Lutheran Faith Formation

Confirmation Ministry During a Pandemic:

Please Share Ideas for Distance Learning Approach

Lutheran Faith Formation is a family-oriented Confirmation process that is intended to help families grow together in faith. It begins at Baptism with the baptismal promises and helps parents keep these promises to their children starting at Baptism and continuing through 12th grade.

The approach is event-oriented not classroom-oriented, although there are some short periods of classroom learning. In other words, it is not the traditional Wednesday night Confirmation class!

Every step of the way, parents are involved along with their children. Eventually the nuclear family is expanded to include church family as age appropriate for the children.

Because this is a family and event-oriented as well as a short classroom learning experience, it is suited to distance learning for many of the grade levels involved.

We are currently looking into ways of providing you with ideas for a distance learning approach. We would love for you to share ideas if you have currently used distance learning for your Sunday School or Confirmation programs.

To this end, I will be posting the curriculum for each grade level and seeking ideas for home and distance learning opportunities to convey it to families.

Please help by sharing your ideas too. Thank you!

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Eleventh Grade Intern-Mentor Sample Discussion Questions (cont.)

GUIDELINES FOR ELEVENTH GRADE INTERN-MENTOR

INTEGRATING FAITH AND SOCIAL LIFE(cont.)

7. As a Disciple of Jesus, how is my concern for myself, and others, lived out in my physical relationship with the opposite sex?  Or same sex? What limits have I set for myself? Why?

8.  How do I handle confidential things a friend shares with me?  How about gossip I hear?

9. How does my faith help me deal with new responsibilities as I mature, such as driving  a car or having more money available to me?

10.  When do I find it difficult to “speak the truth in love” as Paul tells us in Ephesians 4?

11.  Has there been a time when I experienced being bullied?  How did I handle it? When it happened, my friends stood with me/didn’t stand with me? How did that make me feel?

12.  Has it ever happened that I participated in a “bullying incident”? If “Yes”, what came of it?  Have I resolved it within myself and/or with the person?

13.  When I have seen bullying taking place I have chosen to:

14.  How/When have I asked God to help me to “do the right thing” when such things happen?

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Eleventh Grade Intern-Mentor Sample Discussion Questions

GUIDELINES FOR ELEVENTH GRADE INTERN-MENTOR PROGRAM

INTEGRATING FAITH AND SOCIAL LIFE

  1. How does my faith help me in relating to people I don’t really get along with?
  2. What negative and positive pressures do I experience from my peers? How does my faith help me in making choices when these pressures happen?
  3. What does being a disciple of Jesus Christ have to say about how I reach out to a fellow student who doesn’t feel very good about him/herself? Even if it is a student who is not very popular?
  4. What does the Eighth Commandment and Luther’s explanation have to say about the way I talk with my friends about someone not present?
  5. As a person created by and loved by God, in what ways do I feel in my life the effects of the use of drugs, alcohol and smoking (either kind) by myself or by others? Discuss the realities of being tempted regarding these issues, and the part my faith plays then.
  6. What does my faith have to say to me about how I use my leisure time? Reflect on books, movies, TV programs, and internet sites you choose. Reflect on time spent on Facebook, YouTube, Snap Chat, Twitter, etc. and the benefits, issues and hazards of such communication on your part, and of others.

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Eleventh Grade Intern-Mentor Guidelines

ELEVENTH GRADE INTERN-MENTOR PLAN – 2018

FAITH FORMATION/CONFIRMATION PLAN

MENTOR:

  • Prayerfully selected:  One mentor per intern (vice versa) selecting congregational member who, in the opinion of the Intern, is living out his/her Christian faith in an exemplary manner.

Study Guide Areas:  Integration of one’s Christian faith with:

a. Job/vocation                                       b. Family

c. Congregation                                     d. Social

e. Continuing to live out our faith (My Discipleship)

TIME TABLE FOR UNIT:

            1.  GENERAL:

  • May 06, 9 a.m. (Between services) meeting of Sophomores & Parents–Fireside
  • May 16, – Mentor selected/confirmed and reported to Church Office/Pastor
  • May 20, 11:30 a.m. – Mentor meeting – Fireside Room
  • August 12, 10:30 a.m. – Intern & Mentor meeting – Fireside Room
  • By Sept. 15 – have scheduled/completed first Pastor Reflection Time (2 study guides)
  • October 07 – Presented to congregation in worship service.October 14, 5:30 p.m. – Potluck and Mass wrap-up: students, parents, mentors and congregational leaders’/Pictures taken
  • By Oct. 15 – have scheduled/completed second Pastor Reflection Time (2 study guides)
  • October 27 – Rehearsal in Sanctuary at 9 a.m.
  • October 28 – Rite of Affirmation of Baptism-Confirmation
  • By Nov. 15 – have scheduled/completed third Pastor Reflection Time (Discipleship)

            2.  INTERN-MENTOR SPECIFICS:

  • August 12, 10:30 a.m. – Intern & Mentor meeting – Fireside Room
  • By September 15th:

–  Intern arranges/spends 2 separate hours with Mentor,

using prepared Study Guide(s)

–   Intern spends 1 hour preparing for Pastor Reflection

meeting

–   Intern spends 1 hour with Pastor, reflecting on the two

prepared Study Guide(s)

  • By October 15th:

                    –    Intern arranges/spends 2 separate hours with

Mentor, using prepared Study Guide(s)

– Intern spends 1 hour preparing for Pastor Reflection

Time

– Intern spends 1 hour with Pastor, reflecting on the

second two prepared

Study Guides

  • By November 15th:

                        –    Intern arranges/spends 1 hour with mentor using My Discipleship Study Guide

  • Intern spends ½ hour preparing for Pastor Reflection Time
  • Intern arranges/spends ½ hour with Pastor, reflecting on Discipleship Study Guide
  • MASS WRAP-UP – Oct. 14…as noted above

3.  CONFIRMED DISCIPLE OF JESUS; ACTIVE MEMBER OF ST. JOHN’S*

  • Regular worship attendance; possible participation in worship service
  • Actively involved in Estimate of Serving categories identified in Discipleship Study Guide

*St. John’s Lutheran Church LCMC Stacy,MN

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Tenth Grade Supervised Study (continued)

Serving:  At least 8 hours of participating in any of the Estimate of Serving options.

Additional Learning:  Attend and take notes on one Church Council meeting and one Ministry Team meeting of your choice.

Desirable Dimensions of the Supervised Learning Model

Overt:

  1. Spring meeting of parents/Students gets the timing of the units on all calendars
  2. Teams can form there (in Spring), during Summer, or at first night’s meeting.
  3. Parents sign up for Monitor times &/or Retreat assistants, in various categories
  4. A parent or two agrees to contact any missing parents/students with information and need to sign up in office b/4 Fall Unit begins.
  5. Parents decide whom they will ask to teach their 10th grade students in Sunday School and the procedure to secure and report teacher choice (agreed to!) to office.
  6. Parents, being directly involved in Monitor and/or Retreat positions, with dates well ahead of time on the calendar, so as to be able to plan ahead, knowing that if an issue comes up, it is their responsibility to switch or find substitute for specific time/date.
  7. Parents are fully aware of the schedule, the material and the plan as regards students.
  8. Students are free to schedule hours that work for them to complete the unit(s)
  9. Students have full freedom to secure answers to the worksheets however they choose, knowing that for the Pastoral Reflection time they need each be ready to answer all questions.

Covert:

  1. Monitor parents usually spend time reading some of materials for their own benefit.
  2. Monitor parents know exactly what is happening in terms of progress of all students.
  3. All parents have a vested interest in student completing on time, knowing they will be the Overtime Monitors should their student fail to complete in assigned time.
  4. Parents are “owning” the process and participating in it.
  5. Students are free to divide up the researching of the various books, articles, videos and/or internet sources however they wish, but each must come to Pastoral Reflection time ready with answers to all questions, thus they end up explaining to & teaching each other, not just copying answers from each other.
  6. They will invariably end up talking about many aspects of school and life as they work together, intermixing it with “faith talk” as they learn and share what they have learned with each other.
  7. Almost necessarily there will be discussion between parent(s) and student(s) about the course and where they are at; even, as parents read this or that resource, some faith sharing as to what they read, and how they understand it.
  8. Intentionally having students exposed to more than one author/presenter to realize that all Lutherans don’t necessarily think exactly alike, bringing a freedom to “prefer” one author/presenter over another, as they are forming their own understanding of different faith dimensions covered.

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Tenth Grade Supervised Study

TENTH GRADE SUPERVISED STUDY UNITS

FAITH FORMATION/CONFIRMATION PLAN

(TEN COMMANDMENTS & APOSTLE’S CREED)

1.  OVERVIEW:  This unit is intentionally using a team learning experience on behalf of the students.  Students form groups of from two (2) to four (4) members who will work together in completing study guides and at Pastoral Reflection Time.

Space needs:  Three separate areas.  Large room, spaced out; Three Sunday School classrooms, as example.

  • Room 1: Resource Room, which consists of stored resources for completing the respective worksheets, tables and chairs for teams to work together at, a “head table” for teams to sign in and out each evening (session) at which parents are scheduled to monitor.  Monitor sees that students/teams are signed in and out, check out audio/video resources, oversees scheduling of Pastoral Reflection time with Pastor, and maintains sense of discipline in room.
  • Audio/Video room with equipment to view specific materials
  • Pastoral Reflection Room consists of table with chairs for team members on one side; Pastor on the other

Schedule Plan: 

10 Commandments

  • Meeting with Parents/Students in Spring, preceding Fall Schedule to review the Unit Plans of the Ten Commandments to be done as described above for initial sign up of Monitors and giving students ample time to self/family select teams.
  • Between Labor Day and Thanksgiving have set aside eight (8) Wednesdays for the rooms to be open, supplied, and Mentor ready. 
  • Each Wednesday, Monitor will be present for three hours, example: 6 pm to 9 pm.
  • Student teams (necessarily together) sign in for at least one hour, but up to all three if they choose, as the 4 page study guided unit will take average students about 8 hours to complete, on/in the time line they choose during the eight weeks of the rooms being open for three hours each night.
  • A Pastoral Reflection time is to be scheduled by each team following their completion of each of the four study guides.  Scheduled on the Pastoral Reflection Schedule provided. Pastoral Reflection time is for the team to review what they have learned, by using the study guide just completed.  (about ½ hour)
  • Teams proceed at their own rates, and at their own times.  May be in for three hours one night and not back at all the next week, for example.  Need to know that completing the unit in the prescribed 8 weeks is the expectation, and the scheduled Wednesdays all available to them.
  • Any team(s) which are not able to complete the unit in prescribed time go into “Overtime” (it is football season, after all!).  Overtime means that the parents of the team(s) not finished will continue as mentors until the overtime team wins!  (Provides a certain amount of parental encouragement, as you might guess!)

The Apostle’s Creed

The second unit (This We Believe! ) is done on/in a Retreat setting in the Spring; with sessions Friday eve, Saturday am & pm and evening, or Sunday am. With the same format of resource area study, audio/visual space and Pastoral Reflection space.  Parents are in charge of transportation, meals/food/snacks, activities and chaperoning.  A Bible camp; another larger church or ??? as a destination…we even used a National Forest Campground one time, with three parent campers as the three spaces to meet, if outside didn’t work!

Overview of Confirmation Ministry Process: Actual Plan used for Grade 9

NINTH GRADE

WORSHIP:  Fifteen (15) Units earned.

SUNDAY SCHOOL:  Fifteen (15) Sunday School Credits earned.

CONFIRMATION UNITS:  NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES:

           (ABCW assignments in Matthew & Epistles)

            Session 1:  Matthew: 

  • First Wed. in September through First Wed. in November (Wednesday classes @ 5:30 p.m.)

            Session 2:  Paul’s Letters: 

  • Retreat setting @ Bible Camp with 8th graders (Third/Fourth weekend in April)

            Serving: 

  • Greeter 2-4 times & Lector or Usher 2-4 times. (as least 6 times total)
  • Help with Grace Lutheran’s Road clean-up either Fall or Spring.

            Additional Learning: 

  • Attend and take notes of at least two Ministry Team meetings.

Overview of the Confirmation Ministry Process: Actual Plan Used for Grades 7 and 8

SEVENTH GRADE

WORSHIP:  Fifteen (15) Worship Units earned.

SUNDAY SCHOOL; Fifteen (15) Sunday School Credits earned.

CONFIRMATION UNITS:  Holy Baptism & We are the Lutherans

            Unit 1:  Holy Baptism: (1st Wed. of Sept.-2nd Wed of Oct.)

  • Parent/Student meetings, 1st Wed. & last Wed.(banner making) Student classes @ 5:30 pm between…
  • Third Sunday of October: Affirmation of Baptism @ Worship

            Unit 2:  We are the Lutherans: 

(Overnight retreat @ church w/7th Grade)

  • Second weekend in January.  (Friday evening – Saturday pm.)

            Serving:  Acolytes, as scheduled, September – May

  • Helping clean nursery, Quarterly, with Nursery Staff
  • Memory: Apostles’ Creed & Meanings

EIGHTH GRADE

WORSHIP:  Fifteen (15) Worship Units earned.

SUNDAY SCHOOL:  Fifteen (15) Sunday School Credits earned.

CONFIRMATION UNIT:  Old Testament Studies (Saints and Sojourners)

            Session 1:    Mid-September through Mid-November

                                    (Wednesday classes @ 6:30 pm) 

            Session 2:    Retreat setting @ Bible Camp with 9th grade

                                    (Third/Fourth Weekend in April)

            Serving: 

  • Usher 2-4 times; Serve in Nursery 2-4 times, totaling at least 6 units.
  • Help with Spring clean up at Church (or at Bible Camp)
  • Memory: Ten Commandments & Meanings

Overview of the Confirmation Ministry Process: Actual Plan Used for Grades 5 and 6

FIFTH GRADE

WORSHIP:  Fifteen (15) Worship Units earned.

SUNDAY SCHOOL:  Fifteen (15) Sunday School Credits earned.

CONFIRMATION UNIT: 

Holy Communion Unit (mid-February to mid-March)

      Learning:  

  • (second week/Feb) Parent/Student meeting; Home learning unit handed out and discussed.  Sign up for family interview. (between first P/S meeting and second S/S meeting)
  • Weekly units studied at home with parents, using handout materials.
  • (third week/March) Parent/Student meeting.  Hand in completed study, make class banner with each student’s symbol of faith and make the communion bread to be shared with congregation at next Sunday’s worship.

       Serving:        (during or following H.C. Unit) 

  • At least once: Help Altar Guild set up for Holy Communion               
  • Help Altar Guild Clean up after Holy Communion
  • With Pastor, distribute bread at Holy Communion

      TIF Unit*:      Martin Luther

  • During last 3 Sundays; Parent/Student classes in Sunday School
  • First Sunday of November:  Luther’s morning prayer, together at both worship services.
  • Memory:  Sacrament of Holy Communion Luther’s Small Catechism

SIXTH GRADE

WORSHIP:  Fifteen (15) Worship Units earned.

SUNDAY SCHOOL: Fifteen (15) Sunday School Credits earned.

CONFIRMATION UNIT:  Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

(Overnight Retreat @ Church, with 7th Grade)

      Learning:   Second weekend of Jan; Fri night thru Sat pm.

  • Lead “Prayers of the People” @ Worship, Second Sunday of January

      Serving:  Acolytes, as scheduled; September through May.

      TIF Unit*:      Confession and Absolution

  • Parent/Student classes during Sunday School last three (3) Sundays of November.
  • Lead in Confession/Absolution @ worship on 1st Sunday of Dec.
  • Memory:  Absolution & Confession                            

*TIF Unit: “Together In Faith” as published by Augsburg Fortress at that time.