north central Iowa, Hampton | ELCA here, we're in the two years through the school year style. Thought being one year in the old testament, one in the new. It's still not enough to really say you're educated in the bible, but it's a start. We tend to have a short course the in the fall of the third year--a few weeks on the church's constitution, how the business side of the church is laid out as far as national church structure and how and why a pastor is called. These kids are going to be running the place at some point--try to help them understand how things work and give them a taste of how to be part of the community.
We try to do confirmation at Reformation Sunday--deliberately so we don't do confirmation at the same time as school graduation. Confirmation hopefully means you're ready to take a step up as an active participant, not that you're "finished." |