Thoughts on Confirmation

[Blessedwithfive]

Our youth Confirm in tenth grade. That cannot be changed.
I am looking for (name removed by moderator)ut on what you think would be an ideal Confirmation program for kids from 7-10th grade.

I have been teaching for over 20 years and I have 5 children Confirmed and active Catholics but I have witnessed the program go from bad to worse. Personally I think we (the church and teachers) undervalue the parents and their role in formation. The kids see religion taught by others, not their parents and they can’t make the connection. But, I am not sure how to “fix” it.

Suggestions please as our “youth minister” has recently resigned and it appears our pastor is looking for something new. The previous youth minister was in her 20’s and unable to relate to the kids, parents, and catechists. She had a somewhat disordered view of the faith and was very socially awkward.

 

[Horton]

The eternal question. I am the director of youth ministry at my parish and this is the constant question. For Confirmation prep there are good programs out there, Chosen by Ascension Press, Decision Point from Dynamic Catholic, Life Teen, and more. You will have folks tell you what is the best and those answers will all be different.

I’ve used Chosen and Decision Point. I really like Chosen because the videos are a bit more dynamic & lively. There is nothing wrong with Decision Point, I just prefer Chosen.

For our 6-8 grade it’s been a bit of a mixed bag but I am redoing the whole program this year. I will be using some programs from Ascension Press and some from the catechism, most likely using Youcat.

What I have found working with the youth is many of them only come to religious education for sacramental prep. We get many kids come in for confirmation prep who haven’t been to Mass since their first communion. Of course this is not all our families.

I am a Catholic convert who had no experience with youth ministry when I was hired. What I did/do have is a strong faith, huge desire to pass on that faith, extreme organizational skills (a must with youth ministry), and a capacity to think outside the box.