What is Confirmation?Depending on your background and your own faith experiences as a youth, everyone has a different idea of what Confirmation is. Here at First Lutheran we are in the midst of exploring what Confirmation is and are excited to welcome every family into this discussion! Confirmation is the Affirmation of Baptism...in a nutshell, we are asking youth to affirm the promises made at baptism, the same promises families made in having their child baptized. Although we mark this as a one time event, Affirmation of Baptism is something we should do on a regular basis, Luther would argue everyday.
Through the Confirmation Ministry youth will explore some themes throughout their 3 years. Everything from the Bible and creed to the tough questions of faith. Exploration of faith is our focus, which leads to knowledge and understanding. Our Confirmation teachings will focus on involvement and understanding through experiences and activities. There is also an opportunity for all of our youth to engage in a Mentor Ministry during the season of Lent. In the fall of the 9th grade year, youth will participate in the Confirmation Worship (Affirmation of Baptism Worship). We are working on a special time for youth to consider their own beliefs and faith prior to the weekend of Confirmation. Stay tuned for more information coming soon! You can find all of this information in our Registration Packet. While we do have a list of "things to do" during the Confirmation Ministry year, we would like all families to know we will work with you to give your youth the best possible experience in faith formation we can. (If there are any concerns regarding this please contact Michael.) If you are interested in learning more about our Confirmation Ministry, please use the contact form below to contact Michael Beckmann, the director of Teen Ministry. He can also be reached via the church office 319-365-1494. |
Our Confirmation MinistryStarting in 6th Grade and ending in the fall of 9th Grade our Confirmation Ministry explores the faith through the lens of our Lutheran Theology.
This year we are using another curriculum which uses everyday topics from our youth lives, like social media, family relationships and science, to bring faith into the discussion. The hope by the end of 8th Grade is for our youth to practice articulating their faith again and again, through the writing of a faith statement. 9th GradeAffirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) Worship- Our ninth graders spend time developing their own faith statements and exploring the Affirmation of Baptism together with their family. This process concludes with a Day of Discernment and the Affirmation of Baptism worship.
We value the exploration of faith through questions and hands on learning. The goal is more about spending time in the process of exploration and less about the transferring of knowledge. Knowledge comes from exploration and thinking more about the topic. If you have questions about this process, please contact Michael for more information! After the Affirmation of BaptismWhile the Affirmation of Baptism is formal conclusion to our Confirmation Ministry, it certainly is not the conclusion to faith formation. We are hoping through the changes we are making in the Confirmation Ministry regarding the topics, schedule and "to dos" we will be able to engage our youth in a meaningful way. Through the years of Confirmation Ministry our hope is to encourage youth to continue the journey through high school and into young adulthood. There are many ways to stay connected and we hope youth will take advantage of the ability to ask open and honest questions about faith in a safe and welcoming environment. Check out our High School Ministry page for what is happening!
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Yearly "Things To Do"Each year as part of the Confirmation Ministry experience we ask youth and their families to accomplish some things to enrich their experience.
Below is a list of items "to do" each year. If you have any questions on these please contact Michael in the church office or via email. Worship Notes- Located in the wire basket by the windows looking into the Nave, Worship notes help youth connect with the worship in a meaningful way. By observing the things around them, writing down a summary, asking a question and requesting a prayer, youth can engage with Worship in new ways and gain a better understanding of why we worship at all! We ask for 8 Worship Notes to be completed by May 31st. Worship Participation- We need youth to participate in leadership for our worship. Everything from reading scripture to singing or ringing in a choir, youth continue to make our worship time together enjoyable. We do ask each youth to Acolyte at least 2 times a year, with all training provided. A total of 4 Worship Participation to be completed by May 31st. Service Projects- We are called to serve our neighbors in the world! Serving together as a family has more impact on faith formation than anything else we can do as families. A total of 2 Service Projects to be completed by May 31st. One outside of the church. One inside of the church. (Our regular service nights each month are not meant to fulfill this "to do".) Click here for an online form for entering your Service Project to Michael. Memory Work- The Small Catechism was written in 1529 by Martin Luther for the purpose of equipping parents with a tool to teach their children about the faith. It is meant as a primer, laying out the basic tenets of the Lutheran faith by outlining the meaning of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, the Office of the Keys (confession and forgiveness), and Holy Communion. For Luther these represented basic Christian beliefs and practices. Justification by grace through faith means Lutherans don’t need to do anything to win God’s love, not even attend confirmation or memorize the Small Catechism! While the value of rote memorization is debatable, the central elements of Christian faith set forth in the Small Catechism are worth knowing well. Our bottom line is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard and the practices that sustain faith are learned generation after generation. While many of our lessons in Confirmation will explore the topics in the Small Catechism, we are asking our families to help in the process of verifying the memory work. Each year grades will be asked to memorize parts of the Small Catechism, both main parts and what does this mean. You can find the Memory Sheets below for download. Or Click here for an online form for entering your Memory Work to Michael. Please note, there is no set order of memorization, you can move through the memory work as you see fit. Memorization is not a requirement of the Confirmation Ministry at First Lutheran.
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