Catechists on Call – To Be A Christian App Now Available

This week the long-awaited To Be a Christian app is live on the Apple App Store and Google Play after months of waiting since the 2024 ACNA Assembly. The developers have created a webpage for the app, which redirects to the developers’ webpage with future updates. Attendees who downloaded the app have access for free, but new users will have to purchase it at $4.99, which is cheaper than buying the pricey hardcover or leatherbound version. However, allow me to digress and note that the hardcover is on sale for a more reasonable price at Amazon – get yourself and your parish as many copies as you need while they are on sale. If you would like a paperback version, I encourage you to contact Anglican House Publishers, as they need to know about popular interest in a paperback edition which will motivate their efforts to work with Crossway and make it a reality – hopefully sooner rather than later.

I have played around with the app, and at the breakout session during Assembly 2024, they promised to build upon the app to have more than simply the catechism (which is free as a pdf). Currently, the app is a beautifully designed presentation of the catechism, along with easy access to the Scriptural references and the ability to search for the catechism and make notes within the app. This alone I think is worth the entry price (and I am notoriously cheap – think free – when it comes to apps). Since I attended the breakout session hosted by the app’s creators, I am confident the price will be more than worth it as they roll out their long-term vision of putting videos and other teaching content based around the catechism.

The ACNA and wider Church need resources such as these. While I wish they were free, the reality is ACNA does not have the infrastructure (or vision) to create content like this app. Therefore it takes entrepreneurial efforts to fill in the gap and well….it costs money. Hopefully, a generous benefactor (or two or three) will step up and make this project free to assist in proper education, training, and formation of our Province and as a free tool for evangelism. The ACNA and broader Christian church need more catechetical tools in the hands of catechists in the local parish. While a paywall might be needed in order to fund future developments, I strongly encourage efforts such as Matthew 25 grants to be used to defray costs and make the app free. This catechism app would be a great evangelistic tool to encourage an inquirer or even hostile nonbeliever to download the app and find answers to questions – if it were free. Until then, I pray that people will buy a physical catechism and give it to inquirers or at least direct them to the free pdf.

I pray that ACNA and perhaps a generous reader of this post contact their bishop (as I think the Catechesis Task Force disbanded) and lobby for a centralized webpage for the To Be A Christian catechism to serve as a centralized catechetical resource for the Province and beyond. Content on the app could be hosted on this proposed webpage and serve as a catalyst on how to train and raise up catechists, how to catechize within the home, and host videos and other content that teaches the catechism. Think Bible Project, but centered on To Be A Christian.

In the meantime, parishes should consider equipping their catechists (if you don’t have a catechist you need one) with this app and even purchasing access to the app for each family unit. I can see this app assisting parents in answering their children’s questions and more importantly, teaching the faith to them. While every parish needs a catechist and every rector is called to catechize their flock (recall that the classic prayer books required catechizing the unlearned and unconfirmed at Evening Prayer on Sundays), the ownership of catechizing the flock within our home rests upon the shoulders of the parents.

Perhaps you are reading this and are wondering, what is a catechist? No ordination is required, though you should be strong in your faith, well-read, and well-learned on the catechism and fundamentals of faith. I encourage you to prayerfully discern with your rector if God is calling you to this crucial ministry for our age. I would also commend the late Rev. Dr. J.I. Packer’s essay, Called to Catechize as you pray. If you reside within the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, you are in luck as it has a dedicated school for lay catechists. Likewise, the Anglican Diocese of All Nations has created a school dedicated to educating, training, and sending forth catechists throughout their dioceses. May God grant its growth to serve the wider Church!

Parents who are looking for a world of help, need look no further than the compiled resources provided at https://www.catechesisrenewal.com/anglican. Rectors should also check this webpage for programs, ideas, and resources from other dioceses and parishes leaning hard into catechesis as a normative part of parish ministry. Furthermore, there are numerous podcasts using the To Be a Christian catechism as its focus, including Coffee and Catechism, Anglican Catechesis, To Be a Christian: The Anglican Catechism in a Year, and To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism. The grassroots ministry needs to be encouraged and developed to meet the needs on the ground, but I pray for better support offered at the Provincial level. Until then, be creative, be fruitful, and multiply. Let us fill the earth in the corner of God’s kingdom where we are planted and leave no stone unturned.

The bottom line is we need more efforts to teach the faith. If we do not teach our own, then we will not keep our own. Parents, do you desire your children to confirm their faith? Teach them, and stop waiting to outsource it to the next confirmation class at your parish. Prepare and prepare now, early, and often, for souls are at stake and we will be judged on what we have done and what we have left undone. Our children are (shockingly) our responsibility. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves if our children desert the faith because we have not passed down the faith once delivered. It should be no shock that our children do not know the Lord if their parents are not centered upon the Lord. So while it is key and the chief duty of parents to teach the faith to their children with the parish’s support and nurturing, the hard reality is we need parish catechists to help our rectors teach and catechize the parents so they will take up their role, their vocation, their cross and raise up godly Christians.