The lost treasure of the Catechism

Here's my February article:

The Ash Wednesday service (for our services this year see here and here), which marks the beginning of Lent, often contains these words: “since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting. By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord.” In the early days of the Church Easter was the principal occasion for baptism and so Lent also became a time when adult candidates for baptism were instructed in the Christian faith. This could often be the intensification of a process that could last two years or more.

This process was known as 'Catechesis' and involved teaching converts to Christianity about the basics of the Christian faith and practice, usually in the form of questions and answers. Although common in the Early Church, the practice of catechesis was neglected and only revived at the Reformation. Since then the popularity of catechesis has waned, ironically in part due to the rise of Sunday Schools. Although the Sunday School movement was great for familiarising children with various Bible stories, this was often at the expense of any form of grounding in the basic beliefs, practices, and ethics of the faith. As a consequence of this neglect of catechesis many people throughout the ages have grown up with a vague connection to Christianity, and may even call themselves Christians, but have little idea what that even means.

At this point I need to hold my hands up and claim a partial responsibility for this situation. In the Book of Common Prayer, written at the time of the Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer included a Catechism“An Instruction to be learned of every person before he be brought to be Confirmed by the Bishop”. And the Vicar of “of every Parish shall diligently upon Sundays and Holy-days, after the second Lesson at Evening Prayer, openly in the Church instruct and examine so many Children of his Parish sent unto him, as he shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism.” The aim was that every candidate for Confirmation “can say, in their mother tongue, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and also can answer to the other questions of this short Catechism”. I have to admit I have been lax in teaching the children of the parish the Catechism (although few are sent to me for it!!).

However, there has been a recent revival in interest in catechisms, with one of the the megachurches in New York, the Redeemer Presbyterian Church, producing 'The New City Catechism' and The Anglican Church of North America also producing a catechism titled “To be a Christian - An AnglicanCatechism”. Both of these use the traditional question and answer format to teach comprehensively what it means to be a Christian.

This Lent as we are invited again to examine our faith, perhaps look up one of these catechisms and see what we may have been missing out on for years!