My niece just completed a confirmation class in the UMC that she attends. After the class was over, she was told that it was time for her to be baptized and join the church, and that it would occur on Palm Sunday. She balked because she wanted me to baptize her.
So, I sat down with her last Friday night to see what they had covered in confirmation class and whether she had any questions. When I asked her what they were taught in the class, all she could remember was that the pastor asked them to look up verses in the Bible and find them and that he had them pray over the pews in the sanctuary one night.
I don't know what was actually taught in the class, but my niece did not absorb any of the church's teachings on the meaning of salvation, who Jesus was and why He died, what it means to be baptized, and what it means to be a member of the church. When I asked her what words like "sin" and "baptize" and "salvation" meant, she was unable to answer them. As we talked, though, I became sure that she had received Jesus as Lord and Savior.
I am concerned over confirmation classes that are offered in our churches that seem to push kids into being baptized simply because they are the right age, not because they have actually made a conscious decision on their own to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. I know that there are some good confirmation classes being taught, but there are also some that are very suspect. On Post Methodist, Jason Woolever posted a great note about confirmation classes and how he made sure the kids fully understood the reason for the class and the step they were taking.
2 comments:
Gregory, I'm so glad your niece had you to discuss the truth with. Thanks for the encouragement. Keep up the redeeming work of the gospel of Christ!
I left the church (UMC) at 15 as an atheist.
Looking back, I realize that no one ever told me the basic gospel message. I was never told why Jesus died on the cross, etc. Sunday school classes mostly taught about the importance of being nice. Oh, and popular. That was important, too.
My wife grew up in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. She stopped going at 16 or so, but the confirmation classes were rigid. She knew quite a bit of theology as a result. And she certainly understood why Jesus got nailed to a tree.
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