On Sunday October 28th we held our second annual Reformation Sunday Hymn Sing. It was a good time last year we thought we’d try it again. This is a fun way for us to celebrate our Lutheran heritage and sing some of the wonderful historical hymnody we enjoy in our Lutheran church. A thanks to everyone who was willing to show up and sing around our living room!
Today we also presented a My First Catechism to Gerhardt per our tradition at his age. He’s so proud of himself for how much of it he’s read so far.
What an exciting day for Gerhardt! Do you have any other books you like to give at a certain age?
Carrie, what a great question! Worth a post I think! 😀
So far all we’ve done is the 1st catechism at 1st or 2nd grade and then a bible cover for 3rd grade since our congregation presents all 3rd graders with a Bible that year.
I’ve wanted to come up with other books to give at other milestones, such as entering catechism classes, confirmation and maybe graduation from High school. I think kids should own some Lutheran writings like a BOC or some of Luther’s, but at what age is worth considering.
A few ideas I’ve come up with are:
Entering Catechism:
Our congregation provides a catechism book for each student so I was thinking of other ideas.
1. Lutheranism 101- Now, I don’t know if this is a book I can completely endorse yet because I have not read it but it’s on my “to consider” list:
https://www.cph.org/p-20688-Lutheranism-101-for-Kids.aspx
Confirmation:
2. maybe a personal copy of the Lutheran Service Book which our congregation uses and we use all the time at home for family devotions.
https://www.cph.org/p-2214-lutheran-service-book-personalgift-edition.aspx
3. The Large Catechism – Now that they know the Small one they can go on to deeper study with the Large.
https://www.cph.org/p-17539-luthers-large-catechism-with-study-questions.aspx
Graduation from school:
4. Treasury of Daily Prayer- I use this everyday for my own Bible and prayer time.
https://www.cph.org/p-11350-treasury-of-daily-prayer-regular-edition.aspx
5. Reading the Psalms with Luther – another book I love having:
https://www.cph.org/p-498-reading-the-psalms-with-luther.aspx
https://www.cph.org/p-11428-concordia-the-lutheran-confessions-a-readers-edition-of-the-book-of-concord-2nd-edition.aspx
6. Day By Day (daily readings from luther) I have super loved having this little book and use it all the time too:
https://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/productgroup/616/Day-by-Day-We-Magnify-You
We used to give each baby a My First Hymnal at an early age, but after 2 of them I thought I really didn’t want a ton of these on the shelf. But it is a good one to have for sure, so it’s worth adding to this list as an option:
https://www.cph.org/p-19266-my-first-hymnal.aspx
I think these books would set a child up with a good library to have in their own homes someday.
Anyone else have any suggestions?
Oh maybe this one for entering catechism classes is a good idea too:
Our Faith from A-Z:
https://www.cph.org/p-24620-our-faith-from-a-to-z.aspx
it’s really written on an upper elementary or middle school age child’s level I think, very informative for kids that age.