I found this tiny book recently which was given to my grandpa on his confirmation in the 60s. It’s very old fashioned and as a result inadvertently quite funny!

The first thing that made me laugh was that the foreword was written by someone called Lumsden Barkway – they don’t give people names like that any more do they!

Secondly, I loved this description of St Paul: “St Paul dictated his letters. He got far too engrossed to think of pausing for a full stop and quite forgot to keep his sentences short. The new translations correct this and make the Epistles vivid and understandable.”

I do wonder, though, if we should reintroduce some kind of catechism for people new to church? The Alpha Course is good at explaining what Christians believe but not so good at explaining what a sacrament is or what a Christian actually does to live their life for God.

If you were preparing someone for baptism or confirmation what would you teach them about the faith?