Path of discipleship to confirmation
As a family of faith, we are called to nurture children to grow in their love, faith and service to our Lord, Jesus Christ. We as a congregation promise to do this very thing whenever we baptize a child. Ideally, we hope to echo the same faith, principles and practices a child sees and hears every day in the lives of their parents, family and friends. We take Christ’s command to make disciples seriously and intentionally pour into the lives of our children with the hope that they will publicly claim this faith as their own and live it out fully as part of the Body of Christ.
Confirmation is an important milestone on the path of discipleship. It provides an opportunity for high school students to explore what we as Presbyterians believe and get answers to their questions about God, faith and life. We seek to cultivate a deeper understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and how that is lived out in their lives.
Confirmation will begin on Wednesday, January 5, for freshmen and any other high school youth interested in exploring what we believe. This will be incorporated into our regular Wednesday evening meetings in the Powerhouse called Amass Exodus. Confirmation students will engage in a nine-week lesson and discussion series about different aspects of our faith. We will be discussing World Religions, the Bible, the Trinity, the Gospel, the sacraments, Church history and the great ends of the Church.
As the nine weeks of confirmation finish up, confirmands will be encouraged to write down what they believe. Any youth wanting to become a member of First Church will then meet with session where their personal statements of faith will be shared and discussed. The final step of this process is a Commitment and Prayer service, where they will make a public profession of faith and become full members.
Before this service they will be given covenant cards to prayerfully sign. This card outlines the ways all members of the Body of Christ are called to live out our faith. We encourage these new members to take this covenant to heart, embracing the reality that we all continually require God’s help to life with him and for his glory.
We look forward to the next group of students who will participate in confirmation this year and ask you to please be in prayer for these youth and their leaders.