A church that is alive, invests in its youth. After all, it knows that it has been called away from a meaningless existence toward a bright future with Christ. The church is the people of the future. That is why every newborn child in the congregation is received with praise and thanksgiving. In every child, the congregation sees its own future, because it may take these children along on its way to the great encounter with the heavenly Lord. Today’s generation takes its children with it, just as at one time it was brought along itself by the generation before it.

Investing in the youth happens in all sorts of places and ways. It happens every day in a casual manner in the community of the family — in all those big and small things that occur in the life of every day: the workday, the Sunday, the birthday.

Moving on from the family, we then see the school — with all the complex happenings of education and training.

Also the church has created its own forms to give expression to its responsibility for the coming generation. On this occasion we are thinking of the phenomenon of catechesis, which already for centuries has been the path of baptized children toward the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

 Catechesis Is Pastoral Care⤒🔗

Catechesis is meant as a task and service on the part of the office-bearers for the upcoming generation — the boys and girls who will soon, as confessing members, proclaim the death of Christ. Then they will be called upon to show themselves as the church of the coming Christ in a world full of trouble, contradiction, rebellion against God, and the powers of death. The church has acknowledged its responsibility for this great task, and together with the parents and the school, it wants to carry a part of that responsibility. That is why every church building also has a room for catechesis. Soon these rooms will be filled again. The boys and girls of Reformed churches go to receive catechetical instruction — we may still happily express it in this general way without any exaggeration or self-exaltation. In a manner of speaking, therefore, the meeting of the generations takes place in that room.

The church of tomorrow does not enter that room without noise. The church of today is represented in the person of the minister and catechist. The church of yesterday and all the earlier days is also there, in the form of the doctrine: the central subject for every Reformed catechesis. In all those figures the living God desires to be present—he who is and was and is to come.

It should  not be the intention that the catechesis extends the school time of the children by an edifying hour each week. Catechesis and school are two types of education that can be perfectly compatible with each other, yet structurally they differ completely. Its nature, motive, objective, organization, method, group composition, finalization, atmosphere—with all of these aspects differences could be highlighted.

Catechism is work that is carried out under the responsibility of the office-bearers of the church. It is not simply a matter of finding someone, somewhere, who can teach the children of the church some basic facts about church doctrine. It is about pastoral care of the church for the future generation. Catechesis is a direct result of the command of the living Christ to Peter: “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15).

Catechesis is Meant to Be Interactive←⤒🔗

Catechesis is not an endless monologue, and neither is it a diluted sermon. The aspect of conversation cannot be missed in the catechesis.

Without a doubt, children should learn to listen to their parents and to the minister. “Listening” is the foundation of faith. In turn, the parents and the minister must also learn to listen to the children, especially to the children’s questions.

Children have their own experiences and their own questions. It is the world of the “why?,” which we encounter already in the Old Testament. The questions of the children do not necessarily coincide with the questions of the Catechism. However, that is no reason to remove the questions that the Catechism is asking. At the same time these Catechism questions may not serve as a means to steamroll over the children’s questions. Instead it is wonderful when those questions arise: all kinds of questions about all kinds of issues. There may be questions that often remain unspoken, but that makes them no less real.

This does not mean that the catechization should turn into an extended question period where ultimately the children determine the program. The children themselves would even feel unhappy about it. Nevertheless, it implies a poor kind of catechesis when no opportunity is given for the children to ask questions, when there is no real time for this or when the atmosphere is not conducive for it. The question at the end: “Does anyone have anything else to ask?” is usually pointless and certainly does not show much pedagogical insight. The atmosphere associated with catechesis should be such that children of the church feel safe with their pastor, and dare to come up with their questions.

Catechesis Is Transfer←⤒🔗

All the effort that catechesis calls for is employed for the sake of the great purpose that we have already briefly mentioned earlier: the meeting of the generations.

This meeting also takes place outside of the catechism room, of course. In fact, this meeting happens everywhere and every day. But it also takes place in the church service; in that context, we now look at the meeting in the catechism room.

In the days of the Old Testament the children were present at the celebration of the Passover. This immediately became a catechetical moment. As much as possible children were taken along to Israel’s festivals; we can read about it in Deuteronomy 31:10-15.

Bringing the children to the feasts was an instrument to engage and to integrate the upcoming generation into the tradition. By “tradition” we mean in this connection the story of God’s redemptive dealings with his people and the recitation of God’s wholesome commands and promises. In this way “transfer” came into being and the children were included in the ways of the covenant community that already existed before them and that already had a long history. Children of the church are children of the God who makes history and who uses it as a means to reveal himself in it. We can therefore characterize catechesis as the on-ramp along the highway of the church throughout the ages.

Such an on-ramp has an indispensable as well as limited value. It should not be too short, but neither should it be too long. In catechesis the children need to learn where this church-on-the-highway is coming from, where it is heading, and why things happen the way they do in church. House rules, traffic rules, safety measures, directions and the intended place of arrival must be taught to the children. That is why one of the main objectives of catechesis is to convey to the children the realization that they were born in the church of all ages. That is a religious-historical awareness, which in itself has nothing to do with any level of intelligence. By means of education and catechesis this religious-historical awareness needs to be made concrete in learning to accept in faith the core concepts of salvation history. When this historical sense is lost or when it is never shaped, children will not be able to understand anything of the actual situation, and will become susceptible to the various attractions of the sects.

Catechesis Is “Learning”←⤒🔗

At catechesis it is neither the minister in the centre nor the child. The centre of catechesis is the doctrine of the church. It is the doctrine that qualifies for the transfer from one generation to the next, for this is the doctrine of the eternal and enduring, the living Word of our God.

There would be a lot to say about this aspect, especially in our time. For now we are limiting ourselves to one observation: catechesis there needs to include both learning and teaching. The minister is teaching by giving instruction and the boys and girls are learning by receiving this instruction and integrating it into their lives. Instruction is provided by means of exposition and conversation. The knowledge is rehearsed and the practical meaning of the matter is pointed out. In this way the boys and girls learn to internalize the way of the church. They are stimulated to live a life with God and a life in the church according to the rules of the covenant. They receive an introduction to the entire “life of the church,” including the liturgy and the fellowship of the churches. As far as it is up to us, in fifty years there will be a people in our country who will know what the living Christ is doing and accomplishing in his church.

That is why it is necessary to teach and to learn in catechetical instruction, while the catechesis retains its own identity: not a school class or a discussion group, but a learning and speaking community.

Questions about the Route←⤒🔗

When in conclusion we ask ourselves what is the most suitable method for such catechetical teaching, it quickly becomes apparent that by means of this question we present ourselves with many sub-questions. I will mention a few, in random sequence:

• How do we reduce the distance that has grown over the years between teaching methods at schools and at catechesis?
• How can we arouse the interest of the students and get them to participate during the lesson?
• How should the catechists put their lesson together?
• What does it mean to say that there is a big difference between the catechism students in terms of age, gender, level of intelligence, interest, level of education?
• How should catechesis be organized when focusing on the mentally handicapped?
• What are the requirements for catechesis that is directed at adults in the context of evangelism?
• Which subject matter must definitely be dealt with?
• What learning tools can the catechists use in this?
• Do we also need a catechesis for engaged or recently married couples?
• Is there a need to come to some sort of “catechesis for professing members”?
• What is the use of the memorization and recital of the catechism text?

None of these questions is being asked for the first time today. Most of these questions have often been thoroughly thought through. With the aid of pedagogy, didactics, and psychology, many insights have been gained, which are of importance for the response to such questions. This magazine’s thematic issue therefore also aims to offer a number of thought-provoking articles for readers on this subject.

However, all these questions are sub-questions, subservient to the bigger question about how God’s church on earth directs its course: How does the congregation guide its children on their way to the future and the coming of the Lord?

May it be granted to us that in the coming seasons, our children will attend the catechism classes without reluctance. This will then be a great gift of the Spirit of Christ. This gift from him may serve as a goal for us: a catechesis where our children learn to trust and to show something of themselves; where they dare to ask questions and learn to listen in order to find their way with the living and lasting Word of God, in today’s and tomorrow’s society.

The day will come when it will become apparent that the return on the catechetical investment will be infinite.