Finding Faith
This weekend I will confirm a young lady whom I’ve known for more than half her life.
It’ll be a bittersweet Sunday. The year that she joined our confirmation group was the year I ditched traditional confirmation classes.
Oh, once upon a time, I was a confirmation curriculum guy, making sure I notched all the important lessons about Martin Luther, grace, Justification by Faith Alone, what the cross actually symbolizes, the Israelites, the creeds, etc.
A three-year, revolving cycle of classes about the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and “Living Lutheran,” which to be honest, I’m still not sure what that means.
And then one year, we had a class of eight teenagers who arrived Wednesday nights, and for whom studying the catechism was the last thing on their minds. This young lady was a part of that group, and she could attest that traditional lessons were a no go.
At a loss, I took the advice of a pastor colleague who encouraged me: “Mix it up. Just get to know them. Our kids don’t have enough adults who actually know them.”
And so I did. Nowadays, in confirmation we talk about highs and lows from the week. We leave a dedicated space specifically for students who have faith questions. And for the remainder of class we creatively incorporate faith into a variety of activities.
Hangman from scripture, trivia contests, scavenger hunts … you name it. If the kids can play it, there’s a faith twist to it.
My only caveat to all of this is that students leave confirmation knowing this: You can never do anything to earn God’s love; nor can you ever do anything to “un-earn” God’s love. God’s love is never in doubt. And I pray that students know it in their hearts when they leave.
But what about the memorization! What about the doctrines and the theology and faith statements! Surely, you can’t teach confirmation this way!
My justification: Sure, my students aren’t required to learn much in confirmation.
But I can tell you that I know when my students have math tests that are stressing them out, or when a friend in school jilted them, or when they’re not sleeping at night because of anxiety, or when they’ve inured themselves at track practice, or when their braces are coming off, or when they are taking their behind-the-wheel driver’s training.
The list of what I know about my students is long and very enjoyable, and this makes showing up every Wednesday to “class” thoroughly refreshing.
My students won’t necessarily remember the lessons about the Israelites in a couple of years, but they may remember that a certain pastor cared enough to know about their day.
And so I think my friend’s advice about ditching the curriculum was some of the best pastoral advice I’ve ever received. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@ gmail.com.
