What are churches doing to form the faith of their young people? Many church denominations that practice infant baptism offer confirmation or an equivalent ministry when children reach adolescence and
What are churches doing to form the faith of their young people? Many church denominations that practice infant baptism offer confirmation or an equivalent ministry when children reach adolescence and enter a new phase of spiritual growth—but all churches, regardless of tradition, wrestle with how to get young adults to actively join the church. What really works?
In this book twelve authors draw on a three-year study of more than three thousand US congregations across five denominations—United Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Presbyterian Church (USA)—to answer this pressing question. They tell stories of excellent and innovative confirmation programs that work and that show, above all, what good discipleship with young people looks like. Youth pastors, church leaders, and parents alike will benefit from the practices and new ways of teaching presented here that have proven helpful in forming and enhancing the faith of youth.
Contributors: Joy L. Arroyo, Reginald Blount, Kenda Creasy Dean, Katherine M. Douglass, Terri Martinson Elton, Lisa Kimball, Gordon S. Mikoski, Kermit Moss, Richard R. Osmer, Kate Harmon Siberine, Jacob Sorenson, Kate O. Unruh.
Todd Buegler
— senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Owatonna, Minnesota
executive director of ELCA Youth Ministry Network
“Confirmation ministry has long been taken for granted and has remained largely unchanged for decades. This volume presents the first significant cross-denominational study of confirmation, revealing the diversity of current methods and connecting the research to congregational best practices for effective faith formation.”
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Richard R. Osmer is the Ralph B. and Helen S. Ashenfelter Professor of Mission and Evangelism at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Katherine M. Douglass is assistant professor of Christian ministry at Seattle Pacific Seminary, an ordained minister in the PCUSA, and director of the Confirmation Project at Princeton Theological Seminary.
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