THE CONFIRMATION PROJECT IN CONTEXT GRACE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN

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THE CONFIRMATION PROJECT IN CONTEXT: GRACE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, BOONE, NC Sylvia Bull Webinar

THE CONFIRMATION PROJECT IN CONTEXT: GRACE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, BOONE, NC Sylvia Bull Webinar November 17, 2015

GRACE LUTHERAN, BOONE ➤ Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ➤ Located

GRACE LUTHERAN, BOONE ➤ Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ➤ Located in the mountains of northwestern North Carolina ➤ Members: approximately 550 ➤ Avg. worship attendance: 220 ➤ Confirmation students: 10 -12 ➤ 9 boys, 2 girls ➤ 2 sixth-graders, 1 seventh-grader, 8 eighth-graders ➤ Meeting time: 10: 00 am - 10: 45 am Sundays ➤ 3 -year program ➤ Year 1: Bible ➤ Year 2: Small Catechism ➤ Year 3: Discipleship

CONFIRMATION PROJECT LEARNINGS How we’ve applied them to Grace Lutheran, and how you can

CONFIRMATION PROJECT LEARNINGS How we’ve applied them to Grace Lutheran, and how you can apply them, too!

LEARNING 1: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION MEANS KNOWING YOUR GOALS ➤ What are our goals for

LEARNING 1: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION MEANS KNOWING YOUR GOALS ➤ What are our goals for confirmation overall? ➤ What are our specific goals for the year? ➤ Do our goals guide our decisions about curriculum? ➤ Are all our leaders aware of and on board with these goals? ➤ Do we have a way to evaluate if we are meeting our goals?

LEARNING 2: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION IS HIGHLY RELATIONAL ➤ Do our students already know each

LEARNING 2: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION IS HIGHLY RELATIONAL ➤ Do our students already know each other? ➤ Do our students already know the leaders, and vice-versa? ➤ What can we change to enhance our focus on relationships? ➤ Example: How do we handle absences? ➤ Example: Is any evaluation done? How?

LEARNING 3: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION ENGAGES PARENTS ➤ Are parents involved? To what degree? ➤

LEARNING 3: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION ENGAGES PARENTS ➤ Are parents involved? To what degree? ➤ How can we engage parents more? ➤ Example: Do parents make a commitment to the program? ➤ Example: Are parents expected to attend any class sessions? ➤ Example: Do parents help teach?

LEARNING 4: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS ➤ What level of engagement do we

LEARNING 4: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS ➤ What level of engagement do we expect from students? ➤ Is this expectation communicated to students and parents? ➤ What is our attendance policy? ➤ How do our teaching methods match our expectation for student engagement?

LEARNING 5: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION ENCOURAGES QUESTIONS ➤ Is the confirmation class a space where

LEARNING 5: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION ENCOURAGES QUESTIONS ➤ Is the confirmation class a space where students feel safe to ask questions? How do we know? ➤ Do leaders honor and respond to questions? ➤ Is the curriculum attentive to or guided by student questions? ➤ Example: In planning, do we seek out student input? ➤ Example: When questions arise, how do teachers respond? ➤ Example: Is the curriculum flexible enough to be adapted in response to student questions?

LEARNING 6: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION INCLUDES MENTORING ➤ Do students in confirmation have opportunities to

LEARNING 6: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION INCLUDES MENTORING ➤ Do students in confirmation have opportunities to get to know other members of the congregation as part of confirmation? ➤ Is formal or informal mentoring a part of confirmation? ➤ If not, which is a better fit for our context?

LEARNING 7: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION IS A CHURCH-WIDE EFFORT ➤ Is confirmation guided by the

LEARNING 7: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION IS A CHURCH-WIDE EFFORT ➤ Is confirmation guided by the mission and vision of our congregation? ➤ Is confirmation connected to other ministries in our congregation? ➤ Are students expected to participate in ministry? ➤ Are congregation members expected to know about and participate with confirmation?

LEARNING 8: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION GOES TO CAMP ➤ Does confirmation include a camp or

LEARNING 8: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION GOES TO CAMP ➤ Does confirmation include a camp or retreat? ➤ If yes, what role does camp have in confirmation? ➤ Does the camp or retreat connect our students with confirmands from other churches?

LEARNING 9: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION KNOWS ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT ➤ What is the culture of

LEARNING 9: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION KNOWS ITS CULTURAL CONTEXT ➤ What is the culture of our church? Our neighborhood? Our city? ➤ Does confirmation (the structure, content, and teaching methods) show an awareness of our cultural context? ➤ Just because we’re mostly white, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to this!

LEARNING 10: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION USES A VARIETY OF TEACHING METHODS (AND TECHNOLOGY!) ➤ How

LEARNING 10: EFFECTIVE CONFIRMATION USES A VARIETY OF TEACHING METHODS (AND TECHNOLOGY!) ➤ How do our students learn best? ➤ Do we use a variety of teaching methods? ➤ Examples: discussion-based, action-reflection, experiential, lecture, exploratory ➤ Do our teaching methods fit with our goals? ➤ Do we incorporate technology into any of our teaching? ➤ Examples: videos, flipped classroom, apps, projects

CONCLUSION ➤ CONTEXT, CONTEXT!!! ➤ Be creative: How can you adapt strategies from other

CONCLUSION ➤ CONTEXT, CONTEXT!!! ➤ Be creative: How can you adapt strategies from other places so that they will fit your context? ➤ Prioritize ➤ Leave room for growth ➤ Pray ➤ Have fun!