Confirmation

MEETING WITH SESSION: October 22

7:15pm Confirmands, Parents and Mentors gather over ZOOM

We'll meet first on Zoom to make sure everyone feels comfortable. Parents are invited to pull up a chair next to their child to support them. Reminder that tonight is not a test. It's a conversation, a chance for Session members to get to know you and you them. While I know some may feel nervous, this should be an easy, fun night.

7:30pm Session members will join the ZOOM call

Dr. Baer and Dr. Strickland will welcome everyone and give an overview of the night. I'll introduce this class! Then, we'll move into breakout rooms.

7:45pm Breakout Rooms

We will break into 4 different rooms, with 3 confirmands in each room. Mentors will be with you. And there will be 6-7 Session members, so roughly 10-12 people in each room. Session members will introduce themselves. Mentors will introduce themselves, then their confirmand. Reminder this is not a test, it's a chance to get to know you better! Each confirmand will be asked to read your Faith Statement then answer 1-2 questions depending on time - share about:

- a time when they felt God’s presence in their life?

- a time when you felt you were showing Christ’s love.

- Someone who has influenced their faith journey or who’s faith they admire and why

- a favorite verse from scripture? What does it mean to you?

8:10pm Everyone rejoins main Zoom Room

We'll come back together and give a chance for Session members to talk about how great yall are! Then, Dr. Baer will ask you the 4 confirmation questions, to which you'll answer as a group:

  1. Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do.

  2. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

  3. Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love? I will, with God’s help.

  4. Will you devote yourself to the church’s teaching, and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers? I will, with God’s help.

8:25pm Closing Prayer

Yea! You did it! We'll close out with prayer and see you all on Sunday!


CONFIRMATION SUNDAY: October 25

We are working on having an in-person option for confirmands and their parents. I'll send out a googleform with more details and to rsvp early on Monday. I just wanted to give a heads up. So, confirmands and parents, wearing masks and socially distanced. Unfortunately with trying to keep numbers under 45, we cannot have mentors join us, but we know you will be there in spirit. I also know that not every youth will be in person and that is ok.

CLOSING RETREAT: October 18

1-2pm All confirmands meet over ZOOM

We will spend time going through each of the 12 sessions, talk about Faith Statements, and plans for meeting with Session. All "assignments" should be completed by the time we meet on Sunday. These reflections will serve as the foundation as you begin to write your personal statements of faith. Zoom ID: 885 7426 0066

2pm Mentors are asked to join us on ZOOM

We will meet as a group for just 15 minutes to talk about the faith statement and what to expect at the Session meeting. Afterwards, you are welcome to stay online and I can put you in a breakout room with your confirmand to work for a bit on the faith statements. **

2-4pm Zoom Room open to meet 1:1 with Kim

I will plan to stay on Zoom from 2-4 today to meet with anyone who needs help with their faith statements, has questions or just wants to talk about any of the sessions we've done this year. You can pop in for a 5 minute quick question or stay and chat for a while. I'll be there!

2-5pm Confirmands work on their faith statements**

The majority of our retreat will be spent with you working on your faith statement. You are encouraged to include your mentor in part/all of this time. You can plan to meet in person, over the phone or use our Zoom Meeting ID to meet in a breakout room. See googleclassroom for more information on faith statements.

5pm Draft Faith Statements DUE

By 5pm today, I want to see drafts (submitted via google classroom) of each person's faith statement. I'll offer feedback if needed. Final faith statements are due on October 20th. In normal times, all youth leave the closing retreat with a clear plan and sometimes finished product so want to make sure no one waits till the last minute!


10/9 update part II

Doing confirmation class online is hard. I miss being together and having real conversations. I know many of you are feeling the same way. As we approach the end of this crazy year, I wanted to offer one on one meetings. If you are struggling with content from the sessions, have questions about your faith, or just want to get together for conversation, let me know! I will come to you or we can meet somewhere. I'll provide the treat - blizzards or donuts, and we can sit outside to socially distance. Please take a minute to fill out this google form to let me know how you're doing.

After lots of conversations, we also finally have a plan in place for the closing retreat! As you'll see below, the first hour is online, but then the rest is spent working on your faith statement/creation. Attached is a little more information about faith statements if you want to start thinking about what you will write, create, present.

Closing Retreat: October 18

1-2pm All confirmands meet over ZOOM

We will spend time going through each of the 12 sessions, talk about Faith Statements, and plans for meeting with Session. All "assignments" should be completed by the time we meet on Sunday. These reflections will serve as the foundation as you begin to write your personal statements of faith.

2-4pm Zoom Room open to meet 1:1 with Kim

I will plan to stay on Zoom from 2-4 today to meet with anyone who needs help with their faith statements, has questions or just wants to talk about any of the sessions we've done this year. You can pop in for a 5 minute quick question or stay and chat for a while. I'll be there!

2-5pm Confirmands work on their faith statements (off line)

The majority of our retreat will be spent with you working on your faith statement. You are encouraged to include your mentor in part/all of this time. You can plan to meet in person, over the phone or use our Zoom Meeting ID to meet in a breakout room. See googleclassroom for more information on faith statements.

5pm Draft Faith Statements DUE

By 5pm today, I want to see drafts (submitted via google classroom) of each person's faith statement. I'll offer feedback if needed. Final faith statements are due on October 20th. In normal times, all youth leave the closing retreat with a clear plan and sometimes finished product so want to make sure no one waits till the last minute!

October 9 update

It was a little over a year ago when parents and youth gathered in a Godly Play Circle to hear the Baptism Story. So much has changed since then and I know online confirmation is not what we signed up for. These last seven months have been a true test of our faith and perseverance. I created this online, asynchronous model to be flexible and short (only 20 minutes), while making sure each session is meaningful. We are halfway through the 13 sessions, and as you can see from the image to the right, there are a lot of missing assignments. While I am not grading your reflections, I do expect that you take time each day to complete the session - do the activity, interview your mentor or parent, and reflect on how the question impacts your faith.

Please take time to complete all missing assignments this weekend so you are all caught up for Monday. I know that a few of you are on Fall Break, so just make sure you're complete by the time you go back to school. I don't want everyone to wait till the last day and rush through all the sessions in one sitting.

Lastly, I am working on plans for the Closing Retreat, but will send that in a different email later this weekend. Thank you for being committed to this process, for being on this faith journey together. If you need anything, let me know. I am here to support you and am happy to meet in person or over zoom to chat. Happy Friday!

JOIN GOOGLE CLASSROOM

All confirmands should join the google classroom to access class Sessions and Assignments.

10/1 #1 What is confirmation?

10/2 #2 How do we know and trust God?

10/5 #3 What is sin and how do we turn from it?

10/6 #4 Who is your Lord?

10/7 #5 Who is your Savior?

10/8 #6 What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

10/9 #7 What does it mean to show Christ’s love?

10/12 #8 Will you devote yourself to the Church’s teaching?

10/13 #9 Will you devote yourself to the Church’s fellowship?

10/14 #10 Will you devote yourself to the breaking of bread?

10/15 #11 Will you devote yourself to prayers?

10/16 #12 What is a Presbyterian?

10/18 CLOSING RETREAT - What do YOU believe?

CONFIRMATION CLASS UPDATE! 9/16/20

September 30, 8-9pm Zoom

We'll get this year restarted with a Zoom gathering for confirmands and mentors on Wednesday, September 30th. We'll start with a check in on everyone, then I'll go over the plans for October, leaving time for questions at the end. Zoom ID: 832-1214-1438

October 1-16 Confirmation "class"

Rather than try to meet in person or over Zoom, we will go virtual for our confirmation catch-up and invite our mentors to join us! An email will be sent each day (M-F) to both youth and mentors with something related to the PCUSA catechism questions. Over email, mentors and youth will both be asked to respond to the reflection questions posed at the end of each “session”. My hope is that this model will allow each person to really look at what they believe and serve as a building block to writing a much deeper faith statement. Daily posts will also be posted here.

October 18 Confirmation Retreat

We will have a 1/2 day Confirmation Retreat on SUNDAY from 1-5pm. Iam hopeful that we'll be able to meet in person, socially distanced in Fellowship Hall, but will make that call closer to the date. The focus of this retreat will be how to live out our faith in the community and through leadership roles within FPC Athens. Mentors will be invited to join us for the second half to help with personal statements of faith.

October 20 Faith Statements due

At the closing retreat, youth will be provided a template for faith statements and will work with their mentors to create a statement that is personal. In addition to this written faith statement, we will also create a confirmation video to share with the congregation. All written Faith Statement along with any art, photos, songs that we will use to create our 2020 Confirmation Class video are due 10/20.

October 22 Meeting with Session over Zoom

Confirmands, parents and mentors will meet with Session over Zoom on Thursday, October 22 from 7:30-8:30pm to share their faith statements. We will use the breakout function of Zoom to create small groups so you are not presenting to the whole Session. Mentors will be asked to introduce their confirmands and then youth will read their faith statements. We will talk more about this at the retreat.

October 25 Confirmation Sunday

Yea! You did it! Today is Confirmation Sunday! During worship, you will be presented to the congregation. We will post the video on social media that you prepared to introduce the congregation to the Confirmation Class of 2020. That evening, we'd like to invite confirmands to an in-person, socially distanced blessing with our pastors at 7pm. Details to follow. This will be in place of HS youth group.


CONFIRMATION SUNDAY ONLINE GATHERING

April 26th 10am

In honor of what would have been Confirmation Sunday, I would like to invite all confirmands and their mentors to join me online on Sunday, April 26th from 10-10:40 am. Feel free to come in your pjs, bring your breakfast and coffee. We'll have time to check in, do a little activity/devotional and just be together. I really hope everyone can be there!


Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 980 8136 1574

Password: 016793

If you have not been on a Zoom call yet, check out this link for instructions.

UPDATE 3/25/2020

CONFIRMATION CLASS POSTPONED TO FALL 2020

I hope everyone is doing well despite the circumstances. As you have now heard, the Session met last night and has extended our church's emergency operating plan through April 30th. This impacts both the confirmation closing retreat and Confirmation Sunday. Rather than modify to meet online, I have asked that we postpone this year's confirmation class to the Fall of 2020. The closing retreat is a critical part to confirmation, a time when we will go deeper into what each person believes, writing personal faith statements and looking at the catechism questions. One on one time with mentors is part of the retreat. While I have enjoyed connecting with youth over zoom the last two Sundays for youth group, I do not think it is the best vehicle for this important milestone. I am just as disappointed as all of you, but believe waiting till Fall make sure our last time together before meeting with Session and being presented to the congregation is best done in person. We will likely do an overnight retreat in August with Confirmation scheduled for sometime in September.

In the meantime, I'd love to "see" all the youth in a zoom meeting this Thursday, March 26 at 4pm. Meeting ID: 659 517 8678. I'll be emailing mentors next, but hope that these relationships will continue through the rest of this school year and summer and only be strengthened as we gather again in the Fall.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you for your understanding,

Kim

confirm 19-20.pdf

Confirmation Class 2020

Abigale BishopBen NessCarolina TurnerDavid MagrinoGrier Martin-WilliamsIsabelle SewardJohnny CarrKate MacMillanKatherine QueenParker MiddletonRachel HuffThadd PruittWyatt Haynes

January 26, 2020

This Sunday is an important one for confirmation. We'll be hear a Godly Play story about the disciples, then each youth will be assigned one of Jesus' disciples to learn more about. Working with their mentor they will write up brief bios and present to the congregation during Youth Sunday. Mentors are asked to join us for class this week - 9am in the PIT!

January 1, 2020

Happy New Year!!

Confirmation class resumes on January 12th at 9am. In preparation for Youth Sunday, we'll talk about the different parts of worship and the Presbyterian order of worship.

Mentors are asked to join us for confirmation class on January 26th. Confirmands and their mentors will be assigned one of Jesus' disciples to learn more about. They will write up brief bios and present to the congregation during Youth Sunday. More info to be provided on 1/26.

December 1, 2019

We still have a few openings for confirmands and their families to light the Advent Wreath. It is a really special opportunity to share in the Christmas season with our church family. If you have not signed up yet, please do so.

December 1: Ben Ness (8:45), Rachel Huff (11:00)

December 8: ____________ (8:45), Kate MacMillan (11:00)

December 15: _____________ (8:45), Parker Middleton (11:00)

December 22: Thadd Pruitt (8:45), Isabelle Seward (11:00

I also am looking for a lay reader for Next Sunday, December 8th at 11am.

I'd like to encourage you to find time this month to meet with your mentor, maybe to do a service project together, to go for a walk, to get a cup of hot chocolate!

November 7, 2019

I have been thrilled to hear how many mentor/confirmand pairs have connected (in person or digitally) since we last met. If you have not yet sent that email or text, it's not too late. This Sunday we will resume with class from 9-11am in the PIT. Mentors are welcome to join us as we do a quick overview of The Book of Order and Book of Confessions.

Most importantly, all confirmands and their mentors will be introduced and receive a special blessing during the 11am worship service. You do not need to sit anywhere in particular, just listen up for when I call yall to the front and stand with your mentor.

Confirmand HOMEWORK: A few weeks ago you were asked to find a scripture verse that meant something to you. I need you to write it down on paper (no phones) and bring it with you to class on Sunday.

Mentor REQUEST: If you have a favorite verse from scripture, will you email me what it is so I can incorporate it into the lesson?

Have a great day...see you Sunday!

September 22, 2019

Week 2 was all about the BIBLE!- learned a great song to help us remember the books of the Bible?!- tested our ability to put them in order...not so easy - practiced finding scripture, chapter and verse- looked at same scripture passage in different versions of the Bible (FPC uses NRSV, which one do you prefer?)- tried to tell the stories of the Bible in only 50 Words!- connected different scripture to how they might comfort us in a variety of life situations - Talked with Dr. Baer about how to read and interpret the Bible: specific revelation vs general revelation This Sunday we will answer the questions: Who is your Lord? How do you trust God? YOUTH Homework:1) Identify a verse from the Bible that is meaningful to you: something that can bring your comfort when you need it, could serve as an inspiration for how to live your life, could be a mantra/prayer. 2) Write it down, highlight it in your Bible. 3) Come prepared to share your verse and why you chose it.4) By the end of confirmation, you'll need to have this memorized.

See y'all on Sunday at 9am in the PIT!

September 15, 2019

We had a great first session of confirmation last week:- Posted some questions/doubts that we have about God/faith. - Shared things we know for sure – God loves us. - Read from Joshua 24 about promises and false gods.- Signed a group covenant.- Wrote down ideas for who they wanted as confirmation mentors. - Watched a crazy fast video (church history in 5 minutes). Here’s a longer, better video you might want to check out.- Talked with Dr. Baer about how our church history impacts our current lives. This Sunday is all about the Bible. Parent Homework:1) If you have not written (and shared) the letter with your child about their baptism, faith journey and hopes for this confirmation year, please do so by Sunday. I’d like to encourage them to keep these letters in their Bibles as a physical reminder of your commitment and involvement in this confirmation journey.2) If you have not yet turned in a check for $75, please send that with your child on Sunday too. Reminder this covers all expenses for the confirmation year, so no more asks!3) Next week, it will be your child who as homework!!
See y'all on Sunday at 9am in the PIT!

September 8, 2019

Thank you to everyone for coming to the Confirmation dinner and blessing last Sunday. We had a great turn out but missed you Parker! Thank you especially to Natalie for sharing the Baptism Godly Play Story with us - as a parent of a confirmand, it was really meaningful for me to remember Ben's baptism 11 years ago in Pittsburgh. Which brings me to..
HOMEWORK (parent): The first homework assignment is for parents. Please take some time in the next week or so to write a letter to your child. You might tell them their baptism story (where was it? how old were then? who was there? did they wear something special? maybe even include a picture); share what your hopes are for their relationship with God as they embark on this confirmation journey; talk about what faith has meant in your life; include favorite Bible verses. This is a private letter between you and your child - we will not share it as a group. When you are ready, hand it to your child and ask them to keep it in their Bible or confirmation journal.
One thing I forgot to do at the meeting was to have youth and parents sign a Covenant. We'll go over it in class this week, then youth will bring it home for parents to sign. Please post this to your bulletin board or refrigerator and when you see it lift up a prayer for this class and their soon-to-be-assigned mentors.
Lastly, we are asking each family to contribute $75 towards the cost of the confirmation year. This includes the new study Bibles and closing retreat expenses. You can drop a check in the offering plate (note confirmation in memo line) or leave it in my box or front office.
See y'all on Sunday at 9am in the PIT!
confirm 19 booklet 11x17 final.pdf