Brandon Metcalf

During my time in full-time church ministry, both as a director of Christian education and now as a pastor, I’ve thought a lot about confirmation—and I’d guess most church workers have too. How can we best teach confirmation? Do we need to update the curriculum again this year? Which age range works best? How should parents or other supportive adults be involved? Is there some way we can get out of teaching confirmation altogether?

 The most common question asked of anyone in their teenage years is some variation of this one: “What are you going to be when you grow up?” Youth will answer this in many different ways.

To say that there are plenty of youth ministry curriculum options out there would be an understatement. But how do you sift through your options to land on one that truly benefits your youth and points them to Christ? This blog, excerpted from Connected for Life: Essential Guide to Youth Ministry, suggests some questions to ask yourself when choosing youth ministry resources. 

“How do I teach confirmation class?” “How do I deal with confirmation students who don’t seem to be paying attention?” “Is it just me, or is it harder to engage students in learning today than it used to be?” These are the types of questions that I’ve received over the years from many of my seminary classmates, who hoped that my DCE experience could help fill in some gaps for them. Ironically, these questions are also frequently asked by youth workers, teachers, and other education professionals. Creating meaningful dialogue in the confirmation setting is an almost universal challenge.