Receive a Deeper Understanding of Christ’s Faith
Confirmation is the renewal of the baptismal covenant. It marks the first time a baptized Christian publicly confesses and confirms their intentions to live into the vows of the baptism and membership covenant of their local congregation. Here at Spanish Fort United Methodist Church, Confirmation is the process where we teach the beliefs of the Christian faith, and especially those that are distinctive to the United Methodist Church. Through this process, with the help of parents, we hope to equip confirmands to make important decisions about their faith and membership.
Process of Confirmation
Welcome to Confirmation! We are thankful to God that you have decided to confirm your faith. The process of Confirmation is one filled with support and prayerful guidance given from our staff and church family. You may be asking what does it mean to be confirmed? The word confirm means “to make stronger.” Therefore, when you are confirmed, you are: 1) Strengthening your baptismal vows, 2) Strengthening your relationship with God, and 3) Strengthening your membership in the church.
This process of Confirmation involves 10 weeks of classes, guest speakers, activities, retreats, worship experiences, and community service opportunities. We believe that parents should be very involved in the Confirmation process with their child. We will also offer a family-oriented confirmand parent class that will help foster relationships between the Confirmands and their parents.
Confirmation is a commitment that we strive to honor unto God. We value the time that is put into the Confirmation process by our staff and mentors. Therefore, if there are special circumstances where a student must be absent, please inform us ahead of time. To keep the commitment of Confirmation, if more than three sessions are missed, the confirmand and parent will be asked to meet with the pastoral staff for further discernment about the process. We encourage you and your family to discuss the commitments to Confirmation for the following year and to review the dates for your own availability.
There will be many questions throughout this process, and our pastoral staff will be available to assist you. Please note that here at Spanish Fort UMC, Confirmation begins in 6th grade and goes up to any age. We would also like you to know that parents do not have to be members in order for their child to be confirmed; however, if you do wish to join the church, our pastors are happy to speak and pray with you.
Again, welcome to Confirmation! Let’s be prayerful for all of our confirmands, everywhere, on this journey of faith.
Confirmation Goals
The following are the goals of Confirmation:
• Teach Confirmands the story of their faith, as contained in the Old and New Testaments and in the history and traditions of Christianity and The United Methodist Church.
• Give Confirmands a basic understanding of Christian theology, including the doctrine of the Trinity, creation, sin, and grace.
• Teach Confirmands the traditions and doctrinal emphases that make United Methodism unique.
• Foster relationships between Confirmands and Christian adults in the congregation who can set an example of how to live as a mature Christian.
• Give Confirmands an understanding of the importance of Christian education as a lifelong endeavor; and help confirmands develop a habit of participating in Christian education.
• Give Confirmands an understanding of Christian worship as practiced in The United Methodist Church and why worship is an essential part of Christian discipleship.
• Challenge Confirmands to serve God and others through the life and ministry of the congregation.
• Give Confirmands an opportunity to go on retreats, withdrawing from their normal routine and drawing closer to God and their fellow Christians.
• Teach Confirmands about the vows they will have an opportunity to take and the commitments that one makes when one says yes to those vows.