Confirmation 7th - 9th Grades
Wednesday Faith Growth for Students
Due to COVID-19 the detail of our fall planning is contingent upon the containment or spread of the virus. We are moving forward with several plans and will "dial" forward or backward as the circumstances warrant.
Weekly Schedule
Wednesday, September 9
6pm - Refuel (NEW THIS FALL - a 20-minute, livestreamed and on demand, mid-week, informal worship, refueling youth and families to care and serve.)
- 7th Grade & Parents - Sanctuary
- 8th Grade - Watch the livestream of REfuel at home
- 9th Grade & Parent Orientation - Luther Hall (REfuel will be simulcast on the screen in Luther Hall)
6:20pm
- 7th Grade & Parents’ Stepping Stone - Sanctuary
- 8th Grade - Zoom with small group
- 9th Grade & Parent Orientation - Luther Hall
For those not able to attend onsite we plan to offer either a livestream and/or Zoom option
General Information:
- Confirmation will continue on Wednesdays, beginning with REFUEL - a weekly livestreamed informal worship - at 6pm.
- Grades 7 - 9 will then meet either in-person, or via Zoom (We will work to make a livestream or Zoom option available).
- Groups meeting in-person will NOT be meeting in our Sunday School classrooms (as these rooms are too small and do not allow for social distancing).
- Our small groups will meet outdoors when the weather permits, or in our large rooms (the Sanctuary, Luther Hall, Music Room and Atrium)
- When meeting in-person masks will be required.
- Students in grades 7- 9 will be asked to submit online Worship Notes.
- We will not be traveling off-site for service projects until it is safe to do so.
- Students in grade 10 will be preparing for their Confirmation on Sunday, October 25. Details.
Confirmation Retreat, October 9 - 11
Act justly...love mercy...walk humbly.
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8
Our Confirmation Retreat this fall, rather than going to Camp Onomia, will be a unique local urban immersion experience as we wrestle with the Biblical call to justice.
Joe Davis will be our featured guest throughout the weekend, culminating in an Immanuel-wide Sunday morning worship with Joe. Joe is a poet, musician, educator and cultural architect (watch the video for a brief introduction).
NOTE: We need at least one parent from each household to be with their child on the Saturday of the retreat (driving their child into Minneapolis and spedning time with their child throughout the day).
Registration and details: https://www.immanuel.us/youth/confirmation-retreat
2020 Schedule
Sept. 9 - First Night of Confirmation
Oct. 9 - 11 - Confirmation Retreat
Oct. 14 – MEA (No Confirmation)
Nov. 25 – Thanksgiving Worship (No Confirmation)
Dec. 23 & 30 – No Confirmation
Jan. 6 - Resume
Feb. 17 – Ash Wednesday
March 31 – Holy Week and Spring Breaks (No Confirmation)
May 5 – Last night of Confirmation
Confirmation at Immanuel
Students grow in faith through large group worship and teaching, service projects, a retreat, and students grow tight and personal relationships in small groups led by adult Guides and about 50 high school (grades 10-12) Student Leaders.
Each spring we seek out loving and caring adults to serve as Confirmation Guides. Is God calling you to serve in this way?
Students are confirmed in the fall of their 10th grade year (on Reformation Sunday).
Students attend the annual Confirmation Retreat - a weekend of growing in friendships and faith at Camp Onomia.
We have a 3-year curriculum that will focus on God and what God has done for us. As tools we will use the Bible and Martin Luther’s Small Catechism to help us grow in understanding God. We will use songs/music to assist us with memorizing Scripture.
- 7th & 8th Grade, Year 1: New Testament; Year 2: Old Testament
- 9th Grade, Year 3: Daily Discipleship, Questions of Faith, Faith Statements
Small Groups
Our students gather as a large group for our Confirmation opening and then split into their small groups. These small groups provide intentional and deep faith community where students not only learn about faith but experience the Christian faith in/through caring and trusted relationships.
Registration:
- New students are asked to register on/before April 1 so that small groups can be formed in a timely manner.
- Returning students are asked to register on/before August 21.
- 2020 - 2021: Register for 2020 - 2021
We ask that parents do 3 things:
1. Grow in Faith with your Child
- Pray for & with your child daily as it is God who gives and creates faith in us.
- Share highs and lows, read the Bible and then turn your highs and lows into prayer.
- Bible Reading…through the written word, Jesus the Living Word comes to us!
- Use The Faith Five as a format for daily devotions.
2. Worship, Worship Notes and Acolyting
- Worship with your child on Sunday or Saturday and help your child complete 15 worship notes.
- Support your child when scheduled to be an Acolyte.
- Watch the acolyte training video for a reminder of what you need to do.
3. Service Hours Assist your child to participate in the service projects and complete 4 x 60 minute acts of service. This may include:
- Confirmation small group service projects
- Personal acts of service (e.g. teaching Sunday School, VBS Helper, volunteering in the church nursery, scouting service hours, free babysitting, leaf raking, snow shoveling, food packing at Feed My Starving Children, etc.)
- After each act of service each individual, or group, is asked to submit the Act of Service reflection sheet within one week of completing the act of service.
- Confirmation small groups may choose to do this immediately after the act of service or at Confirmation the following week.
- Confirmation Guides will keep a record of each student’s act of service hours.
Can friends come?
Yes! Many students do invite their friends to grow and learn with them.
For more information contact:
Martin Rathjen
Minister of Faith Formation
952-230-0354 (direct dial)
952-937-8123 ex. 54
martin@immanuel.us
A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America