While catechesis is not restricted to children, we all want our children to grow up with a strong foundation in Christ, the Scriptures, sound doctrine, and holy worship.

For this task, we need the mutual help of churches and parents. Catechesis isn’t just a one-hour-a-week program on Sundays, but nor should parents bear the whole weight themselves. We need pastors and parents—and godparents, aunts and uncles, friends, relatives, mentors, and any others involved in the lives of our children—working together to form and nurture the spiritual lives of their children.

On this page, you’ll find information about two of the main church-based children’s programs in use among Anglican Churches—God’s Big Story and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd—along with ways for families to be involved in the catechesis of their children at home. There are suggested books and other resources for children’s and family catechesis.

There are many more out there, of course, but these can hopefully be a useful guide for those starting out.

Church-Based Catechesis

God’s Big Story (GBS)

God’s Big Story (GBS) grew out of the parish of St. John’s Richmond in Vancouver, BC, to provide a “gospel-driven, Christ-centred curriculum.” GBS makes its numerous resources and curriculum freely available through their website.

They have curriculum for the following age-groups:

1. Little Ones (age 2-3)

2. Preschool (ages 4-5)

3. Elementary (Grades 1-4)

4. Junior Youth (Grades 5-6)

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS)

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, along with similar ministries such as Godly Play, draw from a Montessori-style pedagogy to help children prepare for participation in the church’s liturgical life. While mainly used in Roman Catholic traditions, many Anglican churches adopt this method to use in their own contexts. They also offer many opportunities to be trained in the CGS model.

For two examples of Anglican churches using CGS, see the links below, along with a talk given at a Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic (ACNA) synod from 2022.

At-Home Catechesis

Catechism in Family Prayer

• The ACNA Initiative Next Generational Leadership Initiative (NGLI) has produced an extensive PDF version of the ACNA’s catechism, To Be a Christian, set in the context of family prayer, which they call the Catechism in Family Prayer.

• At Christ the Redeemer (Greenville, SC), Dcn. Rev. Luke Rasmussen and Dr. Amanda Hackney have developed an At-Home Catechism that works through the catechism in a three-year liturgical cycle. It goes at a slower pace than the NGLI version, and their church prints out spiral-bound copies of these PDFs and encourages their churches to pray and catechize together.

• Redeemer Church (Chattanooga, TN) has culled some of the key questions from To Be a Christian to form a “smaller catechism” that is especially designed for use with children and youth. They also provide simple instructions for helping parents use this smaller catechism at home with their kids.
  

Little Way Chapel

Little Way Chapel, hosted by Alyssa Case, is a wonderful online resource for helping parents guide their families through the church year. She has developed a wealth of beautiful downloadable calendars, guides, and activities for the different seasons of the year as well as for major feast days. There are options for individual purchases and downloads as well as memberships.

Liturgical Home

Ashley Tumlin Wallace is an Anglican writer (and frequent contributor to Anglican Compass) who helps parents and families engage more deeply in the church calendar. She has authored several books on the seasons of the church year, and has written several smaller posts on various feast days.

Pray with Kids

Christina Coley, in Waco, TX, has assembled some wonderful resources for parents seeking to, as she puts it, “support kids in their prayers to God.” She collects blog posts, podcasts, quotes, and other resources gleaned from her own experience as a homeschool mother of five.

Additional Resources

Catechesis with the Klukas Family | Robert Webber Center

• In an interview of the Robert Webber Center (Trinity School for Ministry), the Rev. Christopher Klukas and the Rev. Carrie Klukas (Diocese of Pittsburgh) share their practice of family devotions, highlighting four key parts: reading scripture, teaching, singing, and praying.

  The Catechism of the Anglican Church of America (ACNA) plays an important role, and by joining the Catechism with sung Compline they seamlessly accomplish their family’s Christian education and worship.

Additional Books and Reading

for Parents

Winfield Bevins, Grow at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Family Discipleship (Seedbed, 2016).

Justin Witmel Earley, Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms (Zondervan, 2021).

Sarah Cowan Johnson, Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship (InterVarsity Press, 2022).

Philip Mamalakis, Parenting Toward the Kingdom: Orthodox Christian Principles of Child-Rearing (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2016). 

Trevecca Okholm, Kingdom Family: Re-Envisioning God’s Plan for Marriage and Family (Cascade Books, 2012). 

James K. A. Smith, “Liturgies of the Home,” in You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos Press, 2016).

John H. Westerhoff III, Will Our Children Have Faith? (Morehouse, 2000).

For Children

There are many good books for engaging the Scriptures for younger readers (and listeners). For a more comprehensive list, see this one put together by St. John’s Vancouver (last updated in 2019). The list below is not comprehensive but a sample of those that might be more specifically related to catechesis.

Catechesis Books | Danielle Hitchens 

• Board Books provide “primers” on central tenets of the Christian faith.

• There are also many options that include coloring pages and activities as accompanying supplements.

Faith Guide for Littles | StoryMakers

From the publisher description: “sets out to equip grown-ups to feel confident sharing your faith with kids and answering questions that come up along the way. This four-book series contains the essentials you’ll need to know to teach your children the Christian faith”:

• The Ten Rules

• The Lord’s Prayer

• The Apostles’ Creed

• Signs of Grace

New City Catechism for Kids | Redeemer Church

• A 52-question catechism, in a broadly Reformed theological perspective, simplified from the standard version for kids (roughly ages 8-11).

• New City also has an accompanying curriculum that includes 52 lessons that can be used in churches or the home.

For Older Children and Young Teens

Jared Patrick Boyd, Imaginative Prayer: A Yearlong Guide for Your Child’s Spiritual Formation (IVP Books, 2017). 

J. Ryan Lister, Emblems of the Infinite King: Enter into the Knowledge of the Living God (Crossway, 2019). 

Marty Machowski, The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New (New Growth Press, 2021).

Storymakers NYC, The Teen Zine, Vol. 1: The Faith Issue.

For more books (in a more academic vein), especially about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, see the additional resources listed on our bibliographies page at the link below.