Tag Archives: mentors

Everything You Need to Know About Confirmation

Of all my files, book collections, workshop presentations, and webinars, the topic that far exceeds any other subject is that of confirmation – the preparation, the history, the resources, and the rite itself. I’ve written on it and testified about it at the Episcopal Church’s triennial General Convention (too many times to count). A dream of mine has always been to have a single place to share all that I have gathered along with the ideas and suggestions of others from around the Episcopal Church.

Now it exists! With the formation of the Confirmation Collaborative in the spring of 2019 (read about our initial gathering and press release) one of our goals was to create such a site. Thanks to the generosity of the Baptized for Life project overseen by friend and colleague Lisa Kimball (the Associate Dean of Lifelong Learning and the James Maxwell Professor of Lifelong Christian Formation at Virginia Theological Seminary), there is now a “confirmation tab”with multiple pages jam-packed with resources, infographics, and best practices for “all things confirmation” in the Episcopal Church. It is only fitting that the topic of confirmation be tied to its roots in baptism on the web as well as in real life.

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Confirmands & Faith

This past Sunday, the confirmands in my home parish shared their “faith statements” to parents, mentors, and Vestry members. With twenty-three confirmands (all about to graduate from 8th grade), it was an interesting “listening session” to hear how those who have spent a year in preparing for confirmation shared what they believed – and what they did not believe. All appropriate for this developmentally “searching” phase of adolescent life. Lots of “I’m not sure of all this Bible stuff.” “I feel closest to God when …” “My favorite experience has been …” “Even though I am still questioning …”

Then this piece came across my screen this week. Tim Schenck, rector of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Massachusetts and known as the creator of Lent Madness, posed a question on Twitter that one of his parish high school confirmands asked him: What difference does it all make?

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About those mentors . . .

A confirmand and his mentor from Trinity Episcopal Church, Menlo Park, California

As noted in my previous post, I gave a workshop over the weekend on “Best Practices in Confirmation Ministry.” Several asked for my handout as well as my presentation slides, so they can be found here:

As I introduced the group to the Confirmation Collaborative. Basically, anyone who is gathered to discuss best practices of confirmation as well as share stories and struggles about making this catechetical time a catalyst for ongoing faith formation in our congregations. One of our discussions centered around having mentors for confirmands. What does this entail? Who does the choosing? What do mentors actually do?

Gail Sheehy, the author who did pioneering work about the various passages of life, recommends some tasks to consider during the fifth decade of life. She said that some of the most important work is in having and being a mentor. Will Willimon writes in Making Disciples: Mentor’s Guide:

Continue reading About those mentors . . .

Memories of a Mentor

Several months ago I was asked to share some recollections of Dr. Amy Gearey Dyer for an article that was being written to be shared with the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) community upon her retirement. (The article was published in the June Seminary Journal – when a link goes up, I’ll post it here.) What follows is what I responded with, finding it difficult to contain my thoughts in a brief paragraph.

In the summer of 1988 I was a parish educator enrolled in “Teaching in the Church,” a weeklong event at VTS led by Amy Gearey and George Kroupa at the Center for the Ministry of Teaching (CMT), housed in the Packard Laird building. It was the first event of many in which our paths would cross, each encounter further influencing my future vocation and deepening my passion for Christian formation. Continue reading Memories of a Mentor