As visitors enter our churches, this scene is repeated over and over each Sunday morning. In these rapidly changing times, many congregations are welcoming visitors who have rarely been to church before. How can congregations prepare to teach people about the life of faith and the joys and challenges of becoming disciples of Jesus Christ? What is needed in order to prepare people for baptism and full participation in the life of the church?
In recent years, the recovery of the catechumenate has begun helping congregations address the need to train and prepare people for baptism.
The new issue of Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching & the Arts (vol. 39.1) includes significant discussions of the history of the catechumenate and thoughts about how this practice can shape and support the work of your congregation as it reaches out to those coming to inquire and learn more about the Christian life. Thom Nelson writes extensively about the power and possibility of the catechumenate to shape and transform our church:
More often than not, jumping into things without first laying a solid foundation usually turns out to be a mistake. There are numerous failed projects and programs of the church, all of which were well-conceived, thoughtful, and prudent but lacked for a well-prepared and theologically sound welcome by a local congregation. I encourage congregations of the Presbyterian Church to take time, think theologically, learn from history, and be open to what will inevitably be a smorgasbord of approaches by Presbyterians. The first step in catechumenal experimentation is the admission that we are not setting out to discover a program but that we are setting out to be rediscovered in the contemplation of what it is to be a church. Catechumenate practice has the potential to be nothing short of a spiritual revolution in the Presbyterian Church. We must be careful, however, to begin the practice of catechumenate in rich and well-prepared soil, lest it become only another ailing program in the malaise of existing church programs.
This issue of Call to Worship (#501978) also includes a full set of lectionary aids for Year B. You can receive this issue and the subsequent three issues by subscribing today. Send your check for $29.95 to:
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