Confirmation Preparation at your Parish

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I am curious as to how different parishes prepare children/teens for Confirmation. I am involved in preparation for Confirmation at my parish and the program seems to really be lacking. It is a two year program for high school aged kids.

What materials are used at your parish for Confirmation? At what age are the kids confirmed? Do you think the program at your parish is a success? Why? Is your program “touchy-feely” or does it involve the teaching of the faith and the doctrine such as from the CCC?

Thanks!
 
DW and I did this for both of my sons for our parish. There were other young people involved as well. No, it was not touchy-feely. Our DRE had purchased work books which were suplemented by scripture and the CCC. It was done after Mass on Sunday in the parish conference room and lasted about an hour. The kids had assigned readings in the workbook, their Bibles, and their paperback CCC. Our program was based upon the school year so figure 9 mos. from September to the week after Pentecost. (Since ours is a cathedral parish - Pentecost is for the 4 - 500 adults who have not been confirmed. The Bishop comes back the next Sunday for our Confirmation classes). Very orthodox, very traditional.
 
Ours includes confirmation prep in the parish school classroom, and in the program for public school kids, since both use the same books and there is no “dumbing down” for the public school. These are seventh and eighth graders. The actual prep includes Church history, study of the sacrament itself, choosing a saint paper, asking for the sacrament in a letter, and daytime retreat, taking about two years; although it can (and has) been (very) quick-stepped to get the basics when the bishop says he’s going to cofirm and our parish is on the list for a particular date. Teens and adults who have not been confirmed are invited to participate in an intensive series of sessions of their own as well, once the announcement is made and verified that the bishop will indeed be in the neighborhood.

No heterodoxy is countenanced. Our DRE would squish anybody who tried. Our principal and Father would squish anybody else who tried.

The only thing I can think of that comes close to even approaching wrong-headed thinking is when somebody claims the students will be “given the opportunity to accept the Faith as their own” or “to choose for themselves to receive the sacrament”. Confirmation completes Baptism, and imparts the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. These people are told the latter, to correct their view of the former. This is not a Catholic bar or bat mitzvah.
 
Catholic youth in this diocese are confirmed in 10th grade. A two year catechetical preparation is mandated, with a prescribed content, and a selection of approved texts. Parents and sponsors must attend 3 meetings totalling 6 hrs covering prescribed topics. Candidates must attend confirmation preparation, in addition to CCD or Catholic school, in the parish in 10th grade, with a prescribed content, using one of the approved resources.

Is it enough? No. Unless candidates have been getting regular religious instruction at home, in Catholic school or in CCD since first communion, there is no way we can hope to make up for 5-6 years they have missed. If they have not been going to Mass, the entire thing is a farce and makes a mockery of the sacraments. That being said, if the person attends the prescribed classes, including retreats etc., has the opportunity for confession and expresses a desire for the sacrament they cannot be denied. That is where the Holy Spirit takes over.

As I have stated before delaying confirmation beyond its natural time, which is at baptism, goes against the theology of the sacrament and has contributed to the mentality that Confirmation is graduation from CCD. I hope fervently that “breathing with both lungs” means the Latin rite will be invigorated by Eastern practice of sacraments of initiation as just that, initiation, not graduation.
 
puzzleannie said:
…As I have stated before delaying confirmation beyond its natural time, which is at baptism, goes against the theology of the sacrament and has contributed to the mentality that Confirmation is graduation from CCD. I hope fervently that “breathing with both lungs” means the Latin rite will be invigorated by Eastern practice of sacraments of initiation as just that, initiation, not graduation.
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Agree and applaud.:clapping:
 
In my diocese children must be 16 to be confirmed. Confirmation preparation at my parish is a 2 year process, but half of the first year, 25% of the total preparation, is spent on teaching the children about sexually transmitted diseases, date rape, the ineffectiveness of condoms, etc. I would say that they are presenting the Church’s teaching on human sexuality, but since they’ve chosen to use a secular program, and to conveniently forget to offer the parents the right to opt out, I can’t see anything Catholic about it.

Sorry for the rant. I read this thread because I am also interested in how children are prepared for confirmation. For those of you who feel that your program is on the right track, what materials are you using? Is there a set curriculum that you could share?
 
I can tell you what I have set up.
I found the program that was in the parish when I came was what I believe OP means by touchy-feely, long on sharing, short on doctrine.
In the first place, CCD is not confirmation prep. CCD is on Wednesday evening. Confirmation sessions are in a different time and place. Not my favorite timing but right now the only way I can get parents, candidates and sponsors together is Sunday afternoon, which IMO should be family day. We use the excellent video and study guide on Confirmation I got from Ignatius Press (by Bp. Wuerl, formerly of Pittsburg) as the basis for the 4 sessions Confirmation sessions. according to diocesan guidelines we cover the sacraments of initiation, the Mass, Confirmation, the Holy Spirit, and Christian discipleship. We also use the Advent, lent and Confirmation retreats to focus more intensely on those aspects, esp. action of the Holy Spirit.

For HS CCD we use Introduction to Catholicism by Midwest Theological Forum (available on the CUF website), 9th grade covers the Creed and Sacraments. 10th Grade covers commandments and beatitudes, and ends with a bible study on Acts of the Apostles (study guide from Loyola Press). Christian prayer is taught over the curriculum: Our Father, rosary and divine mercy, LOTH, and lectio divina. Theology of the Body is covered in 10th grade as part of the teaching on morality.

At the end of 9th grade parents and candidates attend an introductory Confirmation meeting to go over the nature of the sacrament, the requirements of the diocese, including the retreats, service component etc. For that meeting we use a video called Confirmation Rite for Life and Getting Confirmed, an 8 page magazine from Liguori.

we usually have one class of boys and one of girls who have been attending CCD through Jr. High, or from the Catholic school. We have a 3rd class for those who have not had any instruction since grade school, usually 1st communion. Those catechists, who are excellent by the way, with RCIA experience, cover the basics using an RCIA format and syllabus. They cover the same material as the prescribed curriculum, but use more basic resources: the Teen Catechism from OSV by Fr. McBride.

Our catechists are the cream of the crop and our students are very well prepared: those who attend and who participate when they do attend, that is.

11th & 12th grade are combined since so few students return after confirmation. All are trained as small group facilitators to lead discussion and sharing with the Sunday gospel (this is part of parish evangelization program), and they do this for the younger grades, on retreats, and during lent and advent. Those who wish are also trained as lectors, ushers and greeters.

their class schedule over the 2 yrs covers bible study on salvation history (Our Father’s plan), Basic Apologetics, Contemporary Moral Issues, and an apologetics-based bible study on Revelation and End Times.

forgot to add first year HS students get a confirmation handbook that has been compiled over the years, now being updated in light of revised diocesan sacramental guidelines, with the basic prayers and teachings summarized: rosary, sacraments, commandments, etc. Each student over the course of prep gets a bible, CCC, Outlines of the Catholic Faith, scriptural rosary devotional guide, scripture journal, rosary, & scapular (with enrollment).
 
brotherhrolf said:
DW and I did this for both of my sons for our parish. There were other young people involved as well. No, it was not touchy-feely. Our DRE had purchased work books which were suplemented by scripture and the CCC. It was done after Mass on Sunday in the parish conference room and lasted about an hour. The kids had assigned readings in the workbook, their Bibles, and their paperback CCC. Our program was based upon the school year so figure 9 mos. from September to the week after Pentecost. (Since ours is a cathedral parish - Pentecost is for the 4 - 500 adults who have not been confirmed. The Bishop comes back the next Sunday for our Confirmation classes). Very orthodox, very traditional.
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Brotherholf–What were the names of the workbooks that were used at your parish? And is your confirmation prep just for one year?
 
puzzleannie said:
In the first place, CCD is not confirmation prep. CCD is on Wednesday evening. Confirmation sessions are in a different time and place. Not my favorite timing but right now the only way I can get parents, candidates and sponsors together is Sunday afternoon, which IMO should be family day. We use the excellent video and study guide on Confirmation I got from Ignatius Press (by Bp. Wuerl, formerly of Pittsburg) as the basis for the 4 sessions Confirmation sessions. according to diocesan guidelines we cover the sacraments of initiation, the Mass, Confirmation, the Holy Spirit, and Christian discipleship. We also use the Advent, lent and Confirmation retreats to focus more intensely on those aspects, esp. action of the Holy Spirit.
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Puzzleannie, is it common for parishes in your diocese to have CCD and confirmation for the confirmands? Our parish has “confirmation prep” which goes from Sept to May for two years, but there is no real religious education or CCD at the same time. Like I said it tends to be touchy-feely and the religious education component needs to be learned prior to the confirmation prep.

I find it interesting that your parish breaks up the confirmation groups into those that have participated in CCD for the last few years and those that haven’t. I was thinking we need to do that at our parish, since there are some kids are knowledgeable in the faith and other teens who don’t know anything about Catholicism.
 
Baby_Sister said:
In my diocese children must be 16 to be confirmed. Confirmation preparation at my parish is a 2 year process, but half of the first year, 25% of the total preparation, is spent on teaching the children about sexually transmitted diseases, date rape, the ineffectiveness of condoms, etc. I would say that they are presenting the Church’s teaching on human sexuality, but since they’ve chosen to use a secular program, and to conveniently forget to offer the parents the right to opt out, I can’t see anything Catholic about it.
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Is this sexuality component based on the Theology of the Body? If not, I would highly recommend that your parish look into using some sort of Theology of the Body curriculumn.
 
No, it’s not. When I talked to the DRE about this program, I asked if she was familiar with Theology of the Body. She said no. It’s not likely that they will consider anything besides this particular program because according to the DRE there aren’t any good Catholic materials out there. :rolleyes:
 
Baby_Sister said:
No, it’s not. When I talked to the DRE about this program, I asked if she was familiar with Theology of the Body. She said no. It’s not likely that they will consider anything besides this particular program because according to the DRE there aren’t any good Catholic materials out there. :rolleyes:
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Check out a new book with a teacher’s guide called “Theology of the Body for Teens”. Jason Evert from Catholic Answers and his wife were part of the project for this course. Let your DRE know about this course. Unfortunately, the TOB seems to be a well-kept secret for way too many DRE’s!
 
Yes, I’ve told her about that program. She wasn’t interested. I’m planning on ordering it for myself.
 
My daughter will be confirmed this Thursday night. It has been a 2 yr process. She had to do all the course work (8th grade religion class and 9th grade PSR/confirmation prep) They received a set of 100 questions that they had to answer. Questions ranging from basic doctrine to Name the EM’s and local stuff. The questions are very detailed often having multiple parts. Then they have to do 40 hours of Community Service and at the end they take a test, go through an interview with the DRE staff, write a letter asking to be confirmed to the pastor where they have to detail why they want to be confirmed and what they have learned, then they have the Q&A with the Bishop and he makes the final decision. I have seen kids fail the test (they get one more shot to pass) and I have seen kids that were refused to be confirmed. To me, a person has to prove that this is what they want by doing the work, we have never failed to confirm if there is a sincere desire, and there is plenty of extra help if they ask for it… I prefer this to the watered down stuff I went through!
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
The only thing I can think of that comes close to even approaching wrong-headed thinking is when somebody claims the students will be “given the opportunity to accept the Faith as their own” or “to choose for themselves to receive the sacrament”. .
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it is canon law that a person who is considered an adult for the purposes of the sacraments of initiation (over age 7) may not be compelled to receive any sacrament. If your parish ignores this law or fails to communicate the nature and theology of the sacrament, they are not orthodox. The same teaching must include the fact that it is the Bishop who confirms, not the candidate, not the parent, not the sponsor.
 
Journeyman said:
Check out a new book with a teacher’s guide called “Theology of the Body for Teens”. Jason Evert from Catholic Answers and his wife were part of the project for this course. Let your DRE know about this course. Unfortunately, the TOB seems to be a well-kept secret for way too many DRE’s!
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very good program, requires extended training for those who will teach it, and is NOT confirmation prep, which is the topic of this thread. I heartily recommend every parish train facilitators who understand and are themselves committed to following the teachings therein, and present the course to youth of the parish, as well as to couples in marriage preparation.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
We jsut use good old Christ Our Life by Loyoal Press:
christourlife.org/m_frmwork.asp?id=76025
It does the job.
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this is our basic text for grades K-8, it is excellent, and our teens who have been through CCD or Catholic school through grade 8 are well prepared to begin confirmation prep. Most, sadly, have not had that advantage. Loyola’s Confirmation program will work very well for grades 7-10 and has everything the parish needs for the candidates, sponsors and parents.
 
Journeyman said:
Puzzleannie, is it common for parishes in your diocese to have CCD and confirmation for the confirmands? Our parish has “confirmation prep” which goes from Sept to May for two years, but there is no real religious education or CCD at the same time. Like I said it tends to be touchy-feely and the religious education component needs to be learned prior to the confirmation prep.

I find it interesting that your parish breaks up the confirmation groups into those that have participated in CCD for the last few years and those that haven’t. I was thinking we need to do that at our parish, since there are some kids are knowledgeable in the faith and other teens who don’t know anything about Catholicism.
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I do what the diocese mandates. Our texts are not approved because until this year there were no approved texts for high school, our pastor simply chose the gold standard and we went with it.

assigning student to the class and catechist where they will get what they need is my main job. they simply know they are in a 9th grade class with a particular teacher. We also take care in assigning children with special needs.

I don’t believe in holding children back who are eager to learn, have a good grounding in the basics, and are bored going over everything they learned in 8th grade, but as other posters have noted what they learn in jr hi and what they remember in 9th grade are 2 different things.

the same issues we discuss on the RCIA threads come up here, is preparation for sacraments primarily an emotional, spiritual formation experience or is it primarily an intellectual catechetical process. The answer is of course both/and, not either/or.

a student who can rattle off all the 10 commandments in order, but does not understand that gossip is an offense against the 5th and 8th commandments, has not learned anything.

the student who can lead the class in the rosary and has the mysteries memorized, but has never bothered to pray with the scriptures behind the mysteries, has not yet learned to pray

The all-A student who tells me in the confirmation interview that he is glad he did the service project because it will look good on his college application has not learned the meaning of Christian service and discipleship.
 
puzzleannie said:
very good program, requires extended training for those who will teach it, and is NOT confirmation prep, which is the topic of this thread. I heartily recommend every parish train facilitators who understand and are themselves committed to following the teachings therein, and present the course to youth of the parish, as well as to couples in marriage preparation.
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Sorry if I took the thread off track with the comments on teaching of human sexuality. I realize that it is not part of confirmation prep, but in my parish, it is presented as an integral component, and compared to the other information presented it seems to be the most important aspect.

I am very interested in learning what is done in other parishes.
 
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