To mark the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism, both the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and Reformed Church in America (RCA) are asking members of their denominations to recite Q&A 1 during worship services on Sunday, Sept. 15.
As a worship leader how are you planning to incorporate this into your worship service?
Share your ideas of what your are planning or tell us what your church did on Sept. 15th.
We are doing a short series called "Heidelberg Highlights", hitting on the main points of the HC. Part of it is different members coming up each week and reciting a question and answer. Last week we did the first Q and A. In preparing for it, I ran across a wonderful quote from Renee House who reflected on the meaning of comfort when she was dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis. She wrote:
"The catechism is a theological bouillon cube--a dense, compact presentation of the biblical witness from a Reformed perspective. We don't eat bouillon cubes in their condensed state. Rather, we mix them with water and other ingredients so that their flavors can spread out. Similarly, the treasures of the catechism are best received in the church when we mix them with weekly worship, Scripture, and daily life."
Maybe a good way to bring this across in worship would be to videotape some members faith stories and ask them how the comfort of belonging to God has helped them as they have walked through life.
As an adult I read and heard it for ten years before I began to understand it. Maybe it is clearer in Latin, German, or Dutch. In English it doesn't quite compute e.g. "The Devil is in the details."
HC 1 is a good Q/A. But I have begun to wonder recently whether we ever get past it, sometimes. What does it mean that we do not belong to ourselves... how does the rest of the HC explain that to us? What do we know about the rest of the HC? Why do we bother to learn the sections on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer? How do we know that HC 1 is not just a bunch of nice sounding words, but that it really impacts our lives?
HC 1 is a good start, but how do we finish?