Confirmation

Greetings!

The information on this webpage has been compiled to inform students and parents interested in participating in the Confirmation program at Avon Lake United Church of Christ.

Participation in the Confirmation program traditionally takes place during a young person’s 8th grade year, but it is offered to any student in grades 8 and above who wish to be confirmed in the church.

The tradition of Confirmation has a long history in the church. In the earliest years Confirmation was a part of a sacramental trifecta if you would, baptism-confirmation-communion. “I confirm . . ." was the Bishop's part in the Baptismal liturgy and symbolized the presence of the Holy Spirit in the baptism. Newly baptized Christians were "confirmed" by the Bishop (the laying on of hands and anointing with oil) and immediately (adults or children) took their first communion. Over time and through the course of church history the rite of confirmation became a rite of passage, a coming of age and an affirming of one’s faith.

In the United Church of Christ, Confirmation is the process through which a young person becomes a full adult member of the church. It is not considered a sacrament like Communion or Baptism, but it is still a process which is held in high regard and recognizes a young person’s ability to make mature decisions about their faith.

Confirmation is in no way, shape or form any sort of graduation. Confirmation is the beginning of an incredibly rewarding andamazing journey that will test you, teach you and hopefully bring you into a strong and loving relationship with God. Being confirmed is making a commitment to continue to seek God and God’s will for your life, it’s about building a relationship with your creator and it’s about asking questions, testing things, debating concepts and wrestling with the meaning of so many things.

To get the most out of this experience, you have to have the right mindset. You have to be open to hearing God and you have to be open to listening for God. To really get this you have to make stands aboutwhat you believe and you have to be willing to accept that some questions just can’t be answered. I assure you that when you open your heart and mind to experiencing God, you will never be the same. You will see the world in a whole new way and you will find so much where others find nothing. I invite you to take this journey with us and hope you enjoy every single, last minute of it!

All the best,

Nate

ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM:

CLASS SESSIONS: We will meet most Sundays from 12:30pm – 2:00pm. Students are encouraged and welcomed to bring a packed lunch to our classes. Those students who attend our 9:00am worship service should expect that the students who attend our 11:00am worship service will most likely be eating at the start of class. We will be using a number of different resources throughout the year to teach the class. There will also be a retreat in the fall and in the spring. Participation in all of this is required and expected. Please let Nate know in advance if you cannot attend a class session. There will be little or no homework but we encourage you to take the ideas and concepts that we present to you in class and think about them during the week. Please bring your bibles to class every week along with a pencil or pen.

Click hereto download the Spring 2012 class schedule.

WORSHIP: Confirmands are expected to worship regularly on Sunday mornings. Worship is the heart of the church life, and the student’s faith will develop fully as they learn more about what it means to live as a Christian. The Confirmands will be asked to actively participate in worship. There are several opportunities to assist in the worship experience: TV crew, usher, liturgist, special music, welcome center, nursery, Youth Sunday, Advent candle lighting, etc. We offer two services at 9:00am and 11:00am during the school year. I have found that the Confirmation experience is received by the student more openly if they are able to worship togetherwith their family. I highly encourage you to carve this time out and prioritize it as a family time we do every week, not only during this Confirmation process but constantly. You will be amazed at what God will do for you and your family. It will strengthen your relationships, your faith, and your ability to weather life’s storms as a family. If we take time to really inventory all that God has blessed us with, it is very easy to see that one hour of our week is not too much to offer to the One who gives us all so much.

VISITS TO OTHER CHURCHES:After the first of the year, the class will visit several other religious worship services. In the past, classes have visitedAfrican-American churches, a Jewish Synagogue, an Islamic mosque, an Assemblies of God church, a Roman Catholic Church and several others. Parents will be needed to help drive. Students will be required to write an evaluation of each church visit and turn it in. These visits serve as a unique opportunity for us to experience how other Christians and other people of faith worship. The fact of it is, is that we live in an ever-changing and ever-growing society and the concept of being a Global Citizen is something we must all embrace and explore. Our hope and prayer is that by visiting other churches and other houses of worship that our young people will be educated about our differences and similarities and not be so quick to pass judgment based on stereotypes. Instead they will be willing to engage in dialogue and open to hearing the views ofothers so that their faith becomes stronger and their hearts will be determined to build community rather than tearing down the work of others.

SERVICE PROJECTS: Each student will have the opportunity to participate in several service opportunities as part of the class. Over the course of the year each class member will be asked to participate in three different service projects; one project must be something within our church community, another project must be within our community and the third project will be completed during the summer. Service is at the core of a being a Christian and we hold this in very highregard as part of our Confirmation “experience.” Throughout the ministry of Jesus we are constantly instructed to feed the hungry, clothe the naked andhelp out those in need. To truly understand the Gospel we must be willing to give of our time, talents and treasure.

Click here to download the service project form.

YOUTH SUNDAY: We will schedule a date for a youth-led worship, where the Confirmation class will be responsible for most of the service. The students will pick a theme and develop a worship service from start to finish. They will be required to write prayers, find scripture, develop skits or other artistic elements, prepare a message and lead the Congregation through the entire service.

MENTORS: Each student will be assigned a mentor during the fall. Mentors will meet with the students to answer questions about their faith, provide a positive adult, Christian role model, assist them with their summer service project and lead them through developing their statements offaith. Our mentor program is something that we have found to be extremely valuable. What we have also found is that we live in an age of busy and fast. In some cases we have found that the Mentor-Confirmation Student relationship has never developed and in others we have found great relationships develop. The key to this Mentoring process working is being committed to making time for it. If that time is simply returning phone calls or emails…there has to be a commitment to the process. We highly encourage the parents and the Confirmation student to all meet with the Mentor and work out an agreeable schedule to meet. If you have someone who you would like to be your child’s mentor, please be sure to let us know on their registration paperwork. We will do our best to accommodate that request. If you do not have someone in mind we will do ourbest to pair each student up with someone that we feel will work well with them and has similar interests to them.

CONFIRMATION SUNDAY: This is the big enchilada. The icing….no the cherry on top. We have eyeballed Sunday September 16th, 2012 as the date for this service. Stay tuned for all the latest.

F.A.Q.’S
Frequently Asked Questions

What happens at a typical Confirmation class meeting?
A lot. What normally goes on is that we will introduce a topic for the day, either through a video or another activity. We will usually open with a short game and some announcements and just a chance for the kids and volunteers to hang out and catch up. Following our introduction we will break into smaller groups and really dive into the topic. We usually break out for about 45 minutes and then reconvene to take prayer requests and close with a group prayer. Our classes normally run about an hour and half.

What youth group are 8th graders supposed to participate with?
In the past we have had our 8th graders participate with our Sr. High. Last year we changed quite a few things. On Mondays evenings our 5th-8th graders met for youth group from 6:15pm – 7:45pm. What we have realized is that the Confirmation program requires a lot of your time as it is and to be actively involved in our Jr. High Youth programs is a lot to ask. We certainly welcome our Confirmation students to join us on Monday evenings, but we really hope that they focus on this Confirmation process this year and become active participants in our Sr. High group next fall.

How often should my child meet with their mentor?
It varies from person to person, but we encourage the mentors to try to meet with their student at least once a month. There is no magical formula to this. Some relationships really go great and the mentor and student become good friends and get together sometimes even weekly. The goal of the mentoring program is to introduce each student to an adult member of the church that lives out their Christian faith as an adult and can assist the students in understanding what exactly that means. We encourage parents to make an effort to assist the mentors in getting to know your child.

This year we are asking our Mentors to commit to four concrete events. The events will vary in type and purpose, but our hope is that this will ensure that everyone receives a similar experience with their mentor. It will extremely important for theConfirmation student and their family to make it a priority to participate in each of these activities. More information will follow as we set the dates.

If you have a suggestion or request for who you would like your child’s mentor to be, please contact Nate by mid-September at the latest.

Why do you take the students to visit other churches?
Our belief is that in today’s culture, in today’s GLOBAL society that we should be educated and understanding of what other faiths there are and what they believe. In recent years we have seen the complete criminalizing of the entire Islamic faith due to things like Sept. 11th and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through these incidents and events there have been countless stereotypes made about the Islamic people and their faith. We feel that by educating our students on what some of these faiths REALLY believe, we can help to stop the spread of misinformation and encourage peaceful coexistence, the same love and peace that Jesus spoke of often in his ministry.

HOW TO HAVE A SMOOOOTH CONFIRMATION EXPERIENCE:

1. STAY IN TOUCH – Check your email often. It is my main avenue for communicating. Sign-up to receive our text message updates. Join our Facebook page. I will send out a weekly email update….do yourself a favor…check it out!

2. COMMUNICATE – If you are not going to make a class, if you are running late, if your dog ate your Bible….just let me know. Shoot me a text – 440.503.2549, send me an email – nate@thealucc.org, write on my facebook page, stop by the church….whatever….just keep me up to speed.

3. GO TO CHURCH – It’s pretty straightforward. Worshipping God is straight up awesome as it is. When you worship on a regular basis, alongside your family and a big old (well, actually new) sanctuary full of others….I can’t explain it. God will be working on you and you will be amazed.

4. BE OPEN – If you come to class having already determined that “this is going to be awful”….yep, it will be awful. We strive to keep the awful levels at a minimum and the awesome levels on high, but so much of that is your attitude. Be open to learning and experiencing and you might just actually,possibly, theoretically…..have a good time.

5. RESPECT IT ALL – We actually do take time to plan these classes out, your Mentors do have families and jobs and lives beyond what you see, I enjoy watching football on Sundays as much as the next guy. Come to class prepared - cell phones M.I.A., return emails and phone calls from your Mentor or me, be on time for things. Respect it all.

6. PRAY – A lot. In the morning, at lunch, riding the bus, before you go to bed. Carve out some time for just you and the Creator. Chat God up, ask questions, pour your heart out, turn all your worries, frustrations andproblems over to God. Tell God about the good times, the bad times and the in between times. Thank God for EVERYTHING – your clothes, your house, your parents, Chipotle, Air Conditioning, Flip Flops, Root Beer Floats….everything. Your life will never be the same.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
-Lao Tzu