Confirmation at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School
What is Confirmation?
Confirmation at Immanuel Lutheran Church exists to help students build a lasting relationship with God. This is accomplished through knowing God’s Word and being part of a local church. We strive to equip our students to integrate their faith into their lives as friends, students, athletes, artists, etc. We desire for our youth to feel that they are a part of the mission of Immanuel Lutheran Church like every adult; To have a purpose and be equipped to help build the Kingdom of God. While confirmation is not necessary for salvation, it is an expression of our Christian walk– the desire to grow, learn, and become a part of something bigger than ourselves.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that the Christian life is “one of dying to self and rising new again.” In this sense, confirmation, like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, is something that never ends. We learn what it means to daily strengthen our faith. Therefore, confirmation is less of an end to something and more of a beginning of one’s life of faith. This is why in the Rite of Confirmation we ask our students:
Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully? Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all even death, rather than fall away from it?
Expectations of Students:
By entering into this program, students are promising to fully participate and engage in the program's various offerings and commitments. We believe that this will help students engage in the greater life of the church after confirmation is completed. The following are the requirements for completing confirmation:
Objectives:
We want to partner with families and the congregation to help our young people learn and practice spiritual habits that are critical for lifelong faith. This will be accomplished by:
- Helping students understand the overarching story of God’s love for His people as found in the Bible.
- Showing students how to apply Biblical teachings to their everyday lives.
- Having a clear understanding of the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism and the basics of the Lutheran confessions.
- Equipping students to be part of their local church and become important members of this community.
Parent Expectations
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. -Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Confirmation leaders—pastors, church staff, mentors, and volunteers—will encourage students to fulfill their confirmation commitments, but the responsibility to grow, work, think, and strive in their faith lies primarily with the student and their family. If having your child confirmed is important to you, then your role is vital.
As a parent, we expect that you are actively involved in your child’s faith development and ask that you commit and support confirmation ministry in the following ways:
- Pray for your children as well as their small group guide, confirmation leaders, and the other young people in this ministry
- Be involved in your child’s journey as you fulfill the activities, drive them to worship, and serve alongside them.
- Volunteer for fellowship events, service events, or retreats. Take advantage of this to have fun, serve, and grow with your child.
- Worship regularly with your child as a family. Sit with them and participate in worship with them. Help them fill out worship notes and show them what a life of worship looks like.
- Be informed. Keep up with what is happening in the church by reading through the things sent out to you. Communicate often with confirmation leaders.
Cost of Confirmation
To help offset the cost of confirmation we ask families to pay a $75 fee. If you need to make other arrangements please talk to members of the pastoral staff. The $75 fee is due at the time of registration.
Confirmation Requirements:
(to be completed over two years)
Through this model, we will integrate our students into being active members
of their Christian faith and the life of the Body of Christ.
Wednesday Night Modules:
Students will need to attend 14 modules to complete confirmation. These will happen on one Wednesday of every month. We will take off for Advent. The following is an overview of what Wednesday nights would look like:
5:30 p.m. - Optional Dinner
6:15-6:30 p.m. - Brief introduction to the topic by staff.
6:30-7:15 p.m. - Parents will be with pastoral staff learning about the topic of the night. They will also be learning the activity that accompanies each lesson, practicing the activity, and sharing it with other parents.
6:30-7:15 p.m. - Students will meet with a small group to learn about the topic of the night. This group will be made up of other members of the congregation. They will follow a basic bible study outline about the topic of the night.
7:15-7:30 p.m. - Students and parents get together to either talk about the night or work on the activity. They will be dismissed when they feel enough time has gone by.
Each Wednesday night module will be accompanied by a small project to help tie the lesson from the head to the heart to the hands. These are to be completed together as a family.
Worship Notes:
Students will need to complete thirty-two worship notes over two years. Students can turn in eight in the fall and eight in the spring. The following link is an example of worship notes.
Service:
Students will share their gifts of love toward God and their neighbor 16 times over two years. Four of these will take place each fall and 4 each spring. We suggest that 2 of the 4 activities per semester be “facing out,” 1 of them is “facing in,” and 1 of them within the context of worship.
- An example of serving “Out” would be during our yearly Serving Our Cities project.
- An example of serving “In” would be at our yearly parade and picnic.
- A way of serving “In worship” would be serving as an acolyte.
Rite of Confirmation:
After completing all the requirements for Confirmation and with the recommendation of pastoral staff, confirmands will be invited to participate in the Rite of Confirmation, taking place on Reformation Day (observed). The Rite of Confirmation involves a confirmand’s public profession of their faith and desire to join the communicant members and life of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Frequently Asked Questions:
If I have younger children, what should I do with them?
The hope is that this becomes a greater Wednesday Education Night. The desire is to have more programing for all ages during this time. During these first few years, we will have the option of babysitting for those who sign up for it.
What do I do if my child can attend, but I cannot?
Please understand that the confirmation expectation is that parents/guardians come with children. If you cannot attend, you can send a grandparent, a god-parent (who promised to help you in this process), or another trusted adult. The desire is that there is one parent/guardian per family and not one adult accompanying five kids who are not their own.
If I have more than one student in Confirmation, can they serve together?
We highly encourage and even recommend families serve together.
What happens if we miss a module?
Lessons can be made up twice a year. The pastoral staff will offer a Saturday in the fall and spring to make up lessons.
What happens with communion?
Communion and confirmation do not go hand in hand. Students who understand communion well should be allowed to come up to the altar. Therefore, communion will be offered as a separate Faith Milestone. Students as early as 5th grade can take this module, during the Lenten season.
Why is Confirmation now a two-year process?
The Confirmation team believes that a two-year process gives students more time to build important life-long faith habits while still being surrounded by their peers in an age-appropriate setting. There is a lot to cover in Confirmation, and the extra year may give students time to have a better understanding of the content being taught.
We also desire that students from our school and students from our community receive the same teaching by the pastoral staff. Confirmation has always been a 2 year commitment for non-day school families, and that extra year has been a blessing to them. Therefore, we are relaxing some commitments to our day school families to make Confirmation unified for all members.
What if it takes longer than two years?
That is okay! Sometimes it does take longer for students to understand these important faith habits.
What happens with religion in the school?
Religion classes will still take place in the school and be taught by the pastoral staff. The school's desire is for all grade levels to be aligned with the new religion curriculum. Everything that will be taught in religion classes will be a supplement to what is taught in the Confirmation modules.
