A new catechism for mini-confirmands

The message is: ‘Let’s get physical’

Two words in the above title – catechism and confirmand – will doubtless seem strange to many readers. Isn’t ’catechism’ something that disappeared with Luther? Surely only Roman Catholics still talk about the ’catechism’?

Not so! Alternatives such as Childhood Christian Teachings (Grundtvig) and The ABC of Faith (an update of Luther) in the Danish Lutheran Church are now being challenged by a brand-new concept for a children’s catechism aimed at 9 to 11-years-olds – and more specifically at their physicality. Learning the faith for these youngsters involves moving the head, the arms, the stomach, and the feet.

An unqualified success – and that’s rare
The context is that 80% of Danes are church members and that 3 out of 4 children are confirmed at the age of 13-14. To prepare them for this, churches have been running mini-confirmand classes in church once a week after school for the past 20 years or so. The result has been an unqualified success – and there are not  many of those in recent times. The new material to promote the idea is called My Mini Catechism – Christianity from Top to Toe, and is the brainchild of 38-year-old Pastor Maria Baastrup Joergensen:

“The inspiration comes from the observation that youngsters acquire so much of their experience through their bodies. If we start there, we can tell them a great deal about Christianity, including biblical concepts such as sin. They have all experienced doing something wrong, and being ashamed, like Adam and Eve trying to hide from God. You go red in the face and get a sinking feeling in your stomach. For example, in one of the themes I’ve linked the physical movement of holding your head down or up to the concepts of sin, grace, and blessing. In another theme, forgiveness, it’s the eyes that are in focus.”

 

Bringing the story to life

When asked what she thinks of the pastoral teaching of children, Maria says, “Many of our pastors are really good at teaching children, but there’s a disturbingly big difference in quality around the country. In many churches there are now parish assistants trained to deal with children, and they can lend a hand here. When I worked on the island of Moen, there were many frescoes in the churches, some frightening, some humorous, that brought the biblical stories to life. That’s what we’re trying to do with the new mini-catechism – to get right into the children’s bodies so they don’t forget the experience and can link it to their understanding of the Bible and faith!”

 

By: Edward Broadbridge

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