The following Wednesday was my last day with the youth group. I purchased 4 dozen roses, and interrupted our meeting four times and apologized each time. We all had a big laugh in the end.

His mother marched over towards me, and got right in my face, telling me I can’t talk to her boy like that, and she wanted my name and she was going to call the school/district to complain about me, etc. I said that would be fine, and I would tell them that her son was the instigator. She actually physically got in my way and bumped me, and then said “Yeah well, you can just take your bunch of crappy (not her actual word, but use your imagination) players home. And why don’t you go back to your home, too, slant-eye?” Took everything I had to not break my own personal rule of never hitting a woman at that instant, and everything else to round up my guys and just get on the bus.

There IS a happy ending, though – I got a call from the district athletic director the next day informing me that the mother had in fact called, and he had spoken to both principals (I had already spoken to our principal on the bus ride back), and the mother ended up being banned from all district athletic events.

Retreat 1: Focus: God, Christ, Holy Spirit, and Church
Retreat 2: Our EUB heritage (we are a former EUB congregation so that is important here) and Spiritual Disiciplines

The first 2 are held at church….

Retreat 3: Confirmation class trip to Georgia…. we visit the MLK Jr Center (and talk about UM participation in social justice issues” and then head to Savannah to see where John and Charles Wesley did minsitry ( and talk about the church’s part in aboloshing slavery/ splits in the the church because of it,etc) and then head to St. Simon’s Island to Epworth by the Sea and Fort Fredericka, and Christ’s Church to learn more about the Wesleys and expereince the UM Museum at Epworth.

This approach has been so life changing for the kids that they have asked to participate in the Georgia Trip again so this year we are adding a “reaffirmation” piece to the trip for them.

The mentors participate in the Spritual Disciplines retreat, our field trips (messianic synogogue, and religious art exhibit trip) as well as study the confirmad’s chosen Bible Verse and attend worship elsewhere with the kids to gain perspective on the UM church in relationship to other denominations…..

All in all, I feel that we give students enough information and experience that they can confidently stand up and affirm their baptism, or to say No, I’m not there yet!

Grace and peace,

Kent

I can see how this can be seen in a negative light as an old tradition that is dying out. But I would encourage you to look at it with a fresh perspective and start from scratch. What would your confirmation class look like if you could make a 21st century class that would communicate to teens with the tools and technology that they are most familiar with? It is fun when you look at it in a new light. Feel free to contact me if you would like to talk more about what we do here.