The Reformation was a time of great reshuffling in the church. New churches and denominations were beginning to form. While the academics and pastors could keep the theological and biblical arguments for these changes straight, they understood the average church goer was on unstable ground. So much change in a short period of time for the average protestant church goer and many had no say in the matter. During the reformation, the church you attended was a geographic decision rather than a belief one. The average church goer went to the church in their village, and there normally was one church unless you were in a vary large city. And in many places, the local Lord determined what the belief system was for that area. Reformation theologians and pastors understood the challenges these changes present for their ministries and the difficulty it posed on the average church goer. The church leaders knew the average church goer would be confused and maybe even sad about all the church changes. This led these pastors and theologians to produce educational materials used to help church goers. Many of these catechisms and confessions are still affirmed and beloved by many denominations around the world.

The Heidelberg Catechism is a classical example of an educational document used to help church goers navigate and learn about the changes in the church they recently experienced. The Heidelberg Catechism was written by a team of theologians at the University in Heidelberg to educate church goers about these changes. What makes the Heidelberg a beloved document to this day is that it communicates theology well through a pastoral and compassionate lens. The Heidelberg Catechism has primarily been used for education ever since. Millions of people have gone through the Heidelberg Catechism in their confirmation and new member classes. They have been exposed to the devotional beauty in resources for personal devotions. The educational and discipleship opportunities have been well utilized, but the liturgical aspects of the Heidelberg Catechism has been underutilized.

Shortly after the Heidelberg Catechism was first published, a second edition was released. One of the major changes in the second edition was the inclusion of Lord’s Days which the authors intended to divide the Catechism for preaching purposes. Early on, the authors understood the liturgical importance of the Heidelberg Catechism.

Historically, many churches would use the Heidelberg Catechism as a preaching outline during evening services. This is a wonderful practice, but many churches have made difficult decisions to eliminate or scale back their evening worship services. This presents a creative opportunity to reexamine the Heidelberg Catechism’s place in the worship service. Instead of doing a reading before a sermon based on the Heidelberg Catechism, we wrote prayers and confessions based on the question and answers. Finding creative ways to incorporate the Heidelberg Catechism in worship retains the Catechism’s focus on being theological, scriptural, and pastoral. A church’s theology permeates every aspect of the worship and isn’t limited to Sunday School conversations.

At the Confessional Liturgy Initiative, we are committed to find creative ways to utilize the churches’ confessional documents in worship. Whether it is prayers, songs, readings, or litanies, we believe finding ways to incorporate the confessional documents more into worship will continue to promote more faithful disciples and more church unity.