Youth

Teach Better. Keep the Kids. Equip Parents. These are the three objectives of 6/7/8 Confirmation at Trinity.

Teach Better. Traditional Confirmation can be a dry, boring, heady experience which most middle schoolers hate. At Trinity, we’re focusing on making Confirmation lively, interesting and engaging by using what we know about how the adolescent brain learns to make our content as “sticky” as possible. We do this by using art, movies, music, games, skits and movement to link the kids to the subject of the day.

Keep the Kids. Various research tells us that the best way to keep kids around after Confirmation day is to make sure they are a part of caring relationships with a small group of friends and one, two or more caring adults who know them well. Therefore, the center of our program is the small group—a handful of kids and an adult leader or two who not only process the material covered in Confirmation, but who take the time to talk about highs and lows of life and how things are going outside of church. In short, we expand Confirmation instruction into Confirmationministry.

Equip Parents. We believe very strongly that parents/caregivers need to be a central part of the Confirmation journey. We don’t want to run another “drop off” program where parents are not part of the process. Admittedly, this is not something the church has emphasized very much in the last couple of decades. We’ve fostered a process where only the “professionals” talk to kids about faith, which is strange because various studies show us that no one is a bigger influence on the faith of a child than a parent. We do realize that planning intentional time to talk about faith can be a tough and even uncomfortable proposition. Many parents don’t feel qualified or the least bit comfortable talking about faith. Keep in mind that it’s not as important to worry about what you say as it is to simply take the time to try and say it. Your kids may not remember the subject of your conversation, but they will remember that you took the time to try. We stand ready to train and equip you with the motivation and the tools for you to begin regular faith talk in your home.

Along those lines, we send out a weekly email with updates on what we are talking about at church and include a “FAITH5” sheet to help guide you in starting some regular caring conversations in the home. We also schedule various “Impact Parenting” sessions during the year so you can get together with other parents for practical advice from various professional child development specialists. In short, we don’t want to replace you as an influencer of faith for your child. We want to partner together with you—blurring the lines between church and home—so your child has the most positive and powerful Confirmation journey possible!

9TH GRADE CONFIRMATION AT TRINITY

The 9th grade year is a special year that emphases the “finishing touches” on the Confirmation journey. 9thgrade will gather with their same small groups as in the past in the Worship Center at 6 PM for a brief worship time, then move to the Garden Room until 7:30 PM.  Our focus this year is on Lutheran tradition and what it means to call yourself a Lutheran, with sessions led by Pastor Peter, Pastor Chris, and Monty. In early 2019, learners will create a stole to wear at the Affirmation of Baptism Service and complete a project that represents their beliefs and faith journey at this point in their lives. We also have a 9th grade overnight retreat scheduled for Feb. 8-9, 2019, to gather together and finish all of the exploration we will have been involved in throughout the year (plus have some fun with skating, broomball and other outdoor activities!)

9th Grade Confirmation Outcomes

By the end of the 9th grade year, our aim is for learners to have experienced the grace of God in the Old and New Testaments, as well as to understand Lutheran tradition and how the history and theology of that tradition impacts their faith journey today.

Confirmation Day 

Confirmation Day for our 9th grade learners will be Sunday, May 5, 2019 at 2 PM in the Worship Center at Trinity.