Confirmation 2008 by Jeff Bills, Lead Pastor

I am both excited and proud of this year’s Confirmands. They have been meeting weekly since October with Pastor Rick Court and Youth Pastor Dave Falcone. This group experienced a couple of “firsts” for a HOPE confirmation class.

The first “first” was that they met in the fall rather than the winter. In the past, many of the kids would begin class as strangers. Friendships would begin to develop just as the class was ending and the summer was beginning. Now the kids have the opportunity to continue on with their friendships here at HOPE throughout the winter and spring months.

The second “first” was the confirmation retreat. The class went off for a weekend to Ocean City to spend some extended time together exploring what it means to follow Jesus Christ and getting to know each other better. All indications were that the kids had a blast and the adult leaders felt that the time was valuable both in terms of the focused learning time as well as the bonding that took place among the kids. I am confident that the confirmation retreat will become a favorite tradition for future confirmation classes.

Five years ago my frustration with confirmation curricula came to a head and I approached Randy Petersen about beginning the process of writing our own. The goal was to teach the foundational truth’s of the Christian faith in a way that would make sense to a middle school student and to provide ways for parents to share in the process. When Rick came on board two years ago, he and Randy continued to polish up our program. What we will end up with is a student book with a chapter on each topic covered during the fifteen-week class. In addition, we will have a teacher’s book so that in the future others will be able to teach the confirmation class.

Today we confirm seventeen young men and women. In describing this class Pastor Rick said that these young people were really engaged in the process; asking great questions and offering their insights throughout the course. So, as each young person kneels and is confirmed, it is with a genuine commitment to Christ and His work in and through them.

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