Why Do We Confirm our Faith?

Setting:

A hall at the Middle School. Students should have books or book bags. Enter by walking up the center aisle.

Noah: Say, Rhiannon, d'ya'wanna go to a movie with me on Sunday afternoon? "The Slime Creature" is playing at the Mall.

Rhiannon: I'd like to, but I can't. I'm gettin' confirmed that day.

Noah: Confirmed! What's that?

Rhiannon: Somethin' at church. You publicly affirm your baptismal vows during a worship service.

Noah: Do you have to give a speech or something in front of the whole church?

Rhiannon: I sure hope not! No one ever said anything about that. Usually the whole class just says the creed and stuff as a group and the pastors read parts of the covenant the class has to write.

Noah: Sounds rather weird to me. You said the whole class. Who else is in your class?

Rhiannon: Karn, Erin, Melanie, Martin, Katie, Vanessa, and Toni.

Noah: Toni, you mean Toni Williams? Wow, I'd go to class just to sit and look at her!

(Enter Erin down center aisle, with her books)

Erin: Hi, Noah! Hi, Rhiannon! What's happenin'?

Rhiannon: Hi, Erin. Noah says he'd go to confirmation just to sit and look at Toni Williams.

Erin: No Way! Nobody's that good looking. Do you know how long we've been going to confirmation class, Noah? 4 years, counting all of midweek!

Noah: Man, that is a long time. What can possibly take 4 years to learn? What do you do?

Erin: Nothing much. You have to learn a bunch of books of the Bible and names and then you have to look at a bunch of weird pictures about God and God's plan for the world. During Lent you even have to answer questions on the back of the bulletin. Plus there is that workbook to fill out.

Noah: Workbook? What's in it?

(Melanie approaches from the side of the locker bay.)

Rhiannon: Oh, it's full of questions about what God once did for his people, and what God wants us his new people to live like. Ask Melanie, she knows all that stuff. Hey, Melanie, come here Noah wants to know all about confirmation.

Melanie: Isn't it exciting? I can hardly wait until Sunday. Are you going to come to our confirmation service, Noah?

Noah: I dunno. Is Toni Williams going to be there?

Rhiannon: You've got Toni Williams on the brain. There's Vanessa, she's in the class, too. Vanessa, did you ever get your workbook turned in so you can get confirmed on Sunday?

(Enter Vanessa from the other side.)

Vanessa: Yeah, but what a hassle. Mom made me stay in all weekend just so I could get it finished. I don't even care if I get confirmed, but my mom is making me. She said if I can't be responsible enough to get this stuff done, then I wouldn't be responsible enough for her to trust me with a car when I get old enough to get my license.

Rhiannon: That's crazy. What does confirmation have to do with driving a car?

(Enter the teacher.)

Teacher: Hi, kids. What, does Vanessa think she's getting a car for a confirmation present?

Vanessa: Don't I wish! No, my mom is hanging confirmation over my head like a club! She said unless I get my workbook done, I couldn't get my license when I turned 16.

Teacher: Well, did you get it done?

Vanessa: Yeah, but it ruined my whole weekend.

Erin: Just think though, after this next weekend all your weekends'll be free. After confirmation we won't hafta go to church anymore.

Teacher: But, that's just the opposite of what confirmation is all about. When you get confirmed, you're promising to worship, learn, and serve. Pastor Skatrud has said over and over again that confirmation isn't a graduation from church, it's a commitment to greater involvement in the church.

Rhiannon: That sounds good, but how do we get more involved? I mean, what'll they let us do? Adults run the church. You can't do anything more after you're confirmed than you can now.

Teacher: Of course you can. Once you're confirmed, you can vote at congregational meetings; you can be part of the senior high youth group; you can help out in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School; there's lots of stuff you can do.

Erin: I, for one, will be glad I don't have to go to Sunday school anymore. I'm sick of classes.

Rhiannon: Yeah, me too. Going to confirmation class on Wednesdays was more than enough for me!

Teacher: Aren't you going to the Senior High Rap Group, or any of the adult forums at church?

Melanie: I'm planning on going.

Rhiannon: You would. You're so smart you probably like going to all that class stuff with adults.

Melanie: I did enjoy confirmation class. I mean, parts of it were boring, but I learned a lot, too.

Vanessa: Like what?

Melanie: I thought it was neat when we looked at the covenants that God had made and then were asked to write our own covenant with God. I liked what Pastor Kaufmann said about doubts and questions being okay for Christians to have because they motivate us to learn and grow in our faith.

Teacher: As I understand it, part of what you're committing yourself to on confirmation day is continued learning.

Erin: What else is there to learn? I mean, after all, we just spent 4 years studying all that stuff.

Teacher: Erin, there are people who spend years in seminary studying full time and they still don't know everything there is to know about God.

Vanessa: Well, they want to be preachers. I sure don't. I don't even like going to church, but my folks make me. The songs are old fashioned, and the sermons are too long.

Teacher: I need to attend worship in order to keep growing in my faith. And then there was Emma Brown, she said she needed to keep growing in her faith, even when she reached 100 years old!

Melanie: Me too. Having to answer questions about the service has helped me to learn how to listen better, and going to communion is really important to me. I wish we could go each week,.

Rhiannon: Sermon questions! Yuck! hat's something I won't miss at all. But you're right. I never used to listen very closely, until I had to turn in a question sheet Pastor Skatrud does actually plan some interesting services.

Teacher: I almost always get something out of the worship service, even if it's just confessing my sins and hearing that I'm forgiven. It's essential to keep growing in the faith. It's pretty hard to face adult problems with an adolescent faith.

(Enter Martin.)

Martin: Sounds like some pretty serious discussion here. What are you guys talking about?

Melanie: Confirmation. Erin, Rhiannon and Vanessa don't seem to think they'll need to attend any more classes at church after confirmation. I think they figure they know it all.

Martin: Sure, we've all learned a lot in confirmation class, but we all have a lot more to learn. Most of you are athletes. You know what would happen to your bod if you stopped eating and exercising. It would deteriorate. The same is true of our spiritual life. If we don't feed our faith, and put it to work, it deteriorates also.

Vanessa: Maybe so, but I can't see going to any more classes, at least not for a while.

Teacher: Why? Confirmation classes weren't that bad, were they?

Vanessa: I enjoyed the times when we played those crazy games Pastor made out of Outburst and Pictionary.

Rhiannon: I thought it was fun when we got to go to Luther park and we stayed up all night even though we were supposed to be sleeping.

Melanie: There were some other things that were good, too. I thought we had some very helpful discussions on lots of topics. I think I'll miss confirmation classes.

Rhiannon: Not me!

Vanessa: Not me either!

Erin: No way!

Martin: I might miss the classes a little, but I'm really looking forward to getting confirmed. That's going to be a special day.

Vanessa: Well, I'm looking forward to the presents. My friend really made a haul when she got confirmed. She got over $200.00, plus lots of neat stuff.

Teacher: I hope it means more to you than just presents, Vanessa. I think you'll really be missing out on something if that's all it means.

Vanessa: Like what?

Teacher: Like a chance to stand in front of the whole congregation and state your faith, saying, "This is what I believe and this is the faith that will guide my life."

Melanie: And like making a commitment to be an active member of the church.

Martin: And like publicly promising to try and grow in the faith and serve God through the church.

Rhiannon: Maybe so. I do know one thing. I'll be glad when it's over. Say, Noah, do you want to come and see us get confirmed?

Noah: I don't know. It's going to be a tough choice between coming to see you guys and Toni Williams or going to see "The Slime Creature."

Vanessa: Maybe you can do both. You can come and see us and then save yourself $5.00 on the movie and just look in the mirror!

All: (Laugh)

Submitted by Pastor Greg Kaufmann, Northwest Synod of Wisconsin