Confirmation Lessons

The table below shows the plan for the lessons to be covered in for 2008, with each of the subjects as a link to the unit covering this session.

Date	Subject
4th July	Does God Exist
4th July	The Lord's Prayer
11th July	The Bible
11th July	The 10 Commandments
5th September	The Holy Spirit
	Praying
	Holy Communion
12th September	Easter
12th September	The Creed
19th September	Baptism & Confirmation
26th September	Revision & Team Quiz

Does God Exist

I believe this is the first and most fundamental lesson we need to cover before any other classes. Before the children go forward for confirmation they naturally have to believe in God or there's no purpose in going any further. Naturally, it's not expected that every child will have a firm and absolute Christian faith, but they clearly should not be committed atheists. I'm usually contented that they acknowledge that they have no foundation in believing there isn't a God, not an unreasonable an expectation on which to found the subsequent lessons.

The essential content of this lesson is detailed in the Non-believers section of this site.

To help children remember the reasons why they can believe in God, I've tried to come up with something which is easily remembered to enable them to give some account of what is covered in this lesson. The best I've come up with so far - which I'm not impressed with is CHEEP Miracles, the initial letter of which is intended to help remember each point. Each of the reasons are detailed in "Does God Exist - CHEEP" - feel free to download this resource.

I've also added a link to another document which was a forerunner to "Does God Exist - CHEEP", which includes a number of Bible references and mentions other items which may be brought up during this session. It also includes a couple of stories which hopefully give some insight to the fact that we can never have any perspective on "the big picture". Again feel free to use any part of "Does God Exist?" you wish, most of it is however expanding on the material referred to in the preceding paragraphs.

The Lord's Prayer

I insist that each child should be able to say the Lord’s Prayer by themselves before they go forward for confirmation and ask each child in turn to repeat the Lord’s Prayer in class, in front of everyone else. They tend to take this as a challenge, and clearly derive some satisfaction from being able to rise to the occasion.

There are of course usually one or two who stumble, but I move on and come back to them later to let them them try again before lesson ends. This is naturally approached in a light hearted style, and the children seem to enjoy this session as they all have an opportunity to play their part. They can if they choose, or they feel some of the others are making them laugh, stand up and face one of the walls whilst saying the prayer.

I cover this in the first week of the lessons to ensure all children accomplish this feat – perhaps with the thankful assistance of parents – before the lessons end, as some children are not always able to attend all of the classes.

During this session, I also cover what the prayer is about by covering each line, making sure they have some grasp of what the words mean or are all about. What do hallowed, trespasses and ‘thy will be done’ mean and what is the concept of God’s Kingdom?

In a number of these lessons, I've asked children whether they prefer the updated version of the Lord's Prayer which I believe is currently taught in schools or the traditional "... who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...", perhaps surprisingly, the consensus is usually, the old fashioned style!

This link will take you to a copy of The Lord's Prayer - the traditional version.

The Bible

This session is best covered at the beginning of the lesson as it's perhaps' a too 'dry' a topic to try to cover later in the hour.

The word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia meaning books – it's not one book but a collection of books, written by God through different people, at different times and from different walks of life and social positions:- Kings(David & Solomon), prophets, tax collector – Matthew(one of the disciples) A doctor - Luke, etc.

The Bible contains all the wisdom and lessons you will ever need in your life.

The Bible is split into two parts, the Old and the New Testaments. To make it easier for both parents and others to use this as a teaching aid, the content of the material covered in both parts have been condensed into The Old Testament and The New Testament

The subject of the Bible could of course be expanded on ad infinitum, but would not be welcomed by the children!

The 10 Commandments

The material covered in the 10/2 Commandments should be sufficient to enable any child to be able to tell you what any one - or all 10 - of the commandments are within about 20 minutes. Try it yourself it's easy. The document also moves on to cover Jesus' two greatest commandments.

For the purists, or anyone who wants the full formal version see The Ten Commandments, which also gives guidance on how each of the Commandments should be interpreted.

The Holy Spirit

This is a shorter lesson but one that first introduces the concept of the Holy Trinity. In the Creed - which we cover later - as Christians we say that we believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps a difficult idea to understand as they're all in a way synonymous and we believe in all three equally as they're all embodied in the 'One'.

The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is mentioned throughout the Bible as a means of God coming into the lives of those chosen to receive it and changing their lives irrevocably. This happens to very few. It is the Holy Spirit that has spoken to many of the prophets in the Bible and guided their thoughts, words and actions to carry out God's will - if they listen to the message.

The Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a white dove when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. Perhaps the most potent and well known story about the Holy Spirit is when, as promised by Jesus at the Last Supper(John 14:15-25), it appeared to his very frightened disciples at Pentecost, as told in Acts 2. This story should be read in full as I do not propose to abbreviate it here.

During the Confirmation ceremony, the Bishop lays his hand on the each of the heads of those being confirmed and says "Confirm, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit" an act which is meant to be symbolic of the Holy Spirit entering individually into each of the candidates.

If the child can understand the concept of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity, the purpose of this brief lesson has been achieved

Praying

I've tried to make this session as interesting and stimulating as possible - not an easy task as the topic, in my opinion, isn't one which would be expected to elicit much enthusiasm.

The lesson content - which you need to structure into perhaps not too long a session is condensed in Praying and refers to three stories which can provide a diversion from the talk. It's ideal if you can get a discussion going on some of the points or stories by asking open ended questions - but this can be hard work. The stories are:

To provide a further diversion and perhaps encourage some discussion have a look at Praying Images which can be printed as a one page booklet on A4 by using the same piece of paper and printing on both sides.

I think realistically, if you can sow the seeds that might give the people attending the lesson some food for thought later, you can consider the session a success. You'll never know if this is the case of course.

Holy Communion

I tell the children that they'll be given a test at the end of this lesson, to see what they've remembered from this session and that they should therefore listen carefully to what I'm saying over the next five minutes. This, surprisingly seems to work. I also tell the children that if they choose to, they can make notes which they can keep to help them answer the questions. Pens, pencils and paper of course need to be provided for them.

The material covered is in Holy Communion, and the quiz is Holy Communion Quiz. I tell the children they should first write their name in the space provided top right on the quiz paper and then pass it back to me when they've finished or at the end of the lesson. Some children finish before others and help others- sometimes asking before if they may. I'm comfortable with this as I try to keep my sessions relaxed and I believe it's not a bad thing for the children to join together enjoying the learning experience.

The children seem to enjoy this as it's something practical in that they're not just sitting listening to you. It's also very useful to pass to parents so they can cover this material if the child misses the lesson.

Naturally I collect the papers at the end of the session and mark them. I congratulate the children who did exceptionally well, sometimes telling them their their marks. I then go on to cover the questions answered incorrectly or with which a few seemed to have difficulty. This process is useful for me in improving the quiz paper itself.

Easter

This is more difficult for me to cover in text as I use parts of an excellent video of Jesus' life, death and resurrection throughout my lessons. I then simply embellish the lesson on Easter with other interesting parts of the story, stressing that this is THE most important celebration in the Christian religion. I then tell the children why it is so important.

To give some guidance on what I cover here, I've noted what I believe are the significant parts of the story. I've also added some of the interesting snippets in a separate list, which can be used to reinforce the message, which I find Helps retain the interest of the children. As ever it's important to know when to move on to the next subject.

Before going into any preparation for this lesson it's important to realise that so much happened in these few days, that you cannot hope to cover it all. Because of this, you may need to be selective with the following, most of which you'll have heard before yourself.

I've divided what I feel are the key parts of the story into three sections:-

The Last Supper
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus’ arrest
Tried by the Sanhedrin
Jesus before Pilate – Barabbas released
Jesus abuse by the soldiers

Jesus carries his cross
The crucifixion
Jesus death
Jesus burial
The guarded tomb

The resurrection
Jesus reappearances

At the mountain where Jesus told them to go
Road to Emmaus
Doubting Thomas
Mary Magdalene at the tomb
Appears to the disciples in a room and eats fish
A fish breakfast at the Sea of Tiberias

Jesus ascends to Heaven

The other parts for sprinkling liberally throughout the lesson may need some research on the internet to gain sufficient background to enable them to be incorporated as felt appropriate.

INRI - the plaque on the cross
Jesus was stitched up by the elders of the temple - not all of them though
Earthquake and darkening of the sky when Jesus died
Barabbas - it was a custom of Passover to release a prisoner of the people's choice
As predicted in the Old Testament - Jesus legs were not broken on the cross, which usually happened
The Turin Shroud & the impression of Jesus' face on the cloth used to wipe his face en route to his crucifixion

There's a lot to cover here and it does need some careful thought on how to best plan this lesson.

The Creed

This starts to wrap up the history of the Christian faith as The Creed covers so much of the earlier material. Hopefully this statement of faith has some meaning to the children by this stage.

The content of this lesson is contained in The Creed.

The introduction is sufficiently dramatic to gain the interest of the class. The map also adds interest - as pictures always do - and some of the children may also have been to Turkey for their holidays. These two introductions to the topic gets the lesson off to a good start. The symbol of Christianity and the basis on which Easter falls each year are good material for Sunday School lessons, but are not covered in the class.

The Creed is read out by the class - copies being passed round - which gets everyone involved. Next I go through what each of the words in red mean. This is followed by going round the table asking each of the children to say what these words mean, making at least two rounds. This gives sufficient opportunity for the children to remember what was said last time - I could be asking them to explain this on the next round. Stop after a maximum of three rounds - beyond this the children would start to get bored.

To conclude the lesson I cover how the Creed can be broken down into the separate parts of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, finishing with the cornerstones of the faith, as analysed. At this point, it's time to move onto the next subject.

Baptism & Confirmation

This is what it's all about!

I start by running through what happened at their baptism:

Godparents vow to bring the child up in the way of Christ, and
that they will bring the child to be confirmed when it's older, and
that they renounce the devil and all his works
that they will ensure the child learns the Lord's Prayer, the 10 Commandments and the Creed
The water being poured over the child's head symbolising

Being born again by acceptance into the Church of Christ
Their sins being washed away

The actual Baptism - "....in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost"
Making the sign of the cross on the child's forehead with oil

Jesus was baptised himself by John the Baptist and told Nicodemus(John 3) that before anyone can enter God's kingdom they must be 'born again', through baptism.

By going forward for confirmation you're confirming yourself the vows your parents took on your behalf at your baptism, that you will follow in the way of Christ. You make this 'confirmation' publicly before everyone - God, the bishop, the priests and your parents, and relatives if they attend the ceremony.

The church considers this to be such an important event in your life and in the life of the church, that unlike baptism, marriage and funeral services - which are clearly key parts of your life - the service must be conducted by a Bishop, and not your local priest/vicar. Naturally, you should also consider this to be an important part of your life, which should be taken seriously.

To prepare the children for the actual ceremony, I then hand out copies of the service booklet from an earlier confirmation service, so we can go through the parts where they play their part. Although all confirmations are different, they all have a central section which is common to all.

We then run through the booklet the children being asked to follow me in their copy and to read out loud the parts in bold which they should say at the ceremony. I stress that they should make their statements in a clear voice, out loud - the words should not be whispered if you believe in them! You're making a commitment before God, and although his hearing is excellent, he'd prefer you to be open and firm when taking your vows.

I always reassure the children by telling them all the vows they make, are made as a group, and there is nothing they are required to say individually. The only thing they don't do as a group is when they go forward for confirmation by the Bishop, when they go up in pairs. I suggest that they can go up with one of their friends if they so choose and tell them that they will be guided in all they need to do by the church wardens.

They're informed that at the actual ceremony, they will leave their pews in twos, go forward to kneel before the Bishop and what follows then, is in the booklet. After they have been confirmed, they should stand, take a step backwards and incline/nod their heads slightly to both acknowledge and thank the Bishop and as a mark of respect. They will then resume their seats, usually joining their pews from the opposite end. They'll be walking roughly an oval path.

This actual service usually follows the pattern below:

Bishop greets congregation, hymns are sung, bible readings read
Liturgy of Initiation - they affirm their faith and state their readiness to be confirmed
The Decision - the candidates and the congregation make their vows
Confirmation and Anointing with Oil - this is where they are confirmed
The Commissioning - all the candidates promise the Bishop they will follow Christ's path
The Peace - the entire congregation greet one another in peace
The Eucharist - all those confirmed, old and new, take Holy Communion after a hymn and the collection
The Blessing/Dismissal - the newly confirmed receive a lighted candle and are led by the Bishop through the church
the service ends

Everyone then usually goes to the church hall where tea and biscuits or a buffet may be available.

I then ask if anyone has any questions on anything at all and after dealing with any queries, run through a few of the matters of etiquette and how they should behave on the day, covering the following:

They are representing the church and should be on their best behaviour,
They should be dressed smartly - no jeans,
The boys DO NOT put any gel on their hair!
They do not talk amongst themselves during the service or play games on their phones/Nintendos!
After they've taken communion, they should wait until the priest has moved on from the next person, before getting up. This is so they don't risk, catching the next person's elbow when rising.
Even if they hate the taste of the wine, they should not pull any faces at least until they've resumed their seats

I conclude by reassuring the children I'll be there before the service starts to answer any further questions about the event and of course to give them their name cards.

Revision & Team Quiz

I've never had the luxury of a revision lesson as there have always been several children who have missed a number of lessons, so this session gives me a chance to plug any gaps. It's always difficult to cover missed lessons with different children, so enlisting some assistance from one of the parents is always a good idea for this session.

If I did have the opportunity, then after a quick run through - and it would be quick - of the lessons covered thus far, for the quiz, the idea is that the group splits into two teams - assuming there are no more than 8 or 9 in the group. After choosing a captain for each team - I've never been short of volunteers when asking "Who wants to be a captain", the two captains pick their team. To keep this fair and less contentious, I let each captain pick who they want on their team alternately, so they can only pick one team member at a time.

Then using a "Four in a Row" or "Connect 4" game, each team is asked a question relating to the classes held. If they get it right, they can put one of their markers in the grid. The markets are two different colours. If the answer is wrong - or no one knows the answer, the question passes to the other side. You can decide whether the questions are individual or team questions with the captains deciding on the answer you are given. This continues until one team wins by getting four of their markers side by side either horizontally, vertically or at an angle. If you finish early, have another game till the parents arrive to pick up their children.

If there are more than the maximum of nine, sort the children into four groups. This is because they will get bored while waiting for their team's question. You can get one of the groups to use a hand or printed grid, which they can then mark with either a X or a O, if they get the right answer. If their are four teams, the winners and losers can play each other, so you end up with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.

The hard part of this is listing the questions you'll ask and having enough of them so you don't run out!