A pastor (not my own) recently was talking to me about catechesis as the quiet crisis of the church. He said, “We have to band together.” He is so right. Many noble, industrious, and even exhausting efforts have been made to improve the lay Christians’ benefits from the Small Catechism in the forms of: Knowing … Read more
Lutheran Catechism has a group on Facebook. To submit a join request, click the image to the right. For those who want to be aware of new material on Lutheran Catechism but don’t prefer subscribing to email notifications, this may be the thing for you. Also, since it is a Facebook group, not just a page, … Read more
A recent post on this blog published and explained one church-year catechism reading plan contributed by a pastor. We have formulated it into a ready-to-print bulletin insert. Please feel free to use it and pass it around if it would be suitable for you. If you have reading plans for using the Small Catechism in the … Read more
A member of the Confessional Lutheran Fellowhip group on Facebook, Lauren Hanson, posted a video of her 3 year old child learning to recite the First Commandment and its meaning from the Small Catechism. She graciously granted permission to share the video here. She sent it along with this note: My husband and I grew … Read more
Didache aims to help contemporary Christians understand the interplay between what Lutherans confess (doctrine), how we receive Christ’s gifts in the Divine Service (liturgy), and how we pray and live under the cross of Jesus Christ (vocation). Didache seeks to instruct Christians in a basic pattern of catechesis which recognizes that doctrine is drawn from … Read more
Previously this site presented “One Simple Weekly Catechism Reading Plan.” We also offered a bulletin insert for promoting that plan. When one pastor saw that plan discussed on Facebook, he sent a private message. He said he liked that weekly plan and that in his own private devotions, he too covered a chief part of … Read more
Lessons For Lambs These are mentioned here because of the “Catechism Corner” that each contains, and the rest of each bulletin also is, well, frankly, amazing. Consider how this Catechism Corner puts the Catechism before little children each week, and how it shows parents the ease of using little portions of the Catechism. Lessons for Lambs … Read more
G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church (Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887). This book is a tonic against the errors of revivalism, decision theology, Enthusiasm, etc. It explains plainly and in positive terms how sinners are saved in the Lutheran church. Among many other things, it speaks significantly to the use … Read more
“We have spoken of the importance and benefits of home training and instruction. We endeavored to show that Christian parents are under the most solemn obligation to instruct their children in the truth of God’s Word. We also endeavored to show that, in order to give their children a clear understanding of the saving truths … Read more
In response to the post, “One Simple Catechism Reading Plan,” a pastor commented on Facebook that he was going to print the post as a bulletin insert. If that reading plan has value for his congregation, then perhaps it also has value for other congregations. So here is a link to a revision of the … Read more
Luther kept reading the Small Catechism every day. It is a prayer book and a meditation book and a life book. It keeps offering more for prayer, meditation, and living. It comes to us in daily life, when we know it well, frequently think on it, and pray from it. There are many good reading plans for … Read more
“In spite of numerous adamic attempts to put the Lord Jesus Christ in the unemployment office and take over his work with blueprints for the building of the church according to our own schemes and tools of our making, the Lord Jesus Christ alone remains the architect and builder of his church. In those regal … Read more