Concordia Enduring Faith Curriculum

Concordia Enduring Faith is the religion and confirmation curriculum of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, published by Concordia Publishing House. Designed for LCMS parishes and Lutheran day schools, the program is increasingly adopted by confessional Lutheran homeschool families as a systematic grade-graded catechesis curriculum organized around Scripture, the Small Catechism, and Lutheran doctrinal history.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Traditional catechetical; Scripture and catechism based
Worldview	Christian-Lutheran (LCMS / confessional Lutheran)
Grades	PreK-8 (Religion Curriculum); middle/high school (Confirmation tracks)
Formats	Print student workbooks, leader guides, activity books, answer keys; digital supplementary
Cost tier	Budget
Parent intensity	3
ESA-common	Varies (religious content may be restricted in some state marketplaces)
Accredited	No (curriculum, not a school)
Established	2019 as the current Enduring Faith series
Website	cph.org

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Grade-graded systematic doctrinal sequence; rigorous by catechetical standards
Ease of teaching	4	Leader guides scripted; lesson blocks complete and ready to teach
Content quality	5	Produced by CPH's Lutheran doctrinal editors; theologically consistent
Flexibility	3	Designed for Sunday School and day-school settings; homeschool adaptation is straightforward but off-label
Value for money	5	Workbooks typically under $15; leader guides under $40
Worldview scope	1	Confessional Lutheran; intended for LCMS families
Visual/design	4	Clean, modern layout; age-appropriate illustration and full color in lower grades
Support resources	4	CPH homeschool storefront, supplementary titles, and digital resources

Who the publisher is

Concordia Publishing House (CPH) is the publishing arm of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and founded in 1869. CPH is one of the oldest continuously operating religious publishers in the United States and the official publisher of the LCMS, which means its doctrinal editorial standards are bound by the Lutheran Confessions as interpreted by the Synod. For homeschool families inside the LCMS tradition, CPH functions as the denominational curriculum house in the same way Abeka functions for independent-Baptist families or Seton functions for Roman Catholic families.

The Enduring Faith curriculum was introduced in 2019 as a systematic replacement for CPH's earlier patchwork of Sunday School materials. The series is organized into two major product lines: the Enduring Faith Religion Curriculum, which covers PreK through grade eight across a three-year cycle of scripture and catechism study; and the Enduring Faith Confirmation Curriculum, which offers two tracks, a 30-lesson standard track and a 60-lesson extended track, organized around Luther's Small Catechism. While the primary target market is LCMS parish Sunday School programs and accredited Lutheran day schools, CPH markets the series explicitly to homeschool families through its dedicated homeschool storefront.

CPH is Confessional Lutheran. The curriculum presumes and teaches LCMS doctrinal standards, scripture alone as the rule and norm of faith, the Augsburg Confession, the Small and Large Catechisms, and the full Book of Concord as the correct exposition of scripture. Sacramental theology, Christology, and the two-kingdoms framework are taught in the forms confessional Lutherans recognize. Families from other Lutheran bodies (WELS, ELCA, or independent Lutheran congregations) will find most of the curriculum compatible with minor reframing; families from non-Lutheran Christian traditions will find the distinctly Lutheran sacramental and confessional content substantively present throughout.

The core pedagogy

Enduring Faith's core design is systematic catechesis across a graded three-year cycle. Each grade band covers scripture narratives appropriate to the age, catechism instruction scaled to reading level, and Lutheran doctrinal history and practice (hymnody, liturgical year, Luther's life, key Reformation history). The three-year cycle means a PreK student encounters foundational Bible stories and simple catechism statements; that same child at second grade revisits the material at greater depth; at fifth grade again at greater depth still. The design assumes a student progresses through the curriculum alongside normal catechesis milestones. First Communion instruction in some LCMS congregations, Confirmation in middle school, and the Confirmation curriculum picks up where the Religion Curriculum leaves off.

Scope and sequence is linear and systematic rather than literature-driven. Each weekly lesson follows a predictable structure: a scripture reading, a short teaching section, catechism connection, discussion questions, and an activity or application. Student workbooks contain the student-facing content; separate leader guides provide the teacher's plan, answer keys, and additional discussion prompts. The graded cycle makes the curriculum particularly usable for multi-age homeschool families because one parent can teach multiple children at different levels from a single weekly scripture block with differentiated workbook engagement.

Signature mechanics: (1) Systematic catechism sequence. Unlike Bible-only programs that work through scripture without explicit doctrinal structure, Enduring Faith is explicitly catechetical. Luther's Small Catechism is the organizing document, and every grade level builds toward fluency with its structure. (2) Three-year cycle. The curriculum repeats the major scriptural and doctrinal content at progressively greater depth across PreK-8, which means a child who stays in the program from early childhood through middle school engages each element three times at different cognitive levels. (3) Confirmation tracks. The 30-lesson and 60-lesson Confirmation tracks allow congregations and families to calibrate confirmation instruction to their available time, a single intensive year or a multi-year sequence. (4) CPH companion titles. Enduring Faith is sold alongside supplementary titles such as 120 Bible Stories and Journey Through Church History, which deepen specific areas of the main curriculum.

A day in the life

A third-grader using the Enduring Faith Religion Curriculum as part of a homeschool day works through one lesson per week, typically in three to four daily segments of twenty to thirty minutes. Monday opens the week: the parent reads the scripture passage aloud, the student reads the workbook's teaching section, and they discuss the opening questions. Tuesday covers the catechism connection, often working through one of Luther's Small Catechism questions (the student at this grade may be memorizing, for example, the First Article of the Apostles' Creed and Luther's explanation). Wednesday engages a narrative exploration, reading a related Bible story or historical episode. Thursday applies the week's concepts through workbook activities (fill-in-the-blank, matching, illustration). Friday reviews the week with a short discussion and memory verse recitation. Total weekly engagement at this grade is approximately two hours.

A seventh-grader beginning the 60-lesson Confirmation track follows a different rhythm. Each lesson centers on one section of Luther's Small Catechism (say, the Second Petition of the Lord's Prayer), with reading, scripture cross-references, historical context, and application questions. Confirmation students typically complete one lesson per week across two school years, reaching confirmation at the end of eighth grade in the traditional LCMS schedule. Parent role at this level is closer to discussion partner and accountability checkpoint than primary presenter, the student works through readings and answers independently, and the parent reviews work and engages conversation.

What they do exceptionally well

Systematic doctrinal sequencing. The single strongest feature of Enduring Faith is the graded catechism sequence. Rather than teaching Bible stories as a collection of discrete narratives, Enduring Faith threads each story into the doctrinal framework of the Small Catechism, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacraments. A student who completes the full PreK-through-Confirmation sequence emerges with an integrated catechetical vocabulary that maps directly onto LCMS sacramental and confessional life. For confessional Lutheran families, this systematic coherence is genuinely rare in publisher-produced curriculum.

CPH's editorial quality. Concordia Publishing House has been producing Lutheran materials since 1869, and the editorial consistency shows. The curriculum reads cleanly, the theology is vetted, and the typographic production is professional. In the homeschool religion curriculum market, which skews toward small publishers with uneven production quality. CPH's in-house editorial capacity is a meaningful advantage.

Price point for a denominational curriculum. Student workbooks are typically priced at $12-$16 per grade-year; leader guides at $30-$40. A homeschool family can equip a full year of religion curriculum for a single student at $50-$60 including teacher materials, which is at the low end of the homeschool religion category. The Confirmation track materials are priced comparably.

What they do poorly

Design assumes Sunday School or day-school setting. Enduring Faith is designed for congregational Sunday School classes of multiple children meeting once a week, or for Lutheran day schools with a daily religion period. The homeschool adaptation is off-label. Families adapting the curriculum for individual home use find most elements translate, but some activities (partner discussion, group projects) require the parent to function as a classmate stand-in. The leader guides assume a teacher teaching a group; a parent teaching one child must adjust.

Narrow worldview alignment. Enduring Faith is intentionally and explicitly LCMS confessional Lutheran. Families outside the Lutheran tradition. Reformed, evangelical, Roman Catholic, broadly nondenominational, will find the sacramental theology, the weight given to Luther's Small Catechism, and the specific confessional framing unsuitable without substantial reframing. This is not a flaw in the curriculum; it is a design feature. But families shopping across denominations should understand the narrow target audience.

Limited video and digital supplementary content. CPH does offer Enduring Faith supplementary digital resources, but the curriculum is primarily a print-based workbook-and-leader-guide product. Families used to the video-delivered religion curricula produced by larger commercial publishers (Abeka video, BJU Press video Bible) will find Enduring Faith conventionally print-oriented. This keeps the price low but limits variety in delivery modality.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Concordia Enduring Faith if: you are a confessional Lutheran family (LCMS, WELS, or similar) seeking systematic grade-graded catechesis; you want Luther's Small Catechism as the doctrinal scaffold; you want a denominational curriculum at a budget price point; you want a three-year scripture-and-doctrine cycle that scales across multiple children's ages; you prefer print workbook format.

• Skip Concordia Enduring Faith if: you are not a Lutheran family (the confessional content would require substantial reframing); you want a video-delivered or digitally-native religion curriculum; you want a single-volume Bible overview rather than a graded catechesis sequence; you are seeking a curriculum also covering academic subjects (Enduring Faith is religion only).

Cost honest assessment

Enduring Faith Religion Curriculum student workbooks are priced at approximately $12-$16 per grade per year, per the CPH pricing pages as of April 2026. Leader guides range from $30-$45. The 30-lesson Confirmation track student book retails at approximately $25; the 60-lesson track at approximately $35. Full homeschool-setup pricing for one student using the Religion Curriculum plus companion titles runs $60-$100 annually.

Compared to alternatives, Enduring Faith is at the budget end of denominational religion curricula. Abeka's Bible materials run $30-$60 per grade. Seton Home Study School Catholic religion workbooks and guides run comparably. Faith and Life from Ignatius Press (Catholic) prices similarly. LCMS families using Enduring Faith typically spend less on religion curriculum than on any other single subject area.

Across a full PreK-through-eighth-grade sequence for a single student, total curriculum outlay runs approximately $500-$700 spread across nine years, or roughly $55-$80 annually.

ESA eligibility notes

Religious curricula from denominational publishers occupy a complicated space in state ESA marketplaces. Some states (Arizona's ClassWallet, Florida's Step Up For Students) allow reimbursement for religious curriculum under broad eligibility categories; others restrict religious materials specifically. CPH does not operate a dedicated ESA vendor-reimbursement workflow, so families purchase direct or through a CPH retailer and submit receipts. LCMS families should verify their state's specific rules before assuming reimbursement, states with active religious-content restrictions may deny reimbursement for the Confirmation tracks specifically, because Confirmation instruction is sacramental preparation rather than general religious education.

Alternatives

• Faith and Life Series, a family outside the Lutheran tradition, particularly a Catholic family, would choose the Faith and Life series over Enduring Faith for a comparable grade-graded catechesis sequence aligned with Catholic doctrine.
• Apologia What We Believe Series, a broadly evangelical family would choose Apologia's worldview series over Enduring Faith for a topical worldview-focused curriculum rather than a Lutheran-confessional doctrinal sequence.
• Catechism for Cubs / Small Catechism with Explanation, a Lutheran family wanting a lighter standalone catechism study without the full graded program would choose CPH's Small Catechism with Explanation as a simpler alternative to the full Enduring Faith sequence.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the CPH homeschool storefront, the Enduring Faith product pages for both the Religion Curriculum and Confirmation tracks, sample pages and scope documents for multiple grade levels, the 120 Bible Stories and Journey Through Church History companion titles, and the CPH About page for publisher history. We cross-referenced against the LCMS denominational website for doctrinal standards and the Book of Concord. Pricing and curriculum details verified April 2026.