Getting Started

Shorter Catechism is an excellent tool that has been used for centuries to disciple Christians to love God and his Word. How can you use Shorter Catechism and Digging Deeper in your ministry?

The Catechism can be divided into two sections:

• What we should believe about God (Q/A 1–38)
• What duty God requires of us (Q/A 39–107)

Designed for youth—and helpful for adults new to the Christian faith and Reformed doctrine in particular—Digging Deeper can be taught over two ministry years.

Volume One (available now) – 25 sessions plus Review Index

• Unit 1: God (Q/A 1–11)
• Unit 2: Man (Q/A 12–19)
• Unit 3: Christ (Q/A 20–28)
• Unit 4: Holy Spirit (Q/A 29–38)

Volume Two (available now) - 26 sessions plus Review Index

• Unit 1: Law of God (Q/A 39–84)
• Unit 2: Means of Grace (Q/A 85–98)
• Unit 3: Lord’s Prayer (Q/A 99–107)

Goals in Studying the Shorter Catechism

Digging Deeper is designed to meet a few objectives:

• to provide a systematic teaching of Christian doctrine
• to demonstrate the biblical basis for church faith and practice
• to show that doctrine affects both faith and life, both knowledge and action, and both mind and will
• to help develop a biblical world and life view
• to deepen Bible study skills
• to encourage appreciation and memorization of Shorter Catechism

What You Need To Teach

Volume 1 Leader Guide covers Q/A 1–38. Volume 2 Leader Guide covers Q/A 39–107. You are encouraged to space these lessons out as needed for your students to have time to dig into the Bible and wrestle with the questions and answers presented in Shorter Catechism. In addition, plan for four review sessions at the end of each unit. A Review Index in the back of the Leader Guide lists all the Q/A studied and includes a variety of games for both memorization and reinforcement.

Start the Sunday after Labor Day, take a break through the holidays, and start again in the new year. With a break around spring break and time for review sessions, you have plenty to teach in a ministry year.

The Student Bible Studies are crucial teaching components for each session. They allow students to follow along with the Q/A and look up Scriptures as you teach, making notes and visually processing the Key Concepts in the lessons.

You will also encourage weekly use of the Student Devotional Journals, allowing them to have time in the Word with God during the week for further reflection.

You will also need Bibles for each student. Digging Deeper uses the English Standard Version (ESV). There are also lots of extras for leaders in the downloadable materials included with the Leader Kit.

Two memorization tools are also available: Shorter Catechism Memory Cards, a set of 107 cards with the Q/A on front and back, and SC2Go, an interactive PDF that can be used on a variety of electronic devices.