Reu’s Classic Work on Catechetics Added to Documents Library at LutheranCatechism.com

We have added Reu, M., Catechetics or Theory and Practise of Religious Instruction (Chicago: Wartburg Publishing House, 1918) to the Documents Library. Paul I. Johnston, said of this book: One of the great educational classics of early twentieth-century American Lutheranism was Johann Michael Reu’s Catechetics, or Theory and Practice of Religious Instruction. By the time … Read more

Memorizing the Catechism: False Dichotomy between Words and Meaning or, How to Forget the Faith

When I was a child, we already had the Small Catechism memorized before we entered confirmation instruction. We recited portions in Sunday School from about the third or fourth grade onward. We recited all portions in Vacation Bible School year after year. By the time we entered confirmation instruction, we had recited it at church … Read more

Guest Post – Green Light Pre-Confirmation Curriculum, by Kim Halvorson

Editor’s Note: Facebook group member Leif Halvorson uploaded to the files area of the group the Green Light pre-confirmation curriculum that he and his wife, Kim Halvorson, developed for their congregation. The curriculum now has been uploaded to this site also, and you can access it here. Leif and Kim both are certified teaches and … Read more

Guest Post — As You Walk Along the Way: Daily informal catechesis as a way of life, by Haleigh Morgan

In various places in Deuteronomy, parents are commanded to carefully instruct their children. For example, Deut. 6:7 tells us: “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” (ESV). … Read more

Guest Post — Catechism Lapbooks, Haleigh Morgan

 Editor’s Introduction: Thanks to Haleigh Morgan, administrator of the Facebook group, Catechumens for Life, for this Guest Post. By request, she shares with us this wonderful way of learning the Catechism, using lapbooks. After explaining lapbooks and how they can be used to teach the Small Catechism, we are treated to a photo gallery of … Read more

Video – Mom helps young children memorize Third Article, Lord’s Prayer Introduction & 1st Petition

This is another encouraging video of home catechization provided to us by our Facebook group member, Melissa Sutton. In this video, we see that young children can learn to memorize the Catechism. A very young boy recites the Third Article and its meaning. He and his older sister recite the Introduction of the Lord’s Prayer, … Read more

What is our basic view of the Small Catechism? Dr. Pless reminds us what it is.

In answer to this question, a key addition to the Documents Library: Pless, John T., “The Small Catechism: Pattern and Shape of Christian Doctrine,” For the Life of the World, vol, 4, no. 4 (Concordia Theological Seminary Press, October 2000). The Small Catechism is the handbook for the Royal Priesthood of Believers. As such, it … Read more