Welcome to this message board created around Jenifer Gamber's class "Designing a Confirmation Program that Speaks to Youth and Invites Ministry." Please feel free to post with any questions you may have, good resources to share with others, and any reflections on confirmation in general. An invitation to this message board will be sent to those in the February 1, 2007 class, and the board will stay up for future class participants as well.

I would love to hear about any resources regarding Confirmation retreats (i.e., length, location, etc.) as well as Mentors (i.e., how assigned/chosen, responsibilities, requirements, etc.)

Thank you!
Duana

It was great to hear other's questions and thoughts about Confirmation last night. Thank you Jenifer for offering such a great foundation and practical ideas about this big topic. As Jenifer mentioned, our diocese developed Confirmation guidelines a few years ago after numerous questions from clergy that were very similar to what we were asking last night. The bishop formed a Task Force, and the guidelines were a result of them. My thesis at VTS was on Confirmation, so some of the research had already been done. You can download the guidelines (at the bottom of the page) at http://www.ctdiocese.org/resources/christi...ildguidelines.shtml. The guidelines include how to use mentors, why retreats, age, content, service, etc. Peace! Sharon

Thank you, everyone who participated in last evening's phone conference. Together, we have a wealth of information. The leader guide to My Faith, My Life can be downloaded at www.churchpublishing.org/myfaithmylife. If you have difficulty downloading the leader guide, e-mail me and let me know and I'll see what I can do.

One important message I'd like to share is to encourage each of you to be creative in your program, invite the Holy Spirit as you plan the program and as you explore with youth. Confirmation has to be culturally meaningful, which will mean that confirmation, though the basic information might be the same across the Church, will look different in each diocese and in each parish.

Sue in Swaziland

Wonderful pix, Sue.

You are invited to post reponses to the following questions, so both Jenifer and the other class participants can get to know each other a little better. Remember, answer/share only to the extent you feel comfortable! The link to this message board is as private as the URL (which is pretty complex) and is not accessible to any search process.

   What has led you to sign up for this class?

   What do you hope we might do or cover during the class?

   What one or two things do you hope that you might get out of this class?

   Where do you live or what diocese are you in?

I'm Christian Education Coordinator for the Diocese of Connecticut. Part of my responsibilities is to assist our 175 congregations in Confirmation programming and retreats with our bishops. I was part of a Task Force that developed our Diocesan Confirmation Guidelines in 2005. My thesis for my 2003 MACE degree at VTS was "A Theology of Confirmation for the 21st Century."