For years WELS churches have struggled to engage and retain teens once they are confirmed. With that in mind, the Confirmation Ministry Task Force was created in 2001 to help the Commission on Youth Discipleship research why this might be a problem and how it could be fixed.

“God has blessed WELS churches tremendously over the years through our confirmation practices. Of that there can be no question, and for that we continue to thank God,” says Rik Krahn, Confirmation Ministry Task Force chairman and pastor at Martin Luther, Neenah, Wis. “But at the same time, confirmation is purely a human invention. It is nowhere commanded by God. As a human invention—even one that has produced rich fruits—it is important to periodically review what we do and why we do it, otherwise we run the risk of a rich tradition turning into hollow formalism. Confirmation can easily become something that we do just ‘because we’ve always done it.’ That’s not a good enough reason.”

The task force conducted a survey and a follow-up study that focused on WELS congregations’ confirmation practices. The results helped the task force to create confirmation self-study materials that congregations can use to examine their confirmation practices.

The self-study has two components. The DVD encourages evaluation of confirmation practices, showcases new approaches to confirmation used around WELS, and provides helps for using the self-study materials. A CD contains the directions, worksheets, and templates needed to conduct the self-study.

Krahn encourages all congregations to consider conducting the self-study. “Nearly all of our members will be touched in some way by confirmation,” he explains. “That means it has tremendous value and importance, and it means we should always strive to do it as well as we can. If we just ask the question, ‘Are we doing the best we can?’ then we will be better for it, even if we make no changes.”

To order Confirmation Ministry Self-Study: A Process to Help Congregations Reflect, Evaluate, and Improve, contact Northwestern Publishing House at 800-662-6022 or visit www.nph.net.

INVOLVING PARENTS - in catechism instruction

Martin Luther created the Small Catechism to help parents teach God’s Word to their children. Some WELS congregations are using that model to involve parents more deeply in their children’s confirmation lessons. The Confirmation Ministry Self-Study DVD highlights a variety of ways that churches can involve parents in catechism instruction.