Rebecca Kirkpatrick is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA) and has written an interesting blog called called “Bread, Not Stones” from her experiences teaching the Confirmation Class at her local church. She has also published a new book, “100 Things Every Child Should Know Before Confirmation.” It’s worth reading!
Over the course of the next several months, we’ll be re-posting her blog posts for you as she tackles the privilege of guiding our children into a deeper, more trusting relationship with Jesus Christ. May her thoughts, your coaching, and your child’s active participation with their FPC Sunday School small group work together to raise your child to be a faithful follower of our Lord!
In a perfect world Confirmation is, among other things time for…
Students to consider their baptismal identity…Explore the particulars of their Christian tradition…Move beyond the Bible “stories” to biblical theology…Prepare to take on the role of an adult member of a congregation…
In the real world, Confirmation often becomes:
A course in the basic stories of the Bible. An introduction to being a Christian…A corrective to misunderstandings or misconceptions of church life…An obligation that students take on to make their parents/grandparents happy…
In an attempt to wrap my head around my disappointments with what happens in Confirmation, I have compiled a list of 100 things that I wish students knew BEFORE they stepped into my Confirmation class, and I will be sharing them here over the next few months.
I will move through this list (in groups of five), sharing ways that parents can greatly improve their child’s experience of Confirmation, either through simple conversations or a habit of cracking that children’s Bible together at bedtime.
The first 5 things that children need to know before Confirmation – Bible Basics
- The Bible is composed of many different books with different authors written at different times.
- Much of the Bible comes from ancient oral tradition.
- The Old Testament is the story of the Israelite people.
- The New Testament is the story of the life of Jesus and the early Christians.
- There are many different modern translations of the Bible.