Confirmation Program

From Baptism To The Confirming of Faith

The time of confirmation instruction represents one phase in a person's life-long journey of faith.  Parental encouragement of a youth to participate in confirmation classes is a logical action with respect to the fulfillment of responsibilities assumed in the baptismal covenant.  The faithful provision of confirmation instruction is also part of the way in which the Christian community of faith fulfills its responsibilities under the covenant of baptism.

In our baptism liturgy, there is a section entitled Promises.  The words are these:

We also were baptized into Christ and received the Seal of the Spirit.  We were buried with Christ in Baptism so that as he was raised from the dead, we might walk in the new way of life.

Christ will first be known to your child by the Christ seen in your home.  Will you teach your child in work and deed the way of Christ and the Word of God?  Will you share with your child the Church's life-worship, the Lord's Supper and fellowship?  Do you promise to provide for the most complete possible instruction in the Christian faith, that living in the covenant of Baptism and in communion with the Church, your child may lead a godly life until the day of Jesus Christ?

Expectations

The above words make clear that major responsibility for Christian Education is place upon parents.  The responsibility of the Church is to help with the process through which parents and children grapple with the issues of life in the light of the biblical story and faith.  The Confirmation program at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is for youth between roughly the grades of 7 and 10.  There are four general facets to the program.

1.  Participation in worship.

2.  Participation in instruction classes (Sunday Church School and Weekday Church School).

3.  Participation in mission and service activities.

4.  Participation in fellowship and community building activities.

Program Content

Faith is not something that can be measured in objective ways.  Faith emerges in ways that cannot be engineered.  The development of faith is a never-ending, life-long process.  There are some things, however, that can be provided by the Church to facilitate and stimulate the struggle to be a person of faith.  In part, it comes down to learning the 'language' and 'symbols' of faith.  There are certain 'tools' which are helpful if not essential for the Christian journey of faith.  Thus it is expected that each confirmand will have a basic knowledge understanding of the following by the end of Confirmation instruction:

It needs to be stressed that Confirmation is more than an academic program.  Faithfulness in worship and participation in various dimensions of the congregation's life are signs of appropriate growth, maturity and commitment for one who confirms the faith confessed in baptism.

Fees

The Confirmation fee for the year will be $30.00.  This helps to pay for the materials and some events.  The congregation invests substantial financial resources in this program.

Sunday Church School classes will have content that contributes to confirmation instruction.  Grades 7 and 8 will concentrate on catechism and high school class (Grades 9-12) will deal essentially with issues and youth questions.

Participation and Service

At the beginning of each year during the confirmation cycle, each confirmand will be asked to select those areas which she/he will offer special participation.  There will be a conversation at this time between the confirmand and pastor as to what responsibilities are involved with each kind of action.  Confirmands must select from both columns.

Youth Events

There are many ways in which to measure youth participation in the life of the church.  It is perhaps wise to recognize at least as much variety with respect to youth participation as we usually do for adult participation.  During the confirmation cycle there will be certain standards.

A strong case can be made for saying that the best possible participation of youth is when they are in direct contact with adults in the congregation.  It is for this reason that it is well to have adults (in addition to the pastor) accompany youth on various trips and activities.  Trips to the Rocky Mountains, Holocaust Museum and Williamsburg are very intergenerational.  The dramas performed at Holy Trinity must be so cast to include youth.  There will be strong emphasis on helping each youth find those tasks that seem to hold some interest.  There will also be a variety of fellowship events.

For further information please contact one of the pastors.

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