“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4)” — Small Catechism, Table of Duties, To Parents
Of all those addressed in the Small Catechism’s Table of Duties, parents get the briefest guidance. This seems backwards. An American Christian home might not have a single book about being a good citizen, worker or church member. But every home that has had children in it probably has a library of books (or a Google search history) explaining how childrearing ought to be done. Modern parents are perhaps humanity’s most advice-hungry cohort.
From another perspective, though, the Table’s counsel to parents is respectful and encouraging. Fathers and mothers may get at the broad task of instructing their children in the Lord with only one restriction: Don’t exasperate them. Keeping in mind the central goal of bringing up children “in the training and instruction of the Lord,” parents are free to decide every other detail as they will.
Most parents today send their children to school, a custom dating to antiquity and practiced in varied forms by Christian families throughout history. Schools exist to assist parents with the work of training and instructing children. If a school also instructs children in the faith, it offers another layer of assistance many Christian parents welcome. Either way, schools operate in loco parentis, in the place of parents — not displacing parents’ authority, but acting under it. Parents remain ultimately responsible for monitoring this system and asking: Is the school’s action in loco parentis consistent with the task of catechizing children in the Lord?
Parents thus have a duty to know what is going on in their children’s schools and classrooms. School cannot be an eight-hour blank spot in a father and mother’s mental map of a child’s day. Godly parenting requires familiarity with the situations and people with whom children spend their time. There are different ways of gaining this familiarity within school policies and social norms, but anyone who has a kid in school has to figure it out. Schools that impede parental access work against the duty of Christian parents.
Being closely involved with a child’s school life allows parents regularly to evaluate how the instruction of the Lord is going. Are children in a Lutheran school learning Scripture as it is taught in Luther’s Small Catechism? Are children in an evangelical or Roman Catholic school learning that Jesus died for their sins and rose for their salvation? Are children in a public school being permitted to keep their Christian faith and live according to it?
Is a school of any kind exasperating — frustrating, obstructing or discouraging — children in the Christian training that is their birthright?
A school that provides Lutheran or broader Christian training is a tremendous blessing. There is a reason Lutherans invest heavily in schools built around prayer and devotion, Scripture and song, faith and forgiveness. But even the best Christian or Lutheran school cannot completely fulfill a parent’s duty to raise children in the faith. Christian schools are a bonus, not a solution. Fathers and mothers who rely on schools to raise their children in the Lord will inevitably be disappointed.
Parents, that advice-hungry cohort, are wise in their hunger. They can begin filling this need by seeking out other parents, especially those whose kids demonstrate strong faith, and asking them questions. There are families like this with kids in schools of all kinds (home, Lutheran, Christian, public and so on). Parents may choose from a variety of educational options — but faithful Lutheran families will always be found in church. Start there to find help from other parents who attend with their kids every week.
Wondering where to start?
Whether your child attends public school, a Lutheran or other private school, or is educated right within your home, you know as parents that it is your responsibility to raise them up in the faith at home. But how to accomplish this can be a more difficult question.
Here are some resources to aid you in supporting your children’s education from within the home.
- Luther’s Small Catechism — Luther’s Small Catechism, written for “the head of the family [to] teach [the faith] in a simple way to his household,” remains an unmatched tool for doing just that. The 2017 edition of Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation includes more reflection questions; relates the topics to contemporary issues; and adds psalms, hymns and prayers to aid in devotional use.
- Catechism Memory Cards — These free, downloadable memory cards include questions and answers taken from Scripture and the Small Catechism, as well as “discussion cards” meant to launch further conversation.
- Catechism Memory Songs — For further catechism memory help, the “Sing the Faith Songbook” (from CPH) and accompanying CD sets the entire Small Catechism to music through 67 songs.
- Conversation Starters for Mealtimes — This pack of mealtime conversation starters is meant to encourage and assist families in their mealtime conversations.
- Family Devotions Calendar — Download a free, customizable family devotions calendar (including topics for prayer, Bible and catechism memory work, and reading suggestions), along with flashcards for practicing memory work.
- LCMS ‘Pray for Us’ Calendar — Another great resource for home devotions, these monthly calendars invite the people of the LCMS to support the work of the LCMS through their prayer. The calendars focus on a theme each month (from “teaching the faith” to “partner churches”), with a specific prayer request for each day of the year.
- Kids in the Divine Service — If your congregation is not already using these bulletin inserts (or even if they are), they are great for use at home to explain to your children what they experience in church on Sunday. They contain excellent, kid-focused information on major church seasons, as well as wonderful explanations of the sanctuary, the liturgy and important terms in Lutheran theology.
- Homeschool Resources from CPH — Concordia Publishing House (CPH) has a number of resources geared toward homeschoolers, such as Bible story books, Bible and catechism studies, church history resources and more. These can certainly be utilized by homeschoolers but can also serve as great resources for supplementing any child’s catechetical instruction at home. Check out The Story Bible, My First Catechism, the Concordia’s Bible History curriculum set and more at cph.org/homeschool.
- Treasury of Daily Prayer — This excellent tome from CPH is a great starting place for any devotions, whether personal or family. Moving through every day of the year, it includes Scripture readings, prayers, psalms, hymn texts and devotional readings, all in one place. Find it at cph.org or in CPH’s InPrayer app.
- Other Books — While intentional Bible and catechetical reading is very important, reading books of any genre with your children is a great idea. As you read alongside them, you can reflect on the material with them, helping them learn how to evaluate and what to love, whom to admire and what to condemn. Check out these suggested reading lists for Lutheran children of different ages, compiled by two seasoned Lutheran educators:
This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of The Lutheran Witness.
Cover image: Getty Images
RE: Luther’s Small Catechism, written for “the head of the family [to] teach [the faith] in a simple way to his household.”
In the nearly 500 years since the Small Catechism was published, has that idea caught on much? If not, perhaps there are some good reasons.
The first (1529) edition of the Small Catechism was a short booklet. The 2017 edition “with Explanation” is over 400 pages long with 374 questions and 1,142 Scripture references. So how is teaching from it today “simple”?
At the link to the CPH catalog listing of the Small Catechism, there seems to be no basic guidance about such things as:
1. Planning instructional time and considering options for subdividing learning sessions.
2. Adapting teaching approaches for children of different ages individually or when there are children of varying ages in the same household.
3. Coordinating with church and Lutheran school instruction in the same material.
The Church is to teach its disciples. Busy parents who entrust the catechesis of their children to their capable and knowledgeable pastor and help with the assignments are to be commended.