What Catechism and Why?

You may attend a church where confessions and catechisms are very common place.  If so, you can probably skip (or skim, it’s not super long) this post.  But maybe you have just heard someone say they are using the catechism with their kids and you're interested.  

Well, where do you start?  

I'm using the Children's Catechism (also sometimes called First Catechism, Catechism For Young Children or some variation of that, each having a few different wording choices and a few different questions and answers) with my kids, which is based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism (something that many reformed Christians hold to).

To read more about the different versions of the children's catechism based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, click here.

(Note: The links to Amazon in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)

You can get a free download of the children’s version I use on my site here.

A very similar (just slightly updated from the older version I’m using) option is used in many Sunday School curriculum in denominations like the PCA and OPC.  You can find a free versions of it here or you could buy the paper booklet from Great Commision Publications, you can find it on GCP.org, Westminster Bookstore, or Amazon (but it should only be around $2). 

For teaching young kids as soon as they can talk, this is the most basic catechism with easy, concise answers for memorization.  I also love that there are so many resources (books and music) available to help teach it. There's no re-inventing the wheel here. I’ll be posting some reviews of the many resources that our family has enjoyed. This is a big reason that I also decided to start this blog, to help others who may need to find all these resources in one place!

When my kids get older, we will switch to the Westminster Shorter Catechism for study.  I do think that learning the answers in the children's catechism will make this easier for them then, as they will have an understanding of the foundational doctrine (and wording) and be able to add to it with more detail.  

Before you discount the kids version and jump into the Shorter Catechism for study, the questions and answers in the Children’s Catechism are truly helpful and meaningful. This is not simple stuff.

There are many questions and answers from the Children’s version that I have seen first hand contribute in Bible study settings even with adults. Sometimes having a simple answer is helpful in making sure everyone is on the same page so I would recommend memory of many of these questions to people of all ages, tired moms included!

A good example of this is question 29, “What is sin?” A fourteen word answer - “Sin is any lack of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God.” is helpful!  Then the next two questions go on to define what the two phrases “lack of conformity” and “transgression” mean again in a simple way.  

When we talk about catechisms, these are doctrinal issues simmered down to questions and answers.  The Children’s Catechism we’re talking about on this blog is obviously reformed (for more information about what that means if you’re wondering, you can check out articles like this, or this, or this). 

There are different catechisms used in different churches so you'll want to pick the one that fits with your beliefs or even just pick the questions from a catechism that you want to do with your kids.

Why, hello there!

So, I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a while but always got stuck at the thought of it not being “good enough”. Well, I realized today (ok, and months ago when I actually wrote the first draft of this post) that I should just take the plunge...

My goal for the blog is: 

A place to share about being a Christian mom and how we learn Scripture and the Children’s Catechism (through activities like reading books, listening to music, doing crafts, and having conversations) with the goal that I can help others also be pointed back (and do the pointing) to the gospel again and again.

While I could doubt myself and be afraid of what people will think, what’s ultimately most important is my kids learning the truths I want them to hold onto and grow in my faith while I teach them! I'm hoping this blog will push me a bit in those things (because that's kind of how I work). The goal is never having a perfect blog or being the perfect mom, because those things are obviously not going to happen.

And when we all struggle with our own weaknesses in parenting, well, what should we be doing? Wallowing in self-pity or seeking our identities in Christ alone, relying on the abundant grace we have, and embracing the day that we have with our kids in whatever our current stage of life may be? I think we know, even though it's hard, it’s that second one.

I hope that this blog can be a place where others (hey, you!) can learn from what we are doing - hopefully some successes but obviously some failures too.  So, here we go!  

Full disclosure, we are all crazy sinners who have received immeasurable grace... I don’t have all the answers, my kids don't know the whole catechism, we all mess up a lot. But when we're pointed back to the gospel, it makes the day that much sweeter. 

So who’s all here day in and day out?  There is my spunky 5 year old (Lucy) who knew a lot of the first 30ish questions of catechism when she was 3 but then we took a long (unplanned) break when I had a hard time figuring out how to keep track of what questions we had done and honestly just kind of kept going over the same questions again and again.  Then we have a full-speed-ahead boy (David) who is 3 and does everything with passion - there's no lukewarm with him. And last but not least, there’s the 1 year old (Samuel) who likes to keep us on our toes.

I’m on my second year of homeschooling my daughter, who is in Kindergarten this year.  I love Pinterest (follow me if you’d like!) and seriously, like everyone else, I have found so many great resources online.  We are using a literature based curriculum called Five in a Row and a simple search of “FIAR {insert book name}” comes up with a plethora of blog posts showing you exactly how other families carried out their learning (crafts, meals, printables, field trips, lapbooks, related reading, etc.).  When looking for more resources and recommendations for teaching the children’s catechism, I couldn’t find anything like that! And I did ask around... So here I am!  I've also been truly surprised in quite a few conversations with people I know who have done at least some catechism work with their kids and yet don't know about some of the really amazing resources out there, so that’s where the blog will start - sharing those.

This past week, I've been going back and back to these verses:

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.””

— 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

If you’ve managed to read this far, since this is my first blog post ever, I’d love for you to leave a comment below (even if you’re reading this well after it’s been posted!).  Feel free to just say Hi or let me know what you’d like to see on the blog in the future!  

(Note: The links to Amazon in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)