Nordic Catechism Records

Catechism Lists
The translation for "catechism lists" is:
 * Katekismålängder in Swedish
 * Katekismi in Finnish.
 * Katekisme in Norwegian
 * Katekismus, barnelærdom in Danish

Ministers sometimes shared their responsibilities with men in their parish who were God-fearing and could read, especially the responsibility of teaching the catechism to the youth. Often this was the clerk or even the organist. Catechismal lists could have information, including names and ages of those who were receiving this training and the person giving it.

These lists were not countrywide, but in Sweden particularly it has been noted that these lists can act like a mini census with the information given. A prominent farmer who was asked to teach the catechism to the youth in his care — those who were working on his farm — would also have been asked to teach his own children. All of those people's names, and possibly ages or birthdates, could be reflected in the catechismal lists.