Confirmation Resources
~Customary~
Click here for information on the Confirmation Service
Saturday, May 22
10:00am
Grace Episcopal Church, Grand Rapids
Form to report Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation
Click here to download the 2009 Confirmation Customary
Working with Confirmation & the Confirmands is so much more than finding the best, easiest or most popular curriculum. You need to start with educating the entire parish with a new idea of Confirmation. As Bishop Gepert says in his forward to the Diocesan customary, "Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation is a conscious choice for those who wish to commit, in a public way, to a life lived in Christian community 'in the world but not of the world.'"
The following are resources to use as your parish begins to live into the customary. If you have resources that you have used and would like to suggest, please e-mail them to Gennie Callard.
Resources to use with the Customary
(links to the resources on the page follow)
General information
Spirituality
Education
Celebrations & Worship Services
Why do you want to be confirmed?
To assist in the integration of faith into daily practice, the Task Force suggests each
candidate answer the following the end of the preparation process.
1. What have you learned from your preparation that has been most important to you?
2. Who is Jesus in your life? How would you respond to His question, “Who do you say
that I am?”
3. Why do you want to want to reaffirm or confirm your baptismal vows?
4. How do you plan to live as a mature and faithful Christian in the Church and in the
world after you are Confirmed?
Setting up your Curriculum and Classes
A Model for reflection on confirmation curriculum "A Time for Reflection"
Learning Styles
It is important to understand that each of us has different learning style preferences. To more
effectively connect with each candidate, intentionally choose a variety of styles to include in preparing
sessions.
Interpersonal – person-to-person relationships; communication – discussion, small group work, service projects
Intrapersonal – inside the person; reflection – journal writing, guided imagery, silence. Verbal/Linguistic – written and spoken language – reading, writing, reporting, listening
Logical/Mathematical – inductive and deductive reasoning – recognition of patterns. Analyzing, identifying, planning, sequencing
Visual/Spatial – real and mental images; relationships of objects – drawing, visualizing, imagining, see a picture or item, symbols, making a banner.
Body/Kinesthetic – tapping into the body’s inherent ways of knowing – movement, touch, manipulating objects, dance
Musical/Rhythmic – sensitivity to patterns and sounds, rhythms and beat – listening to music, singing,
writing lyrics, creating music in its various styles
Finding mentors:
Building Community :
Spirituality
Prayer:
Moral decision making
Stewardship
Theological Reflection
Retreats:
Holding a retreat
Retreat locations
Other locations for retreats in wes Michigan
Journaling:
Rule of Life:
Book of Common Prayer:
Education
Scripture
The goal of studying scripture in a preparation program is to ensure
candidates have an understanding of our Salvation History so that he/she can articulate
“who they are” and “whose they are.” The ability to reflect on The Story in relationship to
Our Story and My Story is an important component in making a mature affirmation of
one’s Baptismal Covenant. Understanding the key themes, characters and stories of the
Old and New Testaments helps us understand how God is in relationship with Creation
and how we are called to build upon that relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and
each other.
Episcopal Polity
My Faith, My Life is a book to help primarily teenagers explore their faith in the Episcopal Church
Your Faith, Your Life Your Faith, Your Life offers the adult reader a chance to delve deeper into “ins and outs” of The Episcopal Church while providing discerning questions that personalizes the facts, stories, and wonderings that we all have about our on-going relationship to God in a world that constantly challenges our faith. –Sharon Ely Pearson, Christian Formation Specialist, Church Publishing Incorporated
Mission & Ministry
Putting faith into practice and connecting the
Gospel to our daily life is how we live out our Baptismal Covenant in the world.
Mission & the Community
Lifelong Formation
Exploring Gifts & talents
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation- a book by Parker Palmer
Listening Hearts Ministries; programs, publications and services that teach the practice of spiritual discernment through prayerful listening in supportive communities
Celebrations & Worship Services
Rites of Passage
Celebrating life changes is important to a faith community, and import for the individual to know they are cherished & are indeed part of the community.
As we move away from seeing Confirmation as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood, how do we celebrate these life changes? Some examples follow:
Celebration of the newly confirmed
Turn the Sunday after Confirmation (or a Sunday closely following) into Confirmation Sunday
-
We will be creating a special prayer to use in the service & uploading it to the webpage soon
-
Invite friends, relatives & especially the Godparents to the service & a party following (don't forget the cake!)
-
Hand out something special from the congregation to commemorate the occasion
Blessing of Confirmation Candidates
We will be creating these & uploading them to the webpage soon
Prayers
Confirmation Retreat
Saturday, March 27
Diocesan Confirmation
Saturday, May 22
