What part, if any, does the Heidelberg Catechism play in your liturgy? If you are Presbyterian, probably none at all, since it is not part of the Scottish and English tradition. If your roots are Reformed and from the European continent, you are probably familiar with the Catechism as it is used in preaching.
But, as some congregations are discovering, the Catechism is good for more than preaching. Recent translations have given new life to this historical document, and many churches could benefit from its use as a liturgical resource.
Carol Veldman Rudie describes ways in which a catechism might be used more meaningfully and integrally in worship. Although most of Rudie's ideas are expressed in terms of the Heidelberg Catechism, many of them could be adapted for use with the Westminster Catechism and other confessions as well.
Few congregations have given much thought to creative and meaningful ways of making the Heidelberg Catechism (or any confessional document) come alive for worshipers.
New Ways of Responding
Variations on the familiar responsive-reading approach (the minister reads the question, and the people respond with the answer) are the most obvious. For example, for a change of pace have the congregation ask the question and the pastor or elder give the answer. The Lord's Day units that best lend themselves to this method are the more expository ones on the Lord's Supper and baptism (for an explanation of the division of the Catechism into Lord's Days, see p. 38).
Another variation reflects the structure of the congregation's response. If the answer has two parts, the congregation can be divided in half, each group reading part of the answer. Question and Answer 70 is an example of an answer that lends itself naturally to such a division.
If your church has the capability for a voice choir, a choral reading of the answer by a special group of readers would be an interesting option. When preparing such a reading, consider interspersing the Scripture references throughout the text of the answer.
Note also that speaking the answer is no longer the congregation's only option in responding to the Catechism. With a bit of digging and creativity one can come up with a list of ideas for sung responses or even summaries of the catechism. Question and Answer 1 ("My Only Comfort" Ursinus and Olevianus), Q&A 54 ("The Son of God, through his Spirit" Ursinus and Olevianus ), as well as an expanded version of the Lord's Prayer ("Our Father, Clothed with Majesty" Post), the Commandments and their summary ("The Ten Commandments" Westra), and two settings of the Apostles' Creed ("Apostles' Creed" Schouten) are set to music. These can be used by congregation or choir either in place of or as a complement to the usual responsive reading. They can also be used effectively as a repeated musical theme during a catechism series on these topics.
A Variety of Uses
Another way to vary the use of the Catechism is to alter its liturgical function. For instance, after the sermon, the concluding prayer can incorporate the language of that Lord's Day answer and can be prayed either by the pastor or in unison by the congregation. An example of such a prayer, based on the three answers of Lord's Day 3, might read as follows:
Our great and good God, you have created us to be good and in your own image. You have intended us for true righteousness and holiness. You want us to truly know you, our Creator, to love you with all our heart, and to live with you in eternal happiness for your praise and glory.
But we have been poisoned. We are born sinners. Send us your Spirit so mat through your power we can be born again. Amen.
Or build on the themes introduced in the Catechism Q&A through appropriate Scripture and hymns. The scriptural and thematic indices included in most hymnals make it easy to find appropriate hymns that develop the Catechism's themes or that are based on the same Scripture as the Catechism Q&A. A few words on how the Catechism, hymn, and/or Scripture are connected can be part of your introduction to the hymn or Scripture reading.
Another idea is to try using specific Q&As on the Ten Commandments during the time of confession to focus on a particular commandment. Or save these same Catechism readings for the "Response" section of the service, just before or after the offering. Something similar can be done for the Apostles' Creed. Rather than reciting the Creed each Sunday, read parts of it responsively from the Lord's Days that deal with the Creed at the appropriate time in the service.
When the Catechism Q&A serves as the basis for the sermon, pastors have traditionally read the Q&A before the sermon, along with the Scripture. Here again it makes sense to vary the approach from time to time. Surprise listeners by concluding a sermon with words like these: "Today's Scripture text has been summarized in Lord's Day..." Then have the congregation read the answer responsively as their confessional response to what they have discovered in the Scripture.
Or consider interspersing the Catechism throughout the sermon. This method works well when the Lord's Day has several Q&As that cover different aspects of a single topic, such as in Lord's Day 10. As the sermon progresses, the pastor simply asks the congregation to confess to the answer that summarizes that part of the sermon.
Most Lord's Days offer a variety of possibilities for themes. When the sermon focuses on one theme, the rest of the liturgy supplies ample room to choose among the others. Sometimes the Scripture references in the Catechism also help the worship leader to locate appropriate Scripture passages for other parts of the service: a call to worship, benediction, or litany of praise can often be selected from those references. So can hymns of confession or praise, calls to worship, or doxologies.
Appropriate Any Sunday
So far, we have been talking about using the Catechism in a service that has a particular Lord's Day as its main focus. But with a bit of thought the Catechism can be used in meaningful ways in any service.
In his book A Mighty Comfort, Fred Klooster illustrates such a use for the Catechism Q&As that focus on the Lord's Prayer. His responsive arrangement of the Lord's Prayer includes the words of Jesus, spoken by the worship leader, and the words of the Catechism, read by the congregation. A similar arrangement of the Ten Commandments is printed in the sidebar.
With some forethought, the Catechism year can complement the liturgical year. For example, appropriate parts of the Apostles' Creed can be used for the Christmas and Easter cycles (the Q&As can be adapted as litanies on those days without using the Catechism as sermon material). Or consider the following Catechism-based possibilities:
- Preach a series on the names of Jesus during Advent.
- Use the Ten Commandments to make a post-Pentecost series on living a life of thankfulness.
- Use Lord's Days on communion and baptism on the Sundays when those sacraments are administered.
The Catechism can be a meaningful liturgical instrument in the hands of a thoughtful worship planner. Its usefulness to God's people is limited only by our ability to find places where its words can be meaningful expressions of worship.
