Much to my astonished delight, I’ve begun teaching another round of confirmation classes. The three churches and their respective clergy (3 priests and a deacon - sounds like the start of a joke) have gotten together again for this adventure and after last week, I find myself looking forward to tomorrows class. I always make the comment on the first class that if any are there because their parents or their grandparents say they have to be confirmed, and if by the end of the classes the participants decide, for whatever reason, not to be confirmed yet, I’d stand with them and back up their decision with mom and grandma. I make sure they know that we are there to help them explore what it means to be a Christian, what it means to believe, what it means to have faith. We go through the Apostles creed and the questions they will be asked by the bishop in the confirmation liturgy so they feel confident in answering them with integrity.
This latest crop of kids is wonderful. The first question was “Should we be taking the creation story literally or as a metaphor?” They weren’t even thrown off when I asked which creation story they meant, Adam and Eve or the 7 days OR when I asked what they thought! In fact it just prompted more discussion. What about the parables? What about the beasts in the book of Revelation? What about the antichrist? What does prayer do? What is the Trinity?
Tomorrow we’re talking about Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking Bread and Prayers – It promises to be a packed evening, but I can’t wait to hear where the discussions go. My own spiritual life has been dragging for the past little while, so I hope their enthusiasm can enliven me. Sounds like the point I may use to teach what fellowship is… Christians gathering together to encourage each other in our own faith journey.
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