The Anglican Church in North America’s Catechism Geared for Two-Prong Focus

From the font...from the front porch

The call to “make disciples” has been sorely neglected in mainline denominations over the last several decades, and Christian formation in the 21st century represents a challenge to clergy and families alike. The Anglican Church in North America’s Catechesis Task Force is committed to equipping clergy, congregations and families in the Province to meet this challenge. After a four-year process, the group is putting final touches on a draft Catechism and will present the 300-Question and Answer portion to the College of Bishops later this year so that Bishops can review and then discuss the document at their next meeting in January 2013.

The Task Force has identified a two-prong primary need and strategy for the Catechism, envisioning its use within the church to come alongside parents, intentionally raising children and teens in the Christian faith and also to reach and make disciples of those outside the Church, much like the model of the first century.

“We’re referring to this catechetical process as ‘from the font’ and ‘from the front porch,’” explains the Rev. Dr. Jack Gabig, Chair of the Task Force and Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. “We are committed to the concept of teaching the basic doctrine and discipline of the faith within our Anglican tradition as a progressive journey for all ages, in all stages of life – to those baptized as infants and to those seeking to understand and embrace faith for the first time.”  Read more

This article lit up more red warning lights for me. They include the composition of the ACNA task force charged with preparing the catechism and the lack of familiarity with the history of the Prayer Book Catechism evidenced in the article. The Prayer Book Catechism in its original form was prepared by Dean Alexander Nowell. Archbishop Duncan's charge to “write a Catechism SO APPEALING THAT PEOPLE WILL WANT TO USE IT” particular caught my attention. Note that Duncan emphasizes the subjective attractiveness of the catechism, as opposed to its adherence to the teaching of the Bible and the Anglican formularies and its theological soundness. Two earlier warning lights were the task force's preliminary survey of congregations and clergy as to what they believed and its adoption of The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992, 1997) as the model for the ACNA catechism.