How Catechesis can Transform your Youth Ministry

“What does discipleship look like in your youth ministry?”

This is a fairly common question among youth workers. We all know that our primary mission is to make disciples - but what does that mean and how do we do that? I believe that catechesis holds the key. 

While looking for catechism resources at a local Christian bookstore, I was told by a worker, “Oh, that’s a Catholic thing. We don’t really stock that stuff. But I could probably special order something for you if you know what you want.” I successfully restrained myself, and then placed my order online. 

Catechesis was the pattern the Early Church followed when they were making disciples of those who were interested in Christianity or were new converts: the pair up the interested person with a church catechist, someone who was well-trained in disciple-making. They would meet frequently so the catechist could teach simple Christian doctrines until the student was able to repeat back to the teacher what Christian said. This is why it’s even called catechesis, which means “to echo” or “to repeat back.” Rote memorization was never the goal. Discipleship has always happened through a meaningful relationship where the catechist would answer questions and help apply the gospel to the student’s mind, heart, and life. 

This is how Christians have made disciples throughout church history. That is, until the last 150’ish years. Obviously, there’s a lot I’m skipping over here - if you’re interested in reading more, you can read about it in my book A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry or in Grounded in the Gospel: Building Disciples the Old Fashioned Way. 

Traditionally, catechesis covered the three major areas described below with some simple explanations about how to implement them in your youth ministry. 

Doctrine: Apostles’ Creed

Students need to know what it means to actually be a Christian. The Apostles' Creed has been the standard confession of faith for Christians throughout history - to the point that denying anything in the creed means your faith is not a Christian faith (with the exception of the “descended into hell” statement, which was likely a later addition). If we don’t help students learn the essential theological truths of Christianity, why should we be surprised when they grow up to deny a faith they never really understood? 

For example, Christians have always believed the Trinity is absolutely essential to being a Christian. But when was the last time you taught about the Trinity in your ministry? When was the last time you had a conversation with a student about the Trinity? Can students give a basic-but-simple explanation of the Trinity? Can you? 

When we meet with students, it’s important to have doctrinal conversations with them. Discussing something like the Apostles’ Creed or your church’s Statement of Faith can be a really helpful way to initiate a series of meaningful, faith-building conversations. 

Spiritual Life: Lord’s Prayer

Students’ spiritual lives matter. How many of us have been in small groups when students refuse to pray because “I don’t know how to.” Remember, that’s literally the reason Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer: so they’d know how to pray. It isn’t a magical incantation; it’s a pattern for prayer. This is why catechesis walks people through the different petitions, so we would know what types of things to be praying about. 

This section of catechesis leads us to help students explore and reflect upon their relationship with God. Do they really trust him to provide? Do they know how to approach God with godly fear and humility, or do they come with an entitled spirit? This isn’t emotionalism or touchy-feely spirituality. It leads us to the heart of our relationship with God, and to keep our hearts before the Lord so our faith doesn’t become an intellectual exercise. 

Along with the Lord’s Prayer, discipling students in spirituality also involves helping them learn how to read and study the Bible. When you meet with students, do you ever open God’s Word, read it together, and model what it looks like to interpret and apply it? Start where students are at, and then lead them from through Observation, Interpretation, Application types of questions. Prayer and Bible Study (together, not just one or the other) are the foundation of Christian spirituality. 

For more about this important topic, check out CPYU’s new podcast, The Word in Youth Ministry. RYM also has some helpful free resources like this Prayer Card and a Bible 101 series.  

Godliness: Ten Commandments

When youth workers meet with students, this area probably gets the most attention… for obvious reasons! Students are often confused about what to do, how to navigate different situations, and how to apply God’s Word to their lives in practical ways. So we tend to focus on helping students live rightly. 

That’s obviously not a bad thing. But helping students view their actions/godliness as an overflow of their doctrine and spirituality could not be more important. Having a catechetical plan for the way you disciple students will help them make these connections because you’ve already set a solid framework for students to understand the gospel (doctrine), pray the gospel (spirituality), and now they can see how the gospel transforms their daily life (godliness). 

Walking through something like the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount will lead you into conversations about all the “hot button” topics that are important to discuss with students. And if you use a catechism, students won’t feel like you’re bringing up difficult conversations as an accusation, or because their parents asked you to. Instead, it’s simply the next commandment or section you’re discussing together. 

Ways to Implement this Approach

One of the easiest ways a youth leader can put this catechetical plan into practice is the way he or she structures their teaching series. Every year for as long as I can remember, I have always included a doctrinal series, a spirituality series, and a godliness series throughout the school year. Sometimes one of those series is a major emphasis, and the others are only a few weeks long - but they’re there. I don’t make a big deal about it or explain to students what I’m doing. But my youth leaders and I know, and that keeps me accountable. YPT is currently developing a curriculum line called Devotional Theology that’s built around this doctrine/spirituality/godliness framework. 

When meeting with students, I try to have catechesis on my mind. This helps me navigate different types of conversations to have with the student, and how to listen to what’s really behind the things they’re telling me they care about. Listening deeply, with this framework in mind, helps me know what questions to ask throughout the conversation. 

Finally, it’s important to remember there’s a difference between simply meeting with a student and having a disciple-making relationship with them. Working through something like a catechism requires mutual agreement. Maybe you’re the one who initiates the request, while giving students an easy-out so they don’t feel forced into something they aren’t ready for. Pray for the Lord to make it clear to you which students are ready for intentional discipleship, start with the one or two, and go from there. If you’re looking for a good catechism tool to use with these students, I recommend the New City Catechism devotional. This includes the NCC questions and answers, a key Bible verse, and a short devotional that you can read with a student for discussion. 

You don’t need to re-create the wheel. Christians have used catechesis to make lifelong disciples since the Early Church. Maybe it’s time we get back to it?