Luther's Small Catechism - ReClaim 2010 Edition
Package of twenty-five (25) soft cover pocket version.

Have you been disappointed with recent versions of the catechism and want something in more familiar language from a trustworthy source?

This wonderful new resource from Reclaim Resouces focuses on restoring faithful translation of Luther's original work in language that is easy to understand and memorize.  It includes all five parts of the catechism, the office of the keys, and household prayers.   

In cooperation with Sola Publishing, this pocket edition of the Small Catechism has been produced as a joint effort by authors representing Lutheran Core, WordAlone, ReClaim, LCMC, and NALC. The primary translator of this edition is Rev. Scott Grorud, with Rev. Thomas Jacobson, Rev. Natalie Gessert, and Dr. Gracia Grindal as translational consultants.  This edition of the catechism is the one being incorporated into the new Confirmation Series being developed by Sola Publishing (released as a “beta test version” for the 2010-2011 school year).

 
Here is the introduction from the Reclaim Catechism:
 
Dr. Martin Luther was a pastor as well as a monk and a university professor. "Dear God, what misery I beheld," he wrote after touring local churches.  "The ordinary person, especially in the villages, knows nothing about the Christian faith.  They do not know the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments."  Luther took up his pen and began writing single sheets, which sold for a few pennies.  These were later collected and published by printers as Luther's "Small Catechism."  Each sheet carried the same heading to that particular part of the catechism saying,"...in a simple way in which the head of a household is to present it to a household."  Luther thought of a household as a house church.  He later wrote, "Every father of a family is a bishop in his house and the wife is a bishopess.  Therefore, remember that you in your homes are to help us carry on the ministry as we do in the church"(Luther's Works 51:137)
 
Luther envisioned parents at home teaching the central parts of the Christian faith to their children.  This makes the father and mother a child's first pastors in fulfilling the Great Commission of "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded your" (Matthew 28:20 ESV) One need not be a theologically trained teacher for this privilege.  The very word catechism is orginally from a Greek word meaning "to repeat back" -- a word that by the fourth century was used to describe the basic instruction given to new Christians.  It is the way many of us also learned the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed, saying it along with, or back to, our parents.  Luther also wrote "explanations" for the Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, and later added Baptism and the Sacrament of the altar, making teaching a matter of "repeating back" the answers to "what does this mean?
 
Truly, we have no greater stewardship as parents and sponsors than fulfilling our baptismal promises to teach our children the faith.  And we have no greater resource for doing it than Luther's Small Catechism.
 
-- ReClaim Committee