The Children's First Catechism

At our church in Cincinnati, a high priority was placed on teaching children the basics -- and more! -- of our faith. (This is not at all to say that there is not such a high priority at our current church; the ways and means simply differ.) There was great emphasis on memorization of both Scripture and catechism, and an accountability/reward system in place to help parents stay on track. (This is a good article on why to catechize our children, along with other arguments for regular family worship.) For several years, the whole church used the Fighter Verse program for Scripture memorization, children beginning with a shorter set called Foundation Verses. It varied from family to family, but most were able to start working on Scripture memorization with their children as early as two years old. Levi completed the 75 Foundation verses before we moved, and last month we started from the beginning again as part of our morning table time. (More on that later.)

4-1/2-year-old Levi showing off his prize for memorizing 25 verses.

For catechism work, we use the Children's First Catechism booklet. It breaks down the Westminster Shorter Catechism into 150 questions manageable for children. It formed the basis of our children's choir school program for two years, as the children's ministry directer and I worked together to teach the catechism through word and song. I cannot recommend the music of Diana Beach Baterseh enough: the songs are word-for-word (or nearly so, in a few cases) from the aforementioned catechism booklet, the tunes are catchy, and my kids ask to listen to it regularly. If I am allowed to be proud of my own accomplishments for one brief second, the choir concerts we did at the end of the year those two years, singing and quoting and explaining the catechism, were the highlight of my (brief) professional life.

Joyful Noise Children's Choir final concert, April 2015. 

That's 4-1/2-year-old Owen in the front with his hands behind his head. :)

In addition to the Foundation verses, catechism work is part of our morning table time this year. I use the little colored post-it flags to mark which question each child is working on, so when they can answer a question correctly, the flag moves to the next question. On Saturdays after dinner, my husband starts with Toby at question 1 and continues through what Levi knows (which, as of this writing, is question 48). When Toby can't answer any more (which is currently question 16), he moves to Silas; when Silas can't answer any more (currently question 21), he alternates between Levi and Owen for the next 25 or so questions.

We learn a lot of things every week -- ancient history, geometry, skip counting, geology, parts of speech, spelling -- but this question-and-answer time on Saturday nights makes me happier than anything else we do. I love hearing Toby's little voice answering, "How can you glorify God?" (By loving him and doing what he commands.) I love having an answer for Silas when he pipes up in the backseat on the way to violin lessons, "does God have arms?" (Well, Silas, what is God? "God is a spirit and does not have a body like man. Oh, I guess he doesn't have arms then.") I love that Levi and Owen can give an answer for what sin is (a lack of conformity to or transgression of the law of God, plus definitions of those two things). Whatever else they learn from us, these are the foundational truths that, hopefully, by the grace of God, define their actions for the rest of their lives.

Learning the catechism provides room for great discussion, too. Right now Levi is struggling with question 13: "Can God do all things? Yes, God can do all his holy will." If he can only do his holy will, then he can't do everything, Levi argues. And he's right, sort of, because God can't sin. But we get to talk about it as he struggles, because he has the language to do so. This is the stuff of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 in action!