There is no art to be followed in the raising of Christians. Some have said in history that "God has no grandchildren" to mean that  there is no way for Christianity to be passed on by a child of God to his children.  Every man must take up His own cross and follow Christ.  

Nevertheless,  we can be certain of one thing:  As parents our duty is to do all that we can to achieve this goal.  We must teach the faith.  We must practice piety.  We must pray and work for the salvation and happiness of our children.  We must.

Of course, while we can agree on that, we will stil must decide on a course of action.  We can choose to re-invent the wheel, but this flows more from pride and ignorance than wisdom.  The Holy Spirit has been at work in the world and in the Church for thousands of years.  Christians of the past, though they have disagreed on many points, have effectively taught the faith to their children through established catechisms.  We are wise to exhaust these timeless and trustworthy resources rather than experiment with our children's formation.  

Sacred Scripture, without question, must serve as the primary source of our children's religious formation.  However, God's Word fills over 1,000 pages and therefore requires a method for study.  

Christian doctrine is no controversy-free matter.  God has willed to leave the working out of Christian doctrine to holy men throughout history and that has not gone without disagreement.  The ancient creeds are roadmarks in the history of Christian discourse and in our day many controversies remain between Christians.  Dedication to catechesis is the only way to move towards renewed unity and fellowship.  

The Protestant Reformation caused a divide in Christendom that continues with great damage being done to the witness and ministry of God's people in the world.  Ignorance, prejudice and the party spirit fuels much of the opinion and discussion--but a commitment to objective, systematic catechesis can bring all Christians to a place where intelligent, balanced and reasonable discussion may be possible.  We hope to promote that in our catechism courses, while also equipping Christian children with the knowledge necessary for the work of all Christians in the world.  Set in the context of the classical liberal arts and inspired by the love of God, ecumenical progress in the next generation can be a reality.

Lastly, no religious education is complete where there is no prayer. Once again, the complexity life and simplicity of God suggests to us that some method would be beneficial to our prayers.  The Church has provided for us the Liturgy of the Hours which is--unquestionably--the greatest and most profitable system of praise and intercession available anywhere. There is no reason why all Christians, regardless of their creeds, cannot benefit from this devotional treasury and from the CLAA's Religion program which brings it into daily use for all students.

COURSES AVAILABLE

The CLAA provides the following courses in Christian Religion for children or adults.  To use our courses for Church groups or Christian schools, contact William Michael for information on our school services and discounts.

Petty School Religion
This course is intended for non-readers who are several years away from First Communion.  

Baltimore Catechism I
This courseStudents able to read and preparing for First Communion concentrate on the memorization of the essential answers of the Catechism.  This course provides helpful assessments to ensure that the work is mastered. 

Baltimore Catechism II
This course was originally intended for students who had received First Communion and were preparing for Confirmation.  This course provides a complete study of the Catechism, with the original explanations and CLAA-quality resources and assessment. 

Baltimore Catechism III
This course has sadly been buried with past generations of Christians, but we're thrilled to bring it back into use.  This was designed to serve as a 2-year course of Christian instruction for confirmed Christians.   We provide these more mature students with exercises that challenge them to apply their instruction to complex real-life questions, and careful assessment.  An excellent course.

CLAA Religion
The Christian life is not supposed to be one of academics and reading.  God is a living being to whom our daily praise is due and to whom our daily needs should be brought.  The Catholic Church has always maintained that Christian devotion should be oriented around active prayer not study alone.   Our Religion program is a daily course that arranges all of Christendom's finest devotional resources for daily use by Christian students.  The Liturgy of the Hours, the Christian calendar, lives of the saints, Scripture readings and corresponding reflections are all included...daily.  This is an extraordinary program that we hope will shape the culture and lives of our students.

NON-CATHOLIC COURSES

Westminster Shorter Catechism
This catechism was produced in the 1640s by an Assembly of Anglicans, Presbyterians, Baptists and Puritans to carefully teach the Protestant position and guard against the extreme errors of the Anabaptists and other zealous anti-Catholic groups.    Explanations in each lesson are those of Rev. Thomas Vincent, a Puritan minister who studied at taught at Christ Church, Oxford when the Catechism was published in the 17th century.  This course is intended to give Catholic and non-Catholic students a complete understanding of Protestant doctrine straight from the "Westminster Divines".

For more information, please contact us.

Faith formation and school religion classes can be very efficient and affordable , while remaining rich and edifying for the students and teachers.  Now, this is not a different set of Sunday School materials for sale or some new fad for "reaching today's youth".  The CLAA gives parishes and schools the opportunity to accomplish much more than other programs can.

First, the CLAA's catechism program provides children at all levels of formation with trustworthy, traditional teaching.  The content of our courses is not an experiment with religious instruction but a proven program of catechesis for Catholic students.  What is unique is the way in which the program can  be implemented.

Students, along with their parents and teachers are enrolled in our program.  In the classroom, teachers can introduce, explain, discuss and review the content of the catechism.  At home, students can work on their lessons and complete challenging exercises and assessments.  Their parents can follow their progress and participate in their studies as much as they wish.  Parents and teachers have access to their students' results and can identify trouble spots that need to be reinforced--rather than leave them unidentified. Best of all, students, parents and teachers all have access to CLAA support services for any help they need.

Best of all, because the CLAA can manage the studies of all students, small parishes and schools can serve large groups of children working at different levels with few teachers--even a single priest or catechist.  There's no need to multiply teachers and staffmembers, buy boxes full of books and manage children at all different levels.  Simple.   Plus, all students in groups larger than 12 receive a 50% on enrollment.  

For more information, simply contact William Michael, the CLAA's director: wmichael@classicalliberalarts.com.