Is Confirmation Christian Education?

Or is it something else? In the Bible, it is not really mentioned. In the Church, we call it a "rite." And in most congregations, it is---among other things---a time when young people are received into a new level of membership in the congregation. The rite includes a public confession of faith, agreement with a body of doctrine, and a promise to behave in specific ways as a child of God. And from the first years of the Christian Church, confirmation has been preceded by thorough instruction, Christian education.

It strikes me that confirmation has both a cognitive aspect and an affective aspect. We don't, can't, measure faith, but the young people whom we confirm need to be able to stand their ground in an increasingly hostile world. Confirming those who lack a strong Christian-Lutheran worldview---or who have no interest in life-long participation in the Church's Word and Sacrament ministry---may not serve your church or the Church well.

So what will a church or pastor do if one or more prospective confirmands seem cognitively unprepared for confirmation? (Let me acknowledge, though, that late April is not a great time to be asking this question. Most reasonable alternatives will require advance thought, discussion, and "corporate approval" [that is, approval by "the body," the church].) You could simply not allow participation in the rite, but alienating families and kids is not a great option. Is there a win-win?

Here's what I would probably work for:

• Acknowledgement that the "minimum standard" for confirmation could be very low, as it is when we confirm those with certain disabilities and cognitive limitations.
• Understanding that the promises one makes in the rite of confirmation should not be made falsely or lightly, but rather that they can be made honestly and eagerly. Even confirmands who demonstrate excellent cognitive understanding of the Small Catechism should not be confirmed on that basis alone.
• A decision that, if public questioning will not be a positive, helpful experience, seek the church's permission to skip it or alter the process---even in a congregation where this has been a long-standing practice.
• Commitments by family and young people who seem cognitively unprepared to continue in instruction after confirmation. Accept that this may be a lost cause, but publicly affirm that it is an expectation of all confirmed church members, as they promise during the rite to "hear the Word of God" and "live according to [it]."

Confirmation instruction is indeed Christian education. It is for many the epitome of their instruction in the Christian faith.

God bless you as you teach His children, and these young people, His Word!

How Can Your Sunday School Improve?

I heard again last week an interesting correlation: what we look at, what we measure, what we give attention to tends to improve.

Do I mean that looking closely at your Sunday School will actually bring about improvement? Well, yes! When you look, your mind will raise questions. When you seek answers to those questions, you will raise questions in the minds of others. When people ask questions, they tend to seek answers and solutions.

Imagine then the impact of looking at these questions about your Sunday School.

• How many families attend every week? What are those families like?
• How many parents of Sunday School children attend adult Bible class? How does that affect their children's attendance?
• How many families in your church never attend Sunday School? Why not?
• When was the last time your pastor mentioned Sunday School in his sermon, announcements, or prayers? What might be information he could share?
• How attractive are your Sunday School classroom? How could they be improved?
• How well-trained are the teachers? How do they improve their teaching?
• Which teacher in your Sunday School seems to have great teaching ideas each week? Where do those ideas come from? How could they be shared?
• What part of Sunday School do the children most enjoy? Why?

There are lots of ways to focus more attention on (and thus improve) your Sunday School. Too often the only way too many Sunday School leaders think of is to change to a different curriculum. (Many congregations actually make such a decision every year!) And it can work! Changing your curriculum focuses lots of attention on Sunday School, which could be a good thing, provided you are not sacrificing a core value for your Sunday School (such as teaching the Gospel clearly each week, teaching children about the Means of Grace) and not introducing heresy. But remember that the improvement in your Sunday School comes as much from the focused attention as from the new curriculum.

So, I invite you to look closely at your Sunday School. Think about what you wish were different. Then imagine what could help it to happen. Wishing might actually contribute to making it so!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

A Fatal Flaw

Let's assume that you have Sunday School classes in order to teach God's Word of love and grace to children in your church and community, Let's even assume that you recognize that your Lutheran church exists because it teaches a distinctively different understanding of how God comes to His people than other religions and most other Christian denominations.

Then would you choose material for your Lutheran Sunday School that was published for use in another denomination? Or material that deliberately avoids any mention of the Sacraments of Holy Baptism or the Lord's Supper in order to appeal broadly to church's of many denominations? Would you choose use, and recommend to others, material that failed to teach the things that makes the Lutheran faith Lutheran?

Do you see the fatal flaw in doing so? What we teach through the material we distribute to children and volunteer teachers in Sunday School directly impacts their understanding of God's Word. If we fail to teach a clear understanding of God's Law and Gospel, if we fail to teach about the Means of Grace, the ways in which God has chosen to reveal Himself to His people in our time, we may deprive a burdened soul of the sure knowledge of God's forgiveness in Christ.

It is for this reason that among the conditions for membership in The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod, as set forth in the Handbook 2013, include, "Exclusive use of doctrinally pure agenda, hymnbooks, and catechisms in church and school." It is why all doctrinal material published by Concordia Publishing House is submitted to synod for doctrinal review. We want to teach nothing but God's Word of life.

God bless you richly as you teach that Word of God to His children!

Using CPH Sunday School Material in a Small Sunday School

So your Sunday School has just a few students and, most weeks, just one teacher. How can you use CPH's material, which is created for use in congregations with multiple age-grouped classes?

Here's the approach I would take.

If your group does not include young children (aged 3 through first grade) it is tailor-made for Cross Explorations Explore Level 2 ; you can supplement that 20 minute lesson with and opening from Church Year Connections and a couple of the Express resources (your choice of crafts, skits, music, or activities) and you would have enough for an hour and resources that suit a range of ages.

If you want to use Growing in Christ, what I usually suggest is:

•           Buy the age-appropriate student pack for each student expected, even if they are different. Keep them to review each week before class, don’t distribute them all at once.

•           Buy the teacher guide and teacher tools for the biggest cluster of students. Make notes in the Teacher Guide about activities that don’t apply to all student leaflets (“Shelly won’t have this puzzle; she has a craft activity instead.”)

•           As needed during the lesson give the students time to work individually or in age-level groups to complete leaflet activities.

With just a little bit of adaptation, each child can participate in age-appropriate ways.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

 

The Case of the Disappearing Sunday School

It's a great mystery! All across our church, Sunday School students are disappearing. In the past 20 years, Sunday School enrollments have dropped by half (325,000 students preschool through grade 8 in 1994; just 153,000 students in 2014). Where have they gone?

Well, obviously, those 1994 students have grown up, but where are their younger siblings and children?

It is not just a global problem. I'll bet that, for you, it is also a local problem. It's not someone else's Sunday School that is disappearing, it is yours. What can you do?

Don't say, "Oh, well. It's just the way things go. Families are having fewer children." Even if it's true, there are still lots of families and lots of children out there.

Do tend the garden. Things improve when we give them our attention. Start a conversation with your friends in church, with parents, with church leaders, with your pastor. Encourage them to talk about, and advocate for more attention on Sunday School.

Continue to ask God's blessings on the teachers, students, families, and community, so that your Sunday School can be a place God's children are taught His Word!