Catechism Part I: What is the Catechism? & The Baptismal Covenant.

The Catechism

An Instruction to Be Learned By Every Person before He Be Brought To Be Confirmed By the Bishop

The Pastor of every Parish shall diligently, upon Sundays and Holy-days, or at such other times as he shall think convenient, instruct and examine the children of his Parish in this Catechism; and it is desirable that this should be done openly in the Church, from time to time, after the Second Lesson at Morning or Evening Prayer.

The full Catechism is supposed to be learned prior to Confirmation, which is fascinating. It's a lot of information, plenty of memorisation required. Goodness knows I would struggle with giving the precise answers. But as we go through the Catechism together, we'll talk about the importance of each section and discuss the questions and answers.

Spiritual formation is clearly important to the life of the parish, as the priest is expected to work with the children to help them learn all of the Catechism. In particular, look at the expectation that it be demonstrated during Morning or Evening Prayer, after the Second Lesson. And, of course, the expectation that it be taught on Sundays and Holy Days in particular. I am not sure how that would work in this day and age, but it's here as an expectation and we should probably look into it a bit further. I'm curious about when it was actually dropped, and how much it has contributed to the decline of the Church.

(I will share with you a rant I wrote on X a few days ago, but you have to wait until the end of this post to see it.)

Now, the Baptismal Covenant. 

The Baptismal Covenant

Catechist.    What is your Name?
Answer.    The person shall give his Christian Name or Names.

Catechist.    Who gave you this Name?
Answer.    My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.

Catechist.    What did your Godfathers and Godmothers then do for you?
Answer.    They did promise and vow three things in my name. First, that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, and all the sinful desires of the flesh. Secondly, that I should believe and confess the Christian Faith. And thirdly, that I should keep God’s holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life.

Catechist.    Do you not think you are bound to believe and do as they promised for you?
Answer.    Yes, I do; and by God’s help so I will. And I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that he has called me into this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my life’s end. Amen.

This is about the importance of baptism, and it makes sense to start here because you don't get Confirmed if you haven't been baptised. Since Anglicans typically practice infant baptism, the answers here are likewise sensible. So let's look at each question and answer in turn.

First up, we need to know that, while we currently think of "Christian name" as meaning "first name", it actually refers to the name given you at your baptism. Now, these days we generally don't have a different name given us at baptism, so we are baptised using the names our parents gave us when we were born, which means that our first name is our Christian name. 

But knowing this makes the next question far more understandable.

Now, one's Godparents are those who promise to help the infant's parents raise the child in the faith. They are to pray for the child and meant to be spiritual mentors. They may also be the people who take charge of the child if the parents die suddenly, but that's not a given since guardians should really be denoted in the parents' wills.

Question three is a brief overview of the Godparents' responsibility. There are three things listed:

1. that the child will renounce the devil and the world;
2. that the child will become a Christian; and
3. that the child will follow the Commandments.

This is why Godparents are expected to be Christians, and baptised ones at that. Non-Christians cannot be Godparents because they simply cannot fulfil the requirements of the role.

The final exchange in this section is lovely. The question is whether the person feels that they need to live up to the promises made by their Godparents, and the answer is a beautiful and simple statement of faith. The formula is simple:

1. affirmative to the promises;
2. thanksgiving to God the Father;
3. assertion of salvation;
4. petition for grace; and
5. statement that they want to stay on the narrow road.

Basically, this section of the Catechism consists of the person claiming their baptism for themselves and asserting their identity in Christ.

🕊

Now for my rant.

The fact that the BAS doesn’t include such important items as we find in the BCP (e.g., the catechism, the Prayer of Humble Access, the 39 Articles) but has become the primary liturgical reference for the Anglican Church of Canada in the 40 years since its publication is, I think, part of the problem in the Church today. Many Canadian Anglicans have never even seen the BCP, let alone participated in its prayers and liturgy. They lack access to these important parts of our faith and our history, and so they are denied the richness of it.

Don’t get me wrong, the decline began long before the BAS; spiritual formation was not undertaken very well with the post-war generations. But the advent of the BAS, and its adoption by so many parishes as their only source of liturgy, has contributed significantly to the way people think of worship and how they relate to it. Spiritual formation is an afterthought, assuming it is any thought at all, and as a result those who actually have faith after coming up in such shallow liturgy are left without the deep understanding of the faith and they fall prey to bad actors who twist the Truth just enough that they get led off the narrow path and join the world. I don’t hate the BAS, there are some beautiful prayers in and we used it from when I was ten. 

But the spiritual formation thing is what led to the BAS, and the BAS has contributed to the continued decline of the Church. And yes, I have been saying that about spiritual formation for probably 25 years at this point. There’s today’s rant. I should put it on my God-blog.

And now it is here, on my God-blog.

Don't worry, I'll probably take some time to compare liturgies from the BAS to those of the BCP as well as all the rest I'm planning this year.

Lent begins on Wednesday. I have plans. I will share another time.

Peace & Blessings.