Session 1, Part 1: The Nature of Catechesis

Apostles Anglican Church
Fr. John A. Roop

Introduction: The Nature of Catechesis and Confirmation

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray.

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Catechesis

The “technical” term for what we will do in this class for the next several weeks is catechesis. It is a Greek word (κατήχησις) that essentially means “instruction by word of mouth”. It the West, it has come to be used mainly in a religious sense/setting to mean Christian instruction prior to either baptism or confirmation. Such instruction was a hallmark of the early Church in which the catechumenate (the course of instruction) often lasted from one to three years. We still have series of catechetical lectures from that early age, such as those by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386), https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3101.htm. Today many expressions of the faith have consolidated and standardized catechetical instruction into a single book appropriate for the community. In the Anglican Church in North America, we have To Be A Christian: An Anglican Catechism. Going forward I will just refer to that text as The Catechism; we will use it frequently in this class. You may find it on line at https://anglicanchurch.net/catechism/ or you may purchase it from various sources including Amazon.

So, why catechesis at all? Is it not enough simply to hear the Gospel, be convicted, accept Jesus as Lord, and take one’s place in the Church? As with most complicated questions the answer is, well, both yes and no. To live the Christian life well, catechesis must happen at some time; actually, it must happen continually. But, the Church determined early on that the sooner the better for all parties concerned. Consider a first century context; if you keep Corinth in mind, you’ll do well. The church there was predominantly Gentile, that is, comprised mostly of former pagans. And that is highly significant. These people had been formed in and by a culture that had little in common with Judaism in terms of faith and practice. They were polytheistic idolaters who included Caesar in their pantheon. They frequented idol temples and may well have participated in ritualized sexual acts in worship there. Their social ethic and personal morals were formed by Greece and Rome and not by the Old Testament or the Sermon on the Mount. So, even though they were convicted by the Gospel, even though they were ready to accept the Lordship of Christ, they still required a great deal of formation to know what that really entailed and to live it well. They needed instruction. St. Paul’s Corinthian correspondence is, in some sense, an attempt at after-the-fact, remedial catechesis.

At this time, early in the Church’s history, the majority of converts were adults, though, of course, an adult male convert would also bring those in his family along with him into the faith. So, catechesis became a prerequisite for baptism, for entry into the Body of Christ. It was as if the Church were saying, “For everyone’s sake, before you become part of us, you need to know and we need you to know what that means. And, we need to know that you are committed to that as attested by your manner of life.” Conversion of belief wasn’t enough; conversion of manners (of one’s way of life) was also required.

So, catechetical instruction primarily focused (and still focuses) on three areas:

1. What Christians believe;

2. How Christians live; and

3. How Christians worship/pray.

As time elapsed, there were successive generations of Christians, so that much of the growth in the Church became organic: people having babies and raising them in the community of the faithful. Infant baptism became the norm and focused catechesis was delayed for all but adult converts. In the Anglican Communion, catechism became the process of preparation for Confirmation, the rite of mature, personal confession of the faith and the acceptance of mature ministry in the Church and in the world. Still, it focuses on the three primary areas of:

1. What Anglican Christians believe (Scripture and doctrine);

2. How Christians live (personal and social morals and ethics); and

3. How Anglican Christians worship, and particularly how we pray.

The traditional content of catechesis addresses these areas specifically:

1. The Creed (Scripture and doctrine);

2. The Ten Commandments (personal and social morals and ethics); and

3. The Lord’s Prayer (worship/prayer).

We will supplement these three with other topics and references, but the Creed, the Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer are primary, so primary, in fact, that each catechumen is required to memorize them. That is your first and ongoing homework assignment. And yes, there will be test; we will, from time to time throughout the class say these together to fix them in your memory.

There is a Latin phrase that is heard not infrequently in Anglican circles: lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi. It means the rule of prayer is the rule of faith is the rule of life. In other words faith, prayer, and the way of life — Creed, Prayer, and Ethics — are interdependent and are the foundations of the Christian Way. It is precisely these three that are the hallmarks of classical catechesis.

Confirmation

Now, I’d like to say a brief word about confirmation; there will be much more on this topic later, but I’d like you to know now whether confirmation is appropriate for you.

First, what is confirmation? It is the sacramental rite of full, mature inclusion in the life and ministry of the church. To say that it is sacramental is to say that it is a means of grace in which and through which God works for you and for your salvation. It is not an arbitrary church hoop to jump through and it is not a mere sign of something. God is actively doing something in confirmation. What is God doing? He is imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary for you to minister effectively in the church and in the world. He does this through the laying on of the bishop’s hands and the bishop’s prayer. There is firm biblical warrant for this as we will see later.

Confirmation is appropriate only for those who have been baptized in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. If you have not yet been baptized, this course provides necessary catechesis for that. For those baptized as infants, confirmation provides the opportunity to affirm as one’s own those promises made by parents or godparents at one’s baptism. The Anglican Church in North America requires a mature profession of faith and dedication to the Lordship of Jesus Christ by every member. Typically, confirmation provides that opportunity. For all — those baptized either as infants or as adults — confirmation calls upon God to pour out the Holy Spirit in a fresh and fuller way to empower the confirmand for ministry.

So, who should be confirmed?

If you have not already been confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, or an Anglican Church (including The Episcopal Church), you should be confirmed.

If you have been confirmed previously in one of those churches, you will be received into the Anglican Church rather than being confirmed. Outwardly, there is very little difference in the rites of reception versus confirmation; the major difference is one prayer and perhaps a few manual actions by the bishop. The catechetical preparation for confirmation and reception is the same.