CONFIRMATION

Confirmation is a rite of the United Methodist Church in which people (usually youth) 

become full members of the church by going through the Confirmation class and

making a public affirmation of their faith

to the congregation. 


Our Senior Pastor, David Banks, 

teaches and leads Confirmation with the assistance of the youth minister. 

It consists of multiple lessons and group discussions throughout the school year

and will include at least one weekend retreat.


You can email Pastor David with any questions to dbanks@garberumc.com

Confirmation 2022

The word “confirmation” means to make strong, to strengthen, to make firm.  We use it to entitle a specific rite by which the church seeks to strengthen the spiritual faith, stance, and convictions of those being confirmed.  Like so many or our spiritual acts, confirmation can be consider from three sides: the God side, the church side, and the adherent side.

 

Confirmation is actually a rite acted in worship. The church lays hands upon the adherent and prays for his/her spiritual vitality. It is associated with baptism, and it assumes the baptism of all who are to be confirmed. For some, baptism and confirmation can be immediately sequential. For others, years might separate two acts. God uses the church to baptize and to confirm.

 

The adherent, in confirmation, affirms the vows of his/her baptism. In summary, the vows express repentance -- turning from sin and turning to God, confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, acceptance of the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and accountability in the church of Jesus Christ.

 

We believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, acts directly within the adherent and indirectly through the church. Where there is a public profession of faith, God enabled it. Incorporation into the body of Christ by baptism is a divine act. Strengthening, as confirmation seeks, is the work of God’s Holy Spirit through the Church. The Church proclaims the Gospel and invites a profession of faith. The Church baptizes in the Name of the Holy Trinity. The Church hears and receives the vows. The Church lays on hands.

 

Regarding the three sides, the adherent professes, the church baptizes and confirms, and God unites the person with the body and strengthens him/her for a life in Christ and in service to Christ.

 

Our Confirmation studies will begin in February, 2022, and Confirmation will occur on the Day of Pentecost, June 5, 2022.  We invite any middle or high school student who is unconfirmed to participate.  Confirmation begins Tuesday, February 1, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Tuesdays March 1, April 12, and April 19, we will not meet.

 

Confirmands are expected

  •          To attend Sunday worship, Ash Wednesday (March 2), Maundy Thursday (April 14), Good Friday (April 15),
  •          To attend the Tuesday sessions,
  •          To attend another spiritual formation group like Sunday School or Ignite,
  •          To read the Gospel of Luke, and
  •          To give 5 hours in Christian service between February 1 and May 24.

 

Students who are already confirmed are welcome to participate. Upon completion of the sessions, each student will be need to decide whether or not he or she is ready to be confirmed.

 

Confirmation seeks to strengthen what is already graciously occurring in a student’s life. The classes seek to give clarity and explanation to God’s work and to help develop a lifetime of Christian formation.  Both David A. Banks and Jacob Hardin can address your questions.