experience of the spiritual.  At this level the whole programme of the Spiritan school is considered as a form of pre-evangelisation. This promotes an opening up of the imagination and a stimulation of the aesthetic appreciation of this student to allow him or her to experience God in their ordinary lives and so be able to name God in each experience.

Stage 3, Evangelisation:
There are many students in Spiritan schools with a basic openness to religious education but limited experience of Catholic liturgy and rituals. For this student the school has an evangelisation role inviting the student through prayer and liturgy, good deeds and Christian living to develop their commitment to a deeper relationship with God.

Stage 4, Support:
Support and guidance is offered to those who come to our Spiritan schools with a commitment to faith and an experience of a home and parish that is supportive of faith. The school supports this student to develop an even deeper relationship with God in a more personal way. This student can be facilitated as they take on the role of disciple and share their own faith with their peers.

Gaudium et Spes the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, clearly gave us our understanding of the human person;