Confirm not Conform

Someone today asked me the question, "How involved are the clergy in teaching Confirm not Conform? If clergy are involved, are non-clergy also involved in any capacity other than being mentors? Basically, who has what role in teaching Confirm not Conform?" Excellent questions!

Here's what I said:

'Tis the season that we start thinking about the people we'll need for all our fall programs, whether it be CnC or anything else. I wanted to throw in my two cents about recruiting volunteers and hope you'll find it useful. If you have other thoughts or suggestions, feel free to start a discussion on the forum about what works and what doesn't.

I hope you've had a chance to take a look at the information on CnC Adult on the website under the nifty new tab, but I wanted to talk a bit more about the value of this program for parents and for other adults in your congregation.

I'm sure many of you have finished your CnC program for the year. So, how did it go?

We here at CnC HQ would be delighted to get your feedback on what worked and what didn't when you ran your CnC program. We'll have an official-type evaluation that will be emailed to you as you reach the end of your subscription, but other feedback is welcome at any time.

I got an email today from Ann in Setaucket, NY who had a fantastic suggestion for a way to improve Lesson 11, 'License to Drive.' I asked her to post it on the forum, which she did, so now you can all see it. The thing is, I'm sure there are LOTS of you using the program who have fantastic suggestions, great ideas, terrific additions, and general splendiferous rejiggery that you do all the time for your CnC classes that we don't know about.

A week ago at our CnC Introduction Webinar (our final Webinar is on June 17--see the flyer for how to sign up), someone asked, “Does Confirm not Conform encourage an individualistic faith?” A good question. I think the answer is that Confirm not Conform encourages a personal faith within a community of faith. And then I got an email that supported that hypothesis.

I hadn't checked out our forum page in forever and was STRICKEN to find a question someone had left in March! It's a good one, too.

Michele asks:

At the end of Lesson 12, the youth are given the Take Home Exam, but there's never really any mention of follow up. I realized taking it myself that it was pretty straight forward and meant to show how far we've come. But there was one question that stumped me: What specifically do you have to believe to be confirmed? And if it's as open ended as it feels to me, shouldn't we provide the kids with follow up? Any ideas?

I’m not quite sure why, but I love obituaries. Actually, I do know why: I love the great stories they tell about the lives of interesting people, or people to whom interesting things happened. They are not necessarily famous, but at some point something extraordinary happened in their life.

I read an obituary last week for Marguerite Garden. Marguerite was a teenager living in Brittany during the Nazi occupation—and a spy.

I read two things this week that I think are worth your attention, and so I'm passing them along.

The first is an article called Why Church Kids Must Go Bad by Andrew Root which is as provocative as the title suggests but oh so true. His contention is that

Catherine, who commented on her iConfirm service experience on our Facebook Page, reported that the week after her class was confirmed her youth minster asked her to do the sermon that Sunday and to talk about the program. She has graciously allowed us to post her sermon here. Thanks, Catherine!

SERMON

When I first heard about the confirmation group I was all for joining it. But inside I was really, truly, extremely, awfully, nervous. I’ve always felt close to God, but I’d never really been good with all the bible and scripture stuff.