Catechists sometimes have to give what we might call evangelistic catechesis. It happens that people who are not members of the church wish to join the church. Relationships have been built, for example, through local evangelism efforts or a Bible course. What also happens is that a member of the church enters into courtship or marries someone from outside the church. In many cases there is contact with someone from the church council, usually with the minister. Now there is a demand for instruction: catechesis for people outside the church.

Evangelistic Catechesis⤒🔗

It is striking to see how, on the one hand, it is sometimes necessary to exhort members of the church and call them back to the service of the Lord, while, on the other hand, there are people who come of themselves because they want to learn about the Bible. I often have to think of the Canons of Dort: “Many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not converted…. Some of them do not care and do not accept the Word of life. Others do indeed receive it, but they do not accept it into their hearts, and therefore, after the joy of a temporary faith has vanished, they turn away. Still others choke the seed of the word by the thorns of the cares and the pleasures of this world, and bring forth no fruit ... Others who are called by the ministry of the gospel will come and are converted. This is not to be ascribed to man. He does not distinguish himself by his free will above others… It is to be ascribed to God” (Canons of Dort, III/IV.9, 10).

Someone once rightly wrote that catechesis for outsiders can be a great blessing, a joyful work, and a learning process for both student and teacher. For the catechumen, the treasures of the Scriptures are opened up. For the catechist it becomes clearer how someone from outside the church may view and even find difficult his beliefs and convictions.

The catechist may bring the very joyful message and in many cases stand amazed at how people are called through his fragile ministry to repent and believe in Christ, the crucified. “And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14-15). It is indeed a beautiful work to give catechesis to people who are wandering and ignorant and to lead them back to Christ and to his church.

Past and Present←⤒🔗

Centuries ago, a certain Deogratias from Carthage, a contemporary of Augustine, was giving catechesis to people outside the church. We get the impression that it kept him very busy. He was not satisfied with his catechesis and wondered if his method was working. In his opinion, the work became too much of a fixed routine. He occasionally heard himself saying, “I feel myself to be boring and achieving little if I talk this long.”

So he wrote a letter to Augustine, who replied with the well-known booklet On Instructing Beginners in the Faith. This booklet originated in a very different world than the one in which we live today. It can therefore not serve as a model for the catechesis that we provide in our time. One point of difference, for example, is that we speak about evangelistic catechesis, meaning catechesis to outsiders who live (and in many cases have grown up) in a secularized world, while people in Augustine’s time still talked about the Christian faith as “the new faith,” making it more of a missionary situation.

Yet there are things we can learn from Augustine’s booklet. It consists of two parts. In the first part, he encourages Deogratias by telling him something from his own experience. In the second part he shows how a catechetical lesson could be set up. Augustine discusses, among other things, the following four elements: he tells something about the catechumen, about the catechist, he deals with the material that should be addressed, and in conclusion he gives attention to what he calls “the admonition.”

I will attempt to discuss catechesis for adults outside the church in our time, on the basis of these four points. For the most part I will have to rely on my own experience, since little or nothing can be found on this subject in the existing literature on catechesis. Sometimes attention is given to adult catechesis, but then it concerns mostly the continued catechesis after someone made a public profession of faith, and is therefore of a different character than the catechesis we are discussing here. I cannot, therefore, deal with the subject exhaustively, but I hope to make some remarks that will stimulate further discussion.

The Catechumen←⤒🔗

Much depends on the person sitting in front of us. It makes a big difference whether it is someone who knows nothing yet or someone who already knows the Bible. At times it may be possible to accommodate the adult in the regular catechism lessons. This has the advantage that he or she is slowly but surely being integrated into the community. But this is not always possible. The catechumen often has so many questions that there is not enough opportunity to deal with all of them during regular catechesis. It is not wise to burden an entire group with the multitude of questions that one person wants to ask. Moreover, the catechumen who comes from outside has to be given the opportunity to ask questions, including very personal questions. The time and the opportunity should be there to go into these in detail and to revisit them when necessary.

The catechist needs to know his catechumen. The actual world in which the catechumen finds himself influences the instruction. How are the family circumstances? How are the working conditions? I’ve experienced a case where someone wanted to attend catechesis, but did not dare to speak about it at home. That is a problem that is not solved quickly. How can you guide such a person to break the silence? Another problem may present itself in the observance of the Lord’s day. Someone may be accustomed to participating intensively in club or leisure activities that take place on Sundays. It would be easy to say to such a person, “You have to stop doing that.” But it is more important to have the catechumen discover for himself what is and is not justified. It can also happen that a catechumen is so enthusiastic that he busies himself with the Bible all day and forgets to do his work. Try to point him to a better way. This will not be possible if the catechumen is placed in a group. Many adult outsiders require an individual approach.

The background of the catechumen is also of importance. There are those who know a lot about the Bible. Then it is not necessary to go through the Bible courses, but it will suffice to deal with the catechism, while paying much attention to scriptural proofs. Augustine said, “Be brief and modest when someone knows a lot about Christianity already. Interrupt now and then in a confidential tone: You have known that for a long time, of course, but… One must also ask, How did you come to it? By using books? Through Holy Scripture or through useful treatises by Christian writers? Then show that ultimately it is all about Scripture!”

Sometimes one finds a person who knows little or nothing of the Bible. I have enjoyed the times when I worked through the Bible course, but I can also well imagine that others may help the catechumen through the Bible course, while the minister helps him through the catechism.

There is yet another matter that deserves our attention: the motivation. This matter also played a role in the days of Augustine. When someone wanted to become a Christian, a conversation took place first, a “session” in the consulting room. It was a conversation about the motives for conversion. There were many. Some came “to win the favour of their superior,” others came “in order to be able to marry a Christian girlfriend,” while still others came who had “already read from the Scripture and begun thinking about it.” But even in the heart of the feigned converts, so Augustine thought, a spark of the fear of God was never completely missing. Therefore, probe into the real reason for the coming of someone from outside the church, but also take into account that these people are often filled with nobler feelings as catechesis progresses.

I consider this to be balanced advice. Find out the real reason for their coming. I have never met anyone yet who wanted to become a member of the church “to win the favour of his superior,” but what I have found is that boys or girls, men or women have mixed courtship or are even in a mixed marriage and then come with a request to receive catechesis. It is not the intention of this article to deal with the problems that may arise in such a case. Everyone knows that great difficulties can present themselves in this area of human life. Sometimes a struggle takes place in the life of a child of God when a decision needs to be made that has consequences for the rest of life.

Unfortunately, it also occurs that this struggle is completely absent, and that boys or girls decide lightly that they want to change church, or that they “also” want to become a church member.

As already mentioned, we cannot deal with the problem of mixed courtship here, but we can note that it is possible that the Lord uses a boy or a girl to show the right way to another.

In this regard I would like also to highlight the second part of Augustine’s advice: take into account that people are often filled with nobler feelings as catechesis progresses.

Indeed, much depends on the person sitting in front of us. I have experienced more than once that, where I had little hopes for a good result at the beginning of the catechesis, things did change for the better over the course of time. I have had diligent catechumens who were good examples for boys and girls of our own church.

However, the reverse can also happen. At a certain point in time it may appear that diligence and interest are lacking, that there is no progress and that there is no desire, for example, to faithfully attend church services. Then clarity is urgently needed, and it should be discussed how matters will proceed with the catechizing and with possible relationships between boys and girls.

It is to be hoped that we may still marvel at the work of the Lord over and over again, as we see that “others who are called by the ministry of the gospel come and are converted.”

The Catechesis←⤒🔗

Who should provide this instruction? It needs to be someone who himself is taken captive by the Word. He should be critical toward himself, and let the Word speak. He should be filled with love for his neighbour and feel deeply for those who do not yet know Christ (well). He should be a good theologian, but also a good pastor. He should…. We can continue our list for a while. I am thinking of the minister’s letter of call. Together with the church council the minister has to build up the church on the foundation laid by God himself. To this purpose, he should proclaim the Word, administer the sacraments, intercede in public prayers; and take care of catechesis.

As Reformed people we agree that catechesis is closely connected to the preaching of the Word. In his booklet Spreken over je Heiland (Speaking about Your Saviour), N. Baas says that catechesis must be regarded as a part of the ministry of the Word and that this strictly implies that the minister is the one who should provide it.

Certainly, when it comes to catechesis in preparation for the public confession of faith or for adult baptism, it is ideal that the preacher is closely involved.

Perhaps objections will be raised: “We will not find time for it” or “Why not involve the church in this?” It is true that time is often scarce and also that you can, and even must involve the church wherever possible. It has been pointed out not so long ago that the church has the mandate to proclaim the gospel and to teach all that Christ has commanded.

But this does not detract from the fact that it is especially the minister of the Word who is charged with the task of catechesis, while the church council and the congregation are intensely involved, so that they can judge responsibly when the time comes for admission to the Lord’s Supper and so that they can rejoice in it. When it really becomes impossible for the minister to take on this task, the church council could ask another person.

There is another reason why I would be glad to see the minister take on the task of giving catechesis to adults outside the church. In this way he gets an excellent opportunity to experience the most beautiful hours of his life. In this regard, Baas tells of beautiful hours spent in many living rooms with the Heidelberg Catechism in hand, often with a baby in the arms and a cat on the lap as well.

In any case, I would not like to deny this enjoyable work to a minister, whose work as an office-bearer so often involves him in difficult and even miserable situations. He gets the unprecedented opportunity to communicate his Christian cheerfulness, which infectiously radiates like the sun (Augustine) to his catechumen. Here also it is true: God loves the cheerful giver.

The Material←⤒🔗

What should we tell the catechumen? In principle, the material does not differ from that of regular catechism lessons, which is why I do not need to pay much attention to it here. This topic is discussed elsewhere in this publication. Still, I want to say something about: a) the little that we can pass along, and b) the material that we use.

a) The Little That We Can Pass Along←↰⤒🔗

Nobody can tell everything over a period of about two or three years, with just one hour of instruction per week. The important thing is that we tell the mirabiliora, the most amazing parts of the facts of salvation. In the words of Augustine, we can only let the highlights shine for a moment. The catechist brings the beautiful message of joy. He hopes and prays that the catechumen will find rest through surrendering obediently to the Word of God. As the catechumen grows spiritually, the catechist will become more and more superfluous. The aim of instruction, therefore, is to help the catechumen become familiar with the doctrine of the Scriptures, as summarized in the confession of the church. Much is left for him to go and learn himself, and in particular we need to mention the attendance of worship services, where preaching can be heard, and, furthermore, personal Bible study and involvement in church activities.

b) The Material That We Use←↰⤒🔗

The foregoing already indicates that we do not have to look far for material. The essential matter is the confession of the church, with emphasis on the Heidelberg Catechism, sometimes substituted by The Compendium of the Christian Religion (a summary of the key points of the HC). It is striking to see how even older catechumens, who have never heard of the Heidelberg Catechism before, are able to absorb the formulations of this book of doctrine. I have encountered few problems in this regard. With, or even without any encouragement, those who are serious in their approach are able to memorize the essentials of the Catechism.

Do we need a specific method for the catechesis of adults outside the church? I believe that such a method is urgently needed when it comes to the young people of the church, but in the case of adults outside the church it is sufficient to work through the catechism, with emphasis on the Scripture proofs and attention to the other confessions. A brief survey among a few colleagues showed that they did not feel the need for a special method for this form of catechesis, not to mention the fact that it would be very difficult to design a particular method for people from so many different backgrounds. Of course, it is necessary to also discuss church history, the liturgy, the offices, etc., but these things are discussed elsewhere in this publication.

Finally, I want to mention this. It may happen that certain topics need more than ordinary attention, for example: infant baptism, revival movements, the sanctity of the Lord’s Day, spiritism, etc. To a large extent this depends on the (former) life experience of the catechumen. It is important to have the relevant literature at hand.

“The Admonition”←⤒🔗

What applies to regular catechesis also applies to the special form of catechesis that we are dealing with here. There may be no separation between the mind and the heart. In other words, attention should be paid not only to the cognitive, but also to the affective element. Catechesis encompasses the whole person: head, heart and hands.

This means that the catechist can definitely use the Heidelberg Catechism. There is also no problem to have it memorized. As long as he makes it clear that the Catechism is no dry theory. This book of doctrine offers us the doctrine of Christ and is therefore not a book in which a hard teaching is communicated. On the contrary, it is a book to which you keep listening, because you hear Christ speaking about sins and misery, about the need to be born again and about the love of God and our gratitude according to the law of God. When the Catechism speaks of sin, it is our sin and when it speaks of salvation, it is our salvation. When we discuss the church in Lord’s Day 21, it is this church of which the catechist may be a living member and of which the catechumen may become and remain a living member. When the communion of saints is discussed, the catechist must not be silent about the fact that the church consists of people who, by their nature, are inclined to hate God and their neighbour. He must therefore warn his catechumen not to be surprised when he encounters sin in the church; sin is a reality that needs to be taken into account without accepting that it should simply remain there. Augustine pointed out to his catechumens that there would be annoyances “of pagans, Jews, heretics and divisive persons, but above all from bad Christians.”

This should be told in the catechism lessons, but fortunately it can also be told that Christ is the one who can change people and make them brothers and sisters in one family.

This is how the catechumens come to know what they can expect and what things there are to do for them, when they will soon be members of Christ’s church.

I will conclude by expressing the hope that, under the blessing of the Lord, many people who had lost their way will still come to receive catechism, and that we will still find many catechists and catechumens who work together in prayer. We are privileged that God is still calling people, giving them faith and repentance, and delivering them from the power of darkness to bring them into the kingdom of his Son. He does this so that we might proclaim his great deeds, boasting not in ourselves, but in him.