8th Grade Confirmation

“I’ve never slept in a tent or been camping before. I didn’t think I could climb over those huge boulders. Confirmation was awesome!” - 2015 Confirmand

“My favorite parts were Church History and when we talked about Sin at the foot of Yosemite Falls.” - 2015 Confirmand

The 2015 Confirmation Adventure began as we entered the tunnel on Highway 41, entering the top of Yosemite Valley. In the darkness, playing through the speakers were the words of Genesis read by the Apollo 8 crew as they circled the earth in 1968. We came into the light at a breath taking view of God’s creation.

We imagined what the Garden of Eden looked like before the Fall. We talked about God’s invitation for us to partner with him in what Christ is already doing in our community. As we sat at the foot of the Lower Yosemite Falls the water spray in the air drenched us and we talked about Sin and how we just can’t get away from it. We spent time alone, studying scripture, journaling and meditating on the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

Depending on your faith background Confirmation may bring up images of classrooms, borderline water boarding baptisms and hours of information to be memorized. Our confirmation is different. We want our kids to see life theologically, embracing adventure, growth, community, support, learning, history, faith, etc as integral parts in their never ending journey of faith.

On Sunday July 26th our Confirmation Adventure will culminate in the baptism of two Good Shepherd kids who have not yet been baptized. We will also get to experience a bit of the confirmation retreat through videos and testimonies of our confirmands. I hope we experience it alongside each other.

Like life, the 2015 Confirmation was an adventure and I was honored to be a part of it.