Confirm Director Guide: Your Faith. Your Commitment. Gods Call.

Introduction

I once received a request to meet with a youth who was preparing for her senior year of high school. Because I had not seen her in a while, I suspected that there might be something important she wanted to share, but I did not know what it might be. After we talked about her grades, accomplishments in her extracurricular activities, top choices for college, and her various relationships—good and bad, our conversation meandered into her faith. To be more exact, she opened up about her struggles with her faith. She shared that she had just overcome a period during which she questioned her beliefs. I was shocked even though I did not let her know it. After all, I knew her parents, her older siblings, and many of her friends. She attended a church known for its commitment to discipleship, and she matriculated at a well-respected private school rooted in Christian values. In fact, the environment in which she lived out her life seemed ideal for nurturing a healthy faith. However, neither the perception of what was ideal nor an understanding of where things went wrong were what mattered most to me at that time. So, I continued to focus on her.

Without hesitation she got right to the point. She said, Pastor Tonya, you know me. I always knew the answers. I was in agreement, so I enthusiastically nodded to affirm her response and continued to listen. She explained that she knew all of the answers when she was in middle school because she memorized them, which seemed fine for her life at that time. She felt secure in her level of knowing what she believed because life was simple at that age. However, when she entered high school and needed to lean on her faith, the rote answers were not enough to tether her to her beliefs so she strayed. For more than a year she made bad decisions and maintained unhealthy friendships. Then, one night a friend’s life was changed by a horrific accident. She explained that it was the events of that evening that caused her to embrace her faith again, because that tragedy helped her to see how uncertain life can be. She understood that knowing about God mattered, but she realized it was more important that she feel God’s presence.

I processed her words for weeks after our time together. What she was articulating in a very practical way was that a religious experience should be one that engages both head and heart and should be rooted in right answers that yield right thoughts and actions.

Inevitably in a youth-group setting someone will respond with Jesus as the answer to the question—any question—and it normally gets a few laughs. Without a doubt, knowing that Jesus is the answer to any of our questions about life is important. However, understanding why Jesus is the answer is as important if not more important.

Knowing that Jesus is the answer is right, but feeling that Jesus is the answer is ideal because it means Jesus has become tangible—real and personal—to the individual.

At the Methodist Conference in 1744, John Wesley asked, What do we teach? How do we teach it? And what do we do? He sought to inspire individuals to a higher level of ministry and mission in the world by encouraging them to progress from contemplation about faith to believing and then ultimately to living out their faith in the world.

In line with our Wesleyan tradition, confirmation should be understood both as a what and why experience. It should be structured as a religious experience that teaches historical, theological, and doctrinal understanding of The United Methodist Church, while simultaneously being an experience that creates a space where individuals can encounter Christ through imagination, exploration, and expression.

This book offers an understanding of what confirmation is and explains why it matters. It also focuses on how to create an experience for young people that teaches the what and nurtures the why for those who are preparing to confirm their faith in Christ and their willingness to live out that faith as active members of The United Methodist Church.

"What do we teach? How do we teach it? And

what do we do?" —John Wesley

What Is Confirmation?

"No one is born a Christian. One becomes a Christian

through becoming a part of a community with a

distinctive way of life involving definite ethical and

creedal commitments."¹

History

While the aforementioned statement is true that individuals are not born Christian but become Christian, the reality of this truth is more reflective of a time when large numbers of people were initiated into the church. At that time people were as eager to join the church as the church was eager to receive them. Once welcomed into community in the early church, individuals continued to be nurtured through religious education that was valued and taken seriously by all because of the intentionality placed upon it. As a result the church grew and was established as an integral part of the community.

Today, however, membership is declining in our churches; congregations are losing members at a greater rate than they are welcoming newcomers. Further, the understanding of the importance of religious education has waned among church leaders and members, along with the enthusiasm with which it is engaged.² There are many interests competing for the limited time and attention of individuals, especially youth. As a result, the church ranks low on the list of priorities for many young people today, because it has not been as enthusiastic about initiating and sustaining the interest of young people.

Yet, the words Jesus spoke in the Great Commission still stand as the gospel. According to Matthew, Jesus spoke very clearly as he stood on that mountain among those who worshiped and those who doubted. He commissioned the disciples to make disciples of others by baptizing and teaching so that the world might be transformed. Likewise, as followers, we are charged today with the task of initiating others into Christian community so that doubters will come to believe in God’s presence, promises, and power and so that the entire community might be strengthened.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Jesus came near and spoke to them, I’ve received all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.—Matthew 28:16-20.

This section explores what Christian initiation and confirmation have meant throughout the history of the church so that we might be inspired to envision what confirmation could and should become in the future.

At one time Christian initiation was a series of seamless events that adults were eager to partake of so that they could become a part of the church. There was a time when baptism, confirmation, and the first Communion were all a part of the same ritual. Becoming a member of the church was a big deal and celebrated as such because it signified two important decisions—a personal profession of faith and a commitment to live for God. In fact, people committed to extensive and rigorous teaching both before and after they were baptized in order to remain connected to God and the church. It is important to note that this was very much an individual choice and not an obligation—well, at least initially.

Over time the commitment to and the relationship between these acts, who receives them, when they are received, and how and to what extent they are offered changed drastically. Since Jesus spoke those words, our understanding, or lack thereof, of Christian initiation—including baptism and confirmation—and how these practices have been influenced by the political climate, cultural shifts, and technological advancements has taken on different meaning (as discussed later in this section).

Although baptisms still occur, the subsequent teaching, understanding of, and living out of that covenant has lost much of its importance. As a result, confirmation, now a separate event, has in turn lost its sacredness among those who came to believe that baptism was the only means necessary for Christian initiation.

While this can be successfully argued for adults, who are baptized and can respond for themselves, it is not the case for infants and children whose parents/guardians