Editor’s Note: Rev Robert E. Smith is building a wonderful online collection of brief messages sharing the Christian faith in an organized way. His website is named for the question in Luther’s Catechism, “What is it” or “What does this mean.” By his gracious “Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes,” … Read more
Editor’s Note: I saw Pastor Philip Hoppe’s graphic illustration of the Table of Duties on Facebook and asked him if he would write an explanation of it for publication here. He graciously went to work and has produced it for us. He is pastor of Peace Lutheran Church, Finlayson, Minnesota and St Paul Lutheran Church, Bruno, Minnesota, an avid catechist, and … Read more
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest article by Rev. Ryan Loeslie, Pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Merna, Nebraska. Most of us are familiar with Aesop’s Fable of the tortoise and the hare. The hare boasted of his speed repeatedly. But tiring of the excessive boasting, the tortoise challenged the hare to a race. They agreed. … Read more
Editor’s Note: The following is a guest article by Rev. Ryan Loeslie, Pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Merna, Nebraska. Most Lutherans who went through junior high confirmation class at one time in their lives are familiar with Luther’s famous question from his Small Catechism, “What does this mean?” Sadly, this is all many remember. But at the … Read more
Editor’s Note: When I saw Bob Myers sharing this video on Facebook, I wanted to provide an introduction and promo for it here but did not have the time. Bob graciously agreed to do this for me, and Got ‘Er Done the same day. Thanks Bob! Bob is retired from the U. S. Navy and the … Read more
I had an occasion to use this maxim today: “We love what we know.” Thinking myself somewhat original, I had forgotten that Aldous Huxley had once said almost the same thing. Or maybe Huxley and I just had the same idea. His complete quote was: “We can only love what we know, and we can … Read more
If the reader will forgive my use of a somewhat cliché prefix, I would like to talk about an idea for which I know no word. Therefore, for the purpose of this post, I will use the term “metacatechesis.” I would like to define this word to refer to teaching our children to teach the … Read more
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
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
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
Editor’s Introduction: Dr. Martin Luther said, “Let every one know therefore, that it is his duty … to bring up his children above all things in the fear and knowledge of God.” A beautiful tool to help parents with this is On My Heart, a Lutheran memory work program. This is nifty. What’s more, it … Read more