Catechizing Kids and Young People
One of the primary ways Christians throughout history have passed down the faith to their children is through catechisms and confessions.
Christian parents are responsible before God to pass their faith down to their children. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:6-7).
One of the primary ways Christians throughout history have passed down the faith to their children is through catechisms and confessions. Our Presbyterian tradition has a rich history of catechism. Our church’s doctrinal standards are the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. For parents wanting resources on training their kids in the fundamentals of the faith, here are a few resources we like:
How could you begin to incorporate these into your own (or your family’s) daily/weekly devotional practices?
Dana Dirksen, Songs for Saplings on Bandcamp and Spotify. These are the questions and answers from the Children’s Catechism, which is a simplified version of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Brian Sauve, Westminster Shorter Catechism on Spotify. Brian Sauve is making some great music. He has a couple Psalms albums (here and here) that are great too. He hasn’t completed the catechism yet, but he has quite a bit of it done.
New City Catechism. This is what we use for our catechism class at church. There are longer and shorter versions. It is based on the Westminster Catechisms, the Heidelberg Catechism, and Calvin’s Geneva Catechism.
Sing the Faith: The Small Catechism Set to Music. A Lutheran brother, whose son is at TCS, showed me these nice arrangements for their catechism.
Westminster Confession Videos, CCB. During Covid, I began making short videos (3-6 min.) through the theology of our church. We would watch them as a family at the dinner table after dinner, and each ends with a discussion question. These only go up to WCF Chapter 7, but they give a good introduction to some of the key themes of Reformed theology.
Kevin DeYoung’s devotional on the Heidelberg Catechism, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. This is a nice book with short readings for each of the fifty-two days of the Heidelberg Catechism, which describes the gospel under three headings: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude.
Historically, in most Christian traditions, the “rule of faith” has been considered the fundamental beliefs of the Christian worldview. The rule of faith consists of the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer—basic doctrine, ethics, and spirituality. These catechisms and confessions have been structured around these simple statements of Christian faith, unpacking the rule of faith to establish young believers in the faith.
How could you begin to incorporate these into your own (or your family’s) daily/weekly devotional practices? When you rise or lie down or sit down to eat? Listen in the car? Discuss at the dinner table? Recite at bedtime?
