Memorization Program
“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” — Psalm 119:11 (ESV)
2023-2024 Schedule
Click the button below for the full schedule. Note: the Q&A’s are linked to the text.
Yearly Objectives
K – 1 st Grade
Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed;
HC Q&A 1, 23, 69
2nd – 3 rd Grades
Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed, Ten Commandments;
HC Q&A 1, 21, 23, 54, 69, 75, 81
4 th – 12th Grades
Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed, Ten Commandments;
HC Q&A 1, 2, 21, 25, 26, 45, 54, 60, 69, 75, 81, 116
An important part of our youth discipleship program is a course of guided memorization. Children are encouraged to learn by heart key Bible passages and the Apostles’ Creed, as well as thirteen questions and answers from the Heidelberg Catechism. This material spans approximately 26 weeks and repeats, helping to cement their learning and lay a foundation for future reflection. We exhort all parents to join in and make this part of your discipleship.
You can read more about the philosophy and practical process below, as well as find the full schedule for 2023-2024 in the sidebar.
“Graduated” Catechism Booklet
Families looking to go beyond what’s included in our church memory program may find the following resource helpful. It presents every question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism in four different versions: beginning’s, intermediate, advanced, and complete. Each version adds more words, but never changes words—they simply build on what came before. In this way, children ages 3 and up can “graduate” from one version to the next without starting from scratch.
Pastor Spotts has found it helpful with his sons, starting from age three, to read and recite the beginner’s version following breakfast or dinner, usually repeating the same question for up to a week. When both boys are over five years old, he plans to move up to the intermediate version, and so on.
