Centenary Youth: Confirmation
Each year the student ministry at Centenary offers "Discovery" - a Confirmation class for middle school students. These classes offer students the opportunity to learn what being a Christian is all about, join the church, and most importantly, the chance to make a decision to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We strive to make this a unique, memorable, and life-impacting experience for students who are in at least seventh grade.
CLASSES
Discovery classes will begin with a kick-off lunch on Sunday, August 20 (more information below) with the first class meeting on Sunday afternoon, August 27. The class will meet each Sunday from 3:30-4:30pm in the Foundry. There will be eight classes in all, plus an overnight retreat. After class, each student will be presented with a gift that will represent the subject learned about that evening. To cover the costs of the retreat and other materials, there is a $50 registration fee for the class. However, if this is in any way a problem, please contact our Youth Pastor (Email link below) and we will work out another arrangement.
REGISTRATION
To register your student for Discovery, please send in the registration form (Adobe Acrobat - PDF - format) along with the $50 registration fee to:
Centenary United Methodist Church
Confirmation Discovery Registration
c/o Melanie Koskie
2800 Tates Creek Rd.
Lexington, KY, 40502
and make checks out to Centenary. In the subject line of your check, please include the account number 249450. When you register, please also remember to R.S.V.P. for the lunch on August 20. The deadline for registration is Thursday, August 11.
INTRODUCTORY LUNCH
On Sunday, August 20 after the 11:15 worship service, we'll start things off with a free informative family lunch in the Foundry beginning at 12:30. This will give parents and students an overview of the class and an opportunity to ask any questions. It will be important for you to attend this to get a good idea of the commitment required to participate in Discovery. Please RSVP for lunch reservations with the number planning to attend from your family before August 11. We are in need of about 10 volunteers to help us with set-up and clean up for our group, so if you would be willing to assist with this please let Melanie know that as well.
RETREAT
The retreat this year will be October 13-14. We focus on the importance of God's Word during this overnight experience. Students receive new Bibles during the weekend as well as some other neat surprises.
COMMITMENT LEVEL
Included below is a schedule of all the dates you will need to know for the classes and other events. We ask that when a student agrees to go through Discovery, he or she will commit to attend every meeting. This schedule will allow you to plan for these dates in advance so that your son or daughter will always be in attendance.
CONFIRMATION CHATS
Another important part of the Discovery experience is the Confirmation Chats held at the end of the eight weeks of classes. Each student will meet one on one with a youth pastor to discuss any questions he or she may have from the classes and the student's own personal decision they may be making for Christ. Chats are approximately half an hour long and parents are encouraged to attend. These will be held during the weeks of October 24-28, October 31-November 4, and November 5-9. You may call Richard and make your appointment any time before then or sign-up at the opening lunch.
CONFIRMATION REHEARSAL
An important date to remember is Saturday, November 12. This will be the required practice for Confirmation Sunday, the following day. We will meet in the sanctuary at 9am to go through the service so that everything will go smoothly on the day your son or daughter stands before the church and commits their life to Christ, on November 13.
CONFIRMATION CELEBRATION
We want to have a time to celebrate the kids who have completed the class on the evening of Confirmation Sunday, November 13 from 5:30-7pm. This will be a night for the families to come and celebrate the commitments made by the youth. More details about this will follow at a later date.
OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED
We will have some of our regular youth ministry volunteer counselors present every week in the Discovery classes, but we also want to invite you (members and non-members of Centenary) to attend a class at some time during the eight weeks. This will give you a chance to observe some of the teaching time and to possibly help answer some of your child's questions more clearly at home. There will be a chance to sign up for these nights at the introductory luncheon, or you can feel free to pop-in on any night.
MENTORING PROGRAM
We believe that to gain more from this experience, your child should select a mentor (a trusted adult in your child's life) who could share his or her faith story with them, answer any questions your child might have along this journey, and to be in prayer for your student going through Discovery. Please list possible mentors for your son or daughter along with their contact information (address, phone #, email) on the registration form attached. It would be a good idea to let the people you list know that they may be contacted by someone from Centenary and at that time their specific responsibilities would be outlined to them. We suggest your child's mentor be someone other than a parent. Although parents play the primary teaching and mentoring role in their children's lives, we believe students also need outside support and examples from other Christian adults as they grow older. Some suggestions for possible mentors could be: older adults in the church, a youth counselor or small group leader, a grandparent, aunt or uncle, a trusted Christian teacher, etc.
SCHEDULE
- August 16 - Deadline to register for Discovery
- August 20 - Kick-off lunch for Discovery in the Foundry - 12:30pm
- August 27 - Discovery Class #1 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- September 3 - No Class due to Labor Day Weekend
- September 10 - Discovery Class #2 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- September 17 - Discovery Class #3 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- September 24 - Discovery Class #4 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- September 30 - Class required Service Project in the morning - details TBA
- October 1- Discovery Class #5 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- October 13-14 - Overnight Retreat - details TBA
- October 8 - Discovery Class #6 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- October 15 - Discovery Class #7 - 3:30-4:30 in the Foundry
- October 23-27 - Confirmation Chat Appointments
- October 30-November 3 - Confirmation Chat Appointments
- November 6-10 - Confirmation Chat Appointments
- November 11 - Confirmation Rehearsal - 9:00-11:00am in the Sanctuary
- November 12 - Confirmation Sunday at all three morning services (8:30, 9:45, and 11:15) and Confirmation Celebration Dinner - 5:30-7:00pm.
We look forward to working with your child when they participate in Discovery! Please don't hesitate to contact Richard Grier at the following Email link or at the listed church office extension:
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| Office Phone: (859) 269-2800, Ext 264 |
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