# Resources for Communicants Class?



## Marrow Man (Jun 16, 2009)

While at General Synod last week, I noticed the table manned by our Christian Education Ministries had several resources, including a workbook by Stephen Smallman called _Understanding the Faith_.

We have a young lady who wishes to become a communicant member of our church. My questions:


Has anybody used this particular book and can recommend it?
It seems like it would take a while to go through the book. I have no problem having a communicants class for a few weeks, but it seems like it would take a lot longer to go through such a book. She will be the only one doing so at this point as well (she is 12, btw).
How was the book utilized? Was part of it completed at home? If so, that would take care of some of the time problems.
Are there any other resources out there that might be recommended instead? Free is always good, too.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 16, 2009)

When I used the book (w/ 8 11-14 year olds) I assigned them a chapter a week to do at home then we went over it in class the next week. Seemed to work well.


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## Marrow Man (Jun 16, 2009)

How many weeks did it take to do it that way, Benjamin?


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jun 16, 2009)

Well I did it at a PC(USA) Church so I had to beg and plead the session to let me have Communicants Class for 12 weeks instead of their usual 2 weeks. We got through about half of it. However I was dealing with kids to whom I had explain how to read the Bible so I was not able to do as much as I would have liked.


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## Kevin (Jun 16, 2009)

Why not just expound the questions in the FOG?

I just used the BCO questions as the basis for a 5 week class, with some positive results.


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## ADKing (Jun 16, 2009)

"Understanding Biblical Doctrine" Understanding Biblical Doctrine: A Workbook in Theology is a helpful resource that can be made longer or shorter depending upon the person teaching it. I have seen it used well.


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## Marrow Man (Jun 16, 2009)

Kevin said:


> Why not just expound the questions in the FOG?
> 
> I just used the BCO questions as the basis for a 5 week class, with some positive results.



This is a good idea. It's actually what I do with adults who transfer from other churches. I go over each question individually, and take a lot of time with the one that deals with accepting the doctrines and practices of the ARP church.

We have seven questions so perhaps seven weeks? Did you spend one week per question? It would also seem that the denomination specific question might take more time.

This might be the best approach, as our FoG actually stipulates that the Session cannot pose additional requirements upon the one seeking membership.


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## westminken (Jun 16, 2009)

We had a new members class recently and my mentor pastor taught it and he went over the WCF, SC, and LC briefly, the history of Presbyterianism, Reformed theology (TULIP), and discussed the five questions required for membership in the PCA. Altogether, it was about six weeks. 

I do not know if this helps, this seems to be pretty standard in the PCA as it relates to the two churches I have been a part of. If the book you mentioned earlier covers this, it should be alright. 

Maybe, depending on your preferences, I would recommend "On Being Presbyterian" by Dr. Sean Michael Lucas. It gives a very good overview to Presbyterianism and is broken down into sizable chunks for a 12 year old. 

Hope this helps.


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