November 15, 2012

Our confirmation program will use Bishop Willimon’s Making Disciples plan, which pairs confirmands with mentors.

Here is our schedule of activities…

Nov. 19, 6:00pm      Call-out dinner and information

Jan. 7, 5:30pm      Kick-off dinner, meeting with prayer group

February, TBA      Spirituality retreat (St. Anthony Center, day)

March, TBA      Methodism retreat (Pine Lake Camp, overnight)

March 23, 11:00am      Confirmands presented to Church Council

March 31, 6:30am      Confirmands plan & lead Easter sunrise service

Apr. 7, 8:30/10:30am      Confirmands presented to church, take vows

Before April 7 each pair of confirmands and mentors will meet together a dozen times to cover the sessions listed in the Making Disciples guide. These cover the topics: God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, worship, the Bible, saints and gifts, ministry, baptism, spiritual life, death and resurrection, and life in the church. During this time they may do a variety of activities with their mentor and fellow confirmands…

  • Read the gospel of Luke and make some notes.
  • Pray for each other.
  • Attend communion together.
  • Visit another church.
  • Make a banner to hang in church.
  • Interview a “saint” in the congregation.
  • Volunteer for a mission (the Community Center of Hope or our church work day are good places to start).
  • Attend a baptism (Dec. 30, 10:30 at Mosinee, or ??) and a funeral service.
  • Attend a church council or committee meeting during church work mornings on the 3rd Saturday each month.

We are planning two confirmation retreats. We strongly encourage participants to attend both. One retreat on spirituality will be equivalent to session 10 in Making Disciples. The other retreat on Methodism is equivalent to session 12 in Making Disciples. Youth and adults from other churches will be attending these retreats. There will be a small cost for these retreats. If the cost is an obstacle, let Pastor Park know and we can help.

The morning of March 23, mentors will present their confirmands to the Mosinee UMC Church Council to talk about their readiness for confirmation. Following this, on April 7 each student who chooses will take the vows of membership before the church congregation at either the early or late service.