Mommy Musings
Monthly Column by Anni Welborne

Recently, I began working with my girls on the catechism. I had to explain that no, it wasn’t a type of feline. Now, I don’t come from a catechizing background, so it was all new to me, too.

Growing up, my only exposure to the catechism was when a friend of mine at school was going through catechism class at her Catholic church. I more or less thought that catechism meant teaching how to be Catholic. Then a friend who I know went to a Presbyterian church also started going to catechism classes at her church. I asked my mom about why our church didn’t have catechism classes, and she said that our church didn’t believe in using the catechism. Ok, whatever, I thought, and didn’t give it another thought until years later when I became a mother myself.

I have oft recommended the book My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt. I like her style of writing for children – plain, simple, and yet conveying important concepts in a way they can easily understand. Mrs. Hunt has another book that attracted my attention simply by the title, Big Truths for Little Kids. As I looked at the book, I was intrigued! What a great way of teaching simple theological truths, in a simple system, engaging the kids with stories that apply to each group of questions!

Uh-oh. Then I ran across that word – catechism. Hmmm…. I can’t use this book, it’s about the catechism. Well, I decided to research just what “catechism” meant, and found that it means nothing more than a systematic teaching of foundational doctrine. What could be wrong with that? I found several different versions of the catechism on the Internet. As I read each one, I found that I generally agreed with them. Of course, I found some included denominational traditions in their different catechisms. But I had no problem with a simple question and answer format.

So the girls and I have begun our catechism adventure, using the Big Truths book. I like to prove things from the Bible, so I found a resource that used almost the same catechism, but it had scriptural proofs for each answer (Prove It, linked below). I simply printed off the Prove It text and penciled in the various Scripture references into my Big Truths book.

I’m amazed how easily the girls memorize the various questions and answers for each chapter. Each week (or thereabouts, sometimes we take longer) we start a new chapter. The first day, we read over the questions and answers, going over them two or three times together. I require the girls to read along with me in the book, since they are both readers. (Note: the Q&A portion of the book is written in a cursive font.) Then I read the story to them. At the end of the story, there are five or so comprehension questions, a Bible verse to discuss, and a prayer focus suggestion. The second day, we look up the scriptural proofs for each question and answer. Also, each day, I review previous chapters’ questions as well as our current chapter. We read the story on the first and last day of the study. I stay on that chapter until they can say the answers well. It’s also been great vocabulary training, as we’ve defined words like glory, sacred, covenant, and wrath. We are now about 25% of the way through the book, and the girls are doing very well, even my five year old.

I have found only one issue in the book that I disagreed with doctrinally, and that was infant baptism. But it will be a good opportunity to discuss with my girls what I believe, show them from Scripture why I believe that way, and open discussions with them about baptism in general.

The catechism has also come in handy with discipline issues. One of my daughters recently did something disobedient, and in talking with her, I asked her questions from the catechism. She thought she could get away with her sin because no one saw her. “Can you see God?” “No, but He can always see me.” This led to a nice discussion of God’s omniscience and omnipresence. We’ve also been discussing sins of omission and commission and their differences. I’ve been able to help them classify their sins using the definitions in the catechism. Younger daughter pulled the hair of the older daughter. This was a sin of omission, because the Bible commands us to be kind to one another, and she was not kind. Older daughter told a lie. This was a sin of commission, because the Bible forbids lying.

I encourage you to use some sort of catechism to teach your children. It doesn’t have to be formal, long, or boring. But the catechism is a great way to concisely state doctrinal truths, and I think that’s always a good thing for children of God (of all ages) to be able to do. I highly encourage you to tie each answer back to Scripture, since that is the foundation of our faith. Give your children solid bricks to build their foundation of faith.

Further Resources

Two excellent articles about teaching the catechism to children:

From the conservative Presbyterian perspective.
From the Baptist tradition, including a summary of different catechisms.

Prove It, a computer quiz/game with the catechism (including an online version). And here’s the full text of this catechism, with scriptural proofs.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (107 questions) with extensive scriptural proof.

For old book aficionados, I found a reprint of the New England Primer (the great Puritan textbook by which millions were taught to read in the 1700’s and 1800’s), which contains the Westminster Shorter Catechism (begins on page 96).

About the Author: Anni is the wife of Charles Welborne and the homeschooling mother of five children - two daughters (ages 7 and 5) here on earth, and three who graduated early and now dwell with their Heavenly Father. She assists her husband in the tape/CD duplication ministry at their church, where she is also in charge of the Deaf ministry and serves as a sign language interpreter. Anni is also a part-time Developmental Therapist for at-risk and developmentally delayed infants and preschoolers. In her "spare" time, she enjoys sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, and making pysanky (Ukranian decorated eggs). The Welbornes live in Indiana.

Copyright © 2008 by Anni Welborne.