The Beginning Days of Confirmation Class

I am a Synod Appointed Minister, a very temporary position which has lasted a year longer than first planned.  I am happy to be at Faith Lutheran in Bristol, TN, and I'll be sad to leave.  But it's also hard to know some best approaches as I think about things like Confirmation class.  After all, the church is looking for a full-time pastor to share with the neighboring church in Bristol, VA.  It might make sense to wait on some things, so that the full-time pastor can go from beginning to end with the confirmands.

But the search process can take awhile, and meanwhile, the middle schoolers are getting older.  So I decided to start Confirmation this year, on Feb. 9.  That Sunday, we made Valentines to talk about God's love, so we opened the class to everyone, regardless of age. I made some salient points about love and how God loves us no matter what. The youth enjoyed making Valentines. I do realize that they may remember the Valentines making more than the message. But since it's a message I return to often in the youth sermon, hopefully they will remember.

On this past Sunday, we looked at the baptismal promises and the affirmation of baptism promises, which are essentially the same.  We talked about parents and family and church members making promises on behalf of babies and about what it means when we hand those promises back to the confirmands.  It was a good session.

This Sunday, we'll start talking about baptism in earnest.  I have an infographic that I made for a seminary Foundations of Worship class, and we'll start there.  

The following week, I will be out of town, so I want them to make an infographic or a collage.  They can use mine as a model.

I'm thinking of this approach as one of modules.  When the new pastor comes, I hope to be able to say, "We've done a module on baptism and a module on communion."  If it's awhile before the new pastor comes, we'll move on to the creeds and the commandments.

It is strange thinking of Confirmation, what I hope to teach, what really feels important. I worry about the next person coming in as we are midway through the process and deciding that I've done a bad job. I don't care what that person thinks of me, but I don't want the youth to be punished in any way.