Teaching Tenets of Faith in Worship: Catechetical Learning: Instilling the Basics of Faith in the Context of Worship

Western culture no longer has a broad Christian understanding. In fact, much of what American media dishes out is pantheistic or anti-religious. Sociological research indicates that a multitude of beliefs have crept into Christian understandings of faith. This situation is not new. As early as the fifteenth century, Erasmus asserted that the greatest concern of his time was that Christians were most often “rank heathens” when it came to their orthodoxy. It is also apparent that attendance at Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and other gatherings has fallen at a great rate. The author believes providing Christian education in the context of worship is therefore the best opportunity for reaching believers with historical elements of faith. A twenty-four-part lectionary-based catechetical curriculum is provided for worship. With it, congregations can dwell in a sermon series that is surrounded by supportive full-bodied worship.

James Åkerson is the pastor of a rural congregation and a district minister for the Virginia Mennonite Conference (MCUSA). He holds a DMin degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, and an MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Virginia. He is a convinced Anabaptist. Born in Oregon, he grew up in a Lutheran tradition, where he gained an appreciation for high church practices of worship. He and his wife, Emily, have two grown sons.