Confirmation

This week is a big week for my DD. She will be confirmed at our church. For the past six months or so, she has been taking classes with the minister and several other kids her age. This was especially important to her. Since we were moving, she asked our minister special permission to participate in confirmation a year early. Fortunately, he obliged. Interestingly, our house sat on the market for far longer than we expected and she will now finish and be confirmed less than two weeks before we move - - -God works in mysterious ways.

Apologetic - What do you believe? Why?

DD is working on her faith paper for Confirmation class. Our minister asks the students to write a paper to explain why they are part of our church and part of the confirmation class. He explained to all of us that he has them do this in the style of the Apologetics. Confirmation is the time for the students to decide their religious fate. Their parents can make them attend confirmation classes, but we cannot force them to be confirmed. We can dole out bribes or punishments, but the choice is ultimately the students both if they choose to join the church and to which denomination they choose to join. This faith paper is just one step toward making some of these decisions.

"Apologists are authors, writers, editors of scientific logs or academic journals, and leaders known for taking on the points in arguments, conflicts or positions that are either placed under popular scrutinies or viewed under persecutory examinations. The term comes from the Greek word apologia (απολογία), meaning a speaking in defense.
The term Apologist applies especially to early Christian writers (c 120-220) who took on the task of recommending their faith to outsiders." (definition from Wikpedia)

I thought that this was a great idea not just for her but all of to do. Why do we believe? What do we believe? I think that I may do this activity myself and read some other appologetics.

Have any of you written such a statement? Perhaps you could add a tag for us to read your statement.

Confirmation into Our Church

Well, DD has entered a new phase of life. She has begun confirmation classes at our church. Tonight, parents and children were required to attend. This is the beginning of 20 classes until Confirmation Sunday in April. As those of you who read DD’s entry on A Cup of Tea with Mom and Me, being confirmed at our church means a great deal to her.

The class started with a quiz:
1. In the Book of Genesis there are how many creation stories?
2. God asks Abraham to leave Ur and travel to what land?
3. Even before he had 12 sons God changes Jacob’s name to?
4. King David conquered what city and made it his capital?
5. King Solomon built the first one of these buildings?
6. The first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah, are:
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, and Deuteronomy
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Judges and Deuteronomy
7. What two Sacraments are celebrated by Protestants
- Holy communion and Baptism
-Holy communion and Confirmation
-Holy Communion and Holy Orders

There is more but I will not bore you. They then made us compare our scores with our children.

Fortunately, I beat dd. Not all parents did.

Over the next 20 weeks, DD will have to write an apology, do research on an important religious figure, attend a retreat, read a book on the history of Christianity, and pass periodic quizzes. And worst of all, I have been tapped to teach next week’s class. DD is not too thrilled with this and I just hope that I can do it justice. I have to instruct ,with the help of one of the dad’s thank goodness, on the architecture of the church and on how our church works. When she has survived all this, she will be a full member of our church.