I taught my first confirmation class in January 1992… and in my 5 years at Bethany UMC we confirmed over 200 youth… crazy, right? Especially in the beginning, it was super stressful because that’s a lot of responsibility. Fortunately, we had great confirmation mentors who made it possible to have ongoing conversation and discussion with such large class sizes. These confirmation classes fed our youth directly into our awesome youth programs, and I am always heartened when I hear and see these same youth, now adults in their 30’s and 40’s, living out their faith journeys all over the world.
But there was always this underlying prayer surrounding my lesson preparation and teaching, “Lord, please don’t let me screw them up too bad.”
27 years later, I still pray that prayer. But instead of being stressed by my confirmation teaching experience, I am exhilarated by it. And in our first class yesterday, I was reminded about why we can’t just phone it in when we are inviting people to take the work of Jesus and the Church seriously.
When we moved back to Germany in 2014, I figured it wouldn’t be possible to remain totally anonymous because there were people still here (or here again) from our previous assignment ten years earlier. But I didn’t expect that on the first Sunday, I would be asked to help the Protestant congregation have a conversation about why a confirmation class might be a worthy endeavor for us to undertake.
But it wouldn’t be just any confirmation class. We would be working with youth from many traditions who had all been baptized as infants or small children. It was a little overwhelming. I was challenged to put together a curriculum that addressed the common theological doctrines of different denominations – baptism, communion, the Trinity, missions and ministry, and spiritual disciplines – while also trying not to touch the third rails that separate us. And over the last five years, I have whipped together something that works, both for me and for the youth, their families and congregations.
I love all of my Stuttgart confirmands. I am so happy to see them successful and pursuing the questions of faith in local churches and our military chapel. Each class has had its own personality, and it usually takes a couple of weeks to figure out how to get them engaged with the material.
But this year’s class – they offered me no time to settle in. You know you’re in for a good time when it’s evident they have read the lessons, formulated questions, and took notes when I went off script with my answers. It was exhilarating! And now that I think about it more, it is scary – but in a very good way.
I have two bookshelves filled, mostly with books I’ve read before. This makes no sense to my husband. He reads a book and he’s done. He watches a movie and its classified a “recommend” or “see something else.” I scan through the channels and if “A Few Good Men” is on, he knows we are settling in for the night.
In the same way, I don’t mind leading a class or book discussion multiple times. Each group encounters the topic differently and those differences are always enlightening.
But it does leave room to be a little less proactive in preparation if I’m not careful. Trust me, that lesson has been learned.
Here’s the whole reason I’m writing this all down… I am so thankful for the opportunity to reexamine my own faith journey and theological quest through the questions of these youth. It’s giving me the chance to not only help these youth develop a language of faith but to give mine a little tune-up at the same time.
In 1996, a cheeky 11th grader asked me a question with 5 minutes left to go in our Sunday night youth group… note to self – be careful when you ask “Are there any more questions?” She asked, “What the deal with the Trinity?” And maybe in the biggest turning point in my ministry, I did not blow her off but attempted to honor and answer her question in the spirit of my amazing Christian Theology professor, Frederick Hertzog… which took about 20 minutes. By the end of class, not one youth had left, and 20 parents were sitting behind me, taking it all in. I don't know that I gave the most theologically accurate answer, for I did want them to know that the question was worthy of our time.
Taking these questions seriously is so important. It tells the youth that their questions matter… that no question is too silly or simple that it doesn’t require a hearing. For those of us with a little more information and experience in Christian living, these questions help us perform a checkup on how we talk about what we believe. And often those words need to be spoken aloud. Added bonus, it’s the main reason I can still justify keeping all those books I’ve read before and buying new ones to add to their company.
First-week questions in our discussion of baptism included:
• Why does the bible always refer to God as a man?
• How is the Holy Spirit different from God and Jesus? and
• If God has a plan, does that mean we don’t get to make choices for ourselves?
Please let it be noted that sometimes the answer is, “I don’t know… but let’s try to figure it out together.”
And now, I hope you’ll excuse me while I go read up on the Eucharist for next week’s class.
Peace, Deb
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