I will be the first to admit that I was an adult before I heard the word Kerygma. I am a cradle Catholic (born and raised in the faith) and I never heard the term until a few years ago. It quickly became a big push in our parish to fully know and share the Kerygma. Because I am a catechist in the parish, I've been tasked with teaching my students (and my own children) about the Kerygma. I thought I would round up a few resources that might be helpful for you.
What is the Kerygma?
First of all, what is the Kerygma? What does it mean? Basically it means the proclamation of the gospel. It is sharing the Good News. It is fully understanding and being able to tell someone else what we believe. We think of it as a condensed version or an elevator talk. You aren't sharing all of salvation history, just the main points.In our parish, we broke it down into four phrases to make it easier to understand and remember.
- God Created
- Sin Entered
- Jesus Saves
- We Respond
So let's break that down a little more because while you could just share those four phrases, you probably need to give a little more for children to truly understand.
God Created
God created the world. Yes, we say this but do we ever stop and think how truly amazing that is. How big the world is. How many organisms are a part of this earth. How big the universe is. What a magnificent God we have that out of thin air, created the world.Sin Entered
Sin enters the world thanks to Adam and Eve and their turning away from God, being tempted by the devil, and ultimately disobeying God. In doing this, they closed the gates of Heaven and separated themselves and those who come after them from God.Jesus Saves
Jesus Christ was sent to Earth to save us. I think before we really started studying the Kerygma, I truly saw Jesus as a victim and unfortunately thought it best to teach kids that. We often want to protect them from the horrors of this world. It is easier to say bad men killed Jesus. But Jesus, the Son of God, couldn't be killed. The God that made this expansive universe out of nothing, could be hung on a cross?! No way. Jesus came to this Earth and walked as a man, knowing that he would die a gruesome death for us. For you and for me. God loves us so much that he sent his Son to lay in wait for the devil and then ultimately won as he unlocked the gates of Heaven for us all. The bad guys didn't win. The devil didn't win. Jesus won!We Respond
We respond refers to fact that all of this was done for us. To save us. Each one of us individually. That is powerful and we need to do something about it. Responding means we love Jesus and deepen our relationship with him. Responding means living our lives so joyfully that others can't help but ask us why. Responding means sharing with others about Jesus Christ and our relationship with him. Responding means doing something.Not only is knowing what we believe in a succinct way important for our own understanding, but it becomes important when we are evangelizing others and sharing what we know to be true. Also, knowing the Kerygma and what was done for us (each and every one of us) brings us into a deeper relationship with Jesus, another goal of our catechesis program. We are getting those little ones to know and love Jesus and be in a relationship with him.
How do I teach it to kids?
Below are two of the resources we have used successfully in our parish. One is a program called Kerygma4Kids. There is a different lesson for each grade level. They have a teacher book and a student workbook. There are also videos that help do the teaching part along with a script you can follow in the teacher book. The book consists of multiple lesson designed to be done in one day (60 minutes).
Because we begin our year with this, I've found it to be a little long and a lot of sitting for our first graders. The content is awesome and is at their level. There are stickers and fill in the blanks and activities for them to complete in their workbooks. Just know you might want to break this up or add some movement especially with younger students.
Another helpful resource is a video created by one of our catechists. She took the different parts of the Kerygma and wrote simple songs sung to common tunes. This is a great way to teach or review the Kerygma especially with younger kids. She used it in the Liturgy of the Word program, but we are now using it across all of our religious formation offerings.
Kerygma Songs for Kids
How do I learn more?
I will tell you, it is SO much easier to teach this to kids, when you fully understand this yourself. Our parish studied it extensively. Our former pastor preached on it multiple times. He talked to parents about it. He talked to our RCIA/Becoming Catholic members. He talked to catechists. He talked to my family about it at my daughter's baptism. Many of his talks have been recorded. They vary in content and how in depth he got, but the basics are the same. Use these videos to help your own background knowledge about the Kerygma grow.
The first four were done for our RCIA so they are far more detailed in length. Scroll down to the fifth video if you want to watch all the parts in one video that's about 45 minutes.
The first four were done for our RCIA so they are far more detailed in length. Scroll down to the fifth video if you want to watch all the parts in one video that's about 45 minutes.
Kerygma Part 1
Kerygma Part 2
Kerygma Part 3
Kerygma Part 4
Do you have any Kerygma printables?
Oh you know I LOVE making printable resources to help myself and others to teach children, and I've got some for you today. A fellow catechist and friend asked if I could make her a printable that her 6th graders could use in prayer journals. I made several different versions hoping they would appeal to a wide variety of ages.
These could be used in prayer journals, binder covers, or framed an hung up in your classroom and home. They could also be printed smaller and used as bookmarks, magnets and more. Anything to serve as a reminder of what the Kerygma is.
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