In Baptism, we recognize God's claim on our lives. In Confirmation, students have an opportunity to claim the relationship God freely offers for them.

Confirmation preparation is a class for students sixth and seventh grade, who are interested in publicly affirming the call on their lives to be disciples of Christ. The class helps the students gain important insight to the aspects of one's faith: Baptism, Holy Communion, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the history of the Christian church, and the history of the United Methodist Church. The class is designed to prepare the students to answer the all-important question:

"Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,
put your whole trust in His grace,
and promise to serve Him as your Lord,
in union with the church which Christ
has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?"

The objectives for our process of disciple making process of confirmation are significant and many:

• Give confirmands a basic understanding of Christian theology, including the doctrine of the Trinity, creation, sin, and grace.

• Teach confirmands the traditions and doctrinal emphases that make United Methodism unique.
• Foster relationships between confirmands and Christian adults in the congregation who can set an example of how to live as a mature Christian.

• Give confirmands an understanding of the importance of Christian education as a lifelong endeavor, and help confirmands develop a habit of participating in Christian education.

• Give confirmands an understanding of Christian worship as practiced in The United Methodist Church and why worship is an essential part of Christian discipleship.

• Challenge confirmands to serve God and others through the life and ministry of the congregation.

• Give confirmands an opportunity to go on retreats, withdrawing from their normal routine and drawing closer to God and their fellow Christians.

• Teach confirmands about the vows they will have an opportunity to take and the commitments that one makes when one says yes to those vows.

Confirmation preparation at Advent is structured around four major components:

• Sunday School
  The Confirmation Candidates have two options for Sunday School.  At 9:55 am single-gender classes are offered for youth in 6th-8th grade.  At 11:00 am a large-group class is available for any youth 6th-12th grade.

• Small Group Experiences
  From late October until Confirmation Sunday, Confirmands are invited to participate in small group teaching/learning experiences on Sunday afternoons. Each small group will be led by at least one teacher and two mentors.

• Retreats
  Two retreats are part of the confirmation experience.  The first, Construct, is a day-long retreat at Asbury Hills in the Fall.
  
  A more in-depth Confirmation Retreat is held at Lake Junaluska in the Spring.

• Personal Reflection
  Confirmands will complete three worship notes to begin in February and be completed before the end of the course.  They will also work towards the development of a personal statement of faith. This statement will form the basis of the final one-on-one conversation between each of the confirmands and one of the two pastors.

For the Sunday night sessions, the curriculum will be We Believe.

We Believe is a basic belief study for youth where students learn about our church, the entire church community and what it means to be a faithful Christian.

Students will meet on Sunday afternoons from 4:15 - 5:45 pm in small group settings with a teacher and mentors who will walk alongside them during their entire confirmation journey.