By Stephen Moore
I enjoy a well-organized closet and well-ordered bookshelf. I’m nerdy like that. Now, I can’t guarantee either would be considered tidy according to your standard of organization. But I can reach in the closet, even with the light off, and grab my favorite shirt or jacket. When I’m studying, I can go to my bookshelf and find the right book for the task at hand.
In a way, that is how I view catechism. When I need to remember a core biblical doctrine, I can reach into the closet of my memory and retrieve glorious truth. When I need to remember, “Who is God?” I remember the catechism I have memorized that God is the one and only true creator and ruler of everyone and everything.
Catechism in Church History
The church all throughout its history has used catechisms to teach core biblical doctrine to children and adults. We see this idea in the New Testament, including the original Greek words from which we get the English term, “catechism.”
In Galatians 6:6, Paul encouraged the audience: “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” The Greek word that is translated “taught” and “teaches” is katecheo. It is used in two grammatical forms “the one who is taught” and “the one who teaches.” So, what is being taught? Paul says that the “word” or logos, is taught and shared. Many times in the New Testament, logos is a term used to generally refer to the Scriptures or the message of the gospel.
The teachings were not just lessons in a textbook. They were Scriptures and truths about God that were meditated on, committed to memory, and repeated to the church body over and over again. What we now refer to as “catechisms” are ways in which the early church partook in discipleship, committing the truths about God to memory by proclaiming the logos repeatedly. This practice was a core part of discipleship in the early church, and it continued throughout church history.
Catechism at Harvest DeSoto
Our goal and hope are to shape the minds of our children with this same truth. We want to cultivate a routine of recalling the core truths of our faith through the practice of catechism. Why? Because we believe holding these truths in our hearts is the best way to combat the temptations of the world around us.
As we process all the data and information that comes at us in this world, we are equipped to see it through the interpretive grid of Scripture. Even when it feels like the information in our world is ever-changing, we strive to train our children to be rooted in truth that doesn’t change.
At Harvest DeSoto Church, we are curating a catechism based on the New Hampshire Confession of Faith. Each article will have three questions related to the content. There will be a brief answer to memorize and Bible verse that grounds that truth in the Scriptures. Additionally, there will be shorter answer for the younger kids and a longer answer for older students. Each month at the Bridge, we teach about the biblical doctrine laying out the foundation for the catechism question.
As we pursue to instill God’s truth in the hearts of our children, we invite you, parents, to join as a family to make catechisms a part of your family discipleship. Each month at the Bridge we will send home a discussion guide to continue the conversation about the teaching based on a catechism question. These will help you continue having meaningful conversations and family activities that encourage your children to memorize and engage in this month’s catechism.
In addition to this, we will have small cards with the question, the answer, and a Scripture to memorize. Whether you use these in the car, around the dinner table, or anywhere else, our prayer for these resources is to help you use them as a tool to memorize God’s truth together as a family.
We invite you to participate in our Family Ministry event, The Bridge, on the first Sunday of every month at 5 p.m. Check out our blog “Why Family Ministry Matters” to read about our vision for Family Discipleship at Harvest DeSoto.
