The New City Catechism: Forming virtue in the hearts and minds of children – Product Development

In the last decade, social scientists have documented a shallow understanding among youth of Christian faith and virtue. We contend that a contributing factor is limited knowledge and practice of virtue formation in Christian communities. We propose to address this challenge through the development of a curriculum and tools that pair a child-sensitive catechism with childhood virtue development wisdom. In this project, our hope is to answer the big question: Can the applied science of virtue development be joined with historic Christian teaching in order to deepen faith and virtue formation in the next generation? The project is based around a widely trusted catechism adapted from traditional Christian teachings by Pastor Tim Keller and others. This 21st century catechism is doctrinally rich and invites children and adults to engage together in meaningful dialogue. We will develop two print and three digital outputs that unite the catechism with six key virtues, with the curriculum (including teacher’s guide and weekly lessons) serving as the anchor tool. Also, a beautiful children’s book with virtue application questions will be accompanied by three digital outputs: an interactive website, three downloadable apps, and an extended series of articles on catechesis and virtue by experts and practitioners. This curriculum and tools will take advantage of the trusted platform and reputation of The Gospel Coalition among evangelical church leaders to lead a retrieval of catechesis and virtue. The result will be a renewal of society at large through the hundreds of thousands of next generation children who will be formed in Christlike virtue.