Last week on our social media channels, we posted the details of what we discovered about design, one of the four dimensions of confirmation that surfaced in the key learnings of our qualitative research. We share those details here, along with a portrait of a congregation who exemplified them in practice to meet the needs of one particular confirmation student.
Design: Custom-designed and contextually adaptive confirmation cultivates learning environments where Christian tradition and life experience intersect.
Starting with a belief that a life of faith makes a difference to individuals, communities of faith, and the world, confirmation ministries custom-designed learning environments that were meaningful for youth to explore their faith and impact their life. These ministries recognized God’s agency, appreciated church tradition, imagined new possibilities, and focused on discipling youth as they drew on available assets, addressed real challenges, and adapted to their context. Using creative pedagogical approaches and attuned to their context, the design of confirmation was overtly attentive to theology and relationships.
Portrait: Kingston United Methodist Church
Imagine that a child in your congregation is ready to go through the confirmation process, and although her family must move from the USA to Switzerland for 3 years, her parents would like for her to be confirmed in your church. Is it possible? Click to read this portrait of Kingston United Methodist Church in Kingston, NJ and how they successfully accommodated such a request! It’s an excellent example of the importance of design in confirmation.
Annie, in the USA, and Shelby, in Switzerland, met once a week for virtual confirmation classes.
Virtual confirmation via FaceTime.
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