CONFIRMATION 2025
DEAR PARENTS
It is time for our 2025 Confirmation Class to begin! We are excited for your 8th grade student to walk through this process.
Every year, we see tremendous growth in our participants. It is our privilege as a student ministry to be a part of this important time in their lives.
Our Student Team has developed our GROW theme and curriculum around the outcome that we hope to see in our students’ lives. It is based upon 1 Corinthians 3:7 (NLT), where Paul reminds us that some plant and some water, “but only God makes the seed grow.”
We are praying for great things this year, and we hope your student will join us, and see God GROW in his/her own life.
Below you will find information about the Confirmation process, the retreat, important policies, etc.
We will also offer an optional Confirmation Parent Information Session on Sunday, November 3, at 12:30 PM in the Student Room. This session will answer any questions parents may have about our Confirmation experience.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.
CONFIRMATION EXPLAINED
Confirmation is an annual practice of the Global Methodist Church in which our eighth graders at Mt. Horeb Church become full members by going through a Confirmation experience and publicly affirming their faith to the congregation.
The word “confirmation” means to make strong, to strengthen, or to make firm. We use it to entitle a specific rite by which the church seeks to strengthen the spiritual faith and convictions of those being confirmed. Like so many of our spiritual acts, confirmation can be considered from three sides: the God side, the church side, and the confirmand side.
Confirmation is acted out in worship. The church lays hands upon the confirmand and prays for his/her spiritual vitality. It is associated with baptism, and it assumes the baptism of all who are to be confirmed. For some, baptism and confirmation can be immediately sequential. For others, years might separate two acts. God uses the church to baptize and to confirm.
The confirmand, in confirmation, affirms the vows of his/her baptism. In summary, the vows express repentance, turning from sin and turning to God, confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, acceptance of the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and accountability in the church of Jesus Christ.
The confirmand professes, the church baptizes and confirms, and God unites the person with the body and strengthens him/her for a life in Christ and in service to Christ.
Upon completion of all the sessions, each student will need to decide whether he/she is ready to be confirmed.
Confirmation seeks to strengthen what is already graciously occurring in a student’s life. The sessions seek to give clarity and explanation to God’s work and to help develop a lifetime of Christian formation.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE SONG
GENERAL INFO
- Confirmation Registration opens November 3.
- We will host a Parent Information Session for any parent and/or student interested in learning more about the Confirmation experience at Mt. Horeb Church. This session will take place on Sunday, November 3 at 12:30 PM in the Student Room. It is not mandatory, and no advance registration is required.
- Registration will require a current photo of your student. (this is used for identification purposes only)
- Confirmation Cost is $160 includes:
- Session materials
- Confirmation retreat food/lodging/activities
- Confirmation Bible
- Confirmation certificate and gift
- Confirmation t-shirt
- Confirmation Celebration and Reception
- Full payment is due at registration.
- If there are any payment issues, or if financial assistance is needed, please contact Stephanie Cunningham at stephanie.cunningham@mthorebchurch.org.
WEEKLY SESSIONS
Our Confirmation Sessions will be held each Sunday from 4:00-5:30 PM in the ZONE (Kid’s Ministry space) of the West Building. We will be using the West entrance of the building for drop off and pick up. During these sessions we will meet together as a large group approximately 45 minutes, before breaking into gender-specific small groups. Each small group will be led by a minimum of two Safe Sanctuary trained adult Mentors.
COVENANTS & CHECKLIST
At Mt. Horeb Church, we view the Confirmation experience as a partnership between the student, the parents/guardian, and our mentors. When these three work together, students will have the best possible experience and be the most prepared for the next steps in their faith journey. Therefore, before beginning Confirmation, students, their parents/guardians, and our mentors are asked to enter specific covenants, which detail each individual’s commitment to the Confirmation experience. In addition, we provide a Confirmation Check List for participating students so they can track their progress as we move through the confirmation process.
SCHEDULE
- Nov 3 – Registration Opens/Parent Information Session
- Jan 5 – Confirmation registration closes
- Jan 12 – Confirmation Introduction Session
- Jan 19 – Small Group Outing Weekend
- Jan 26 – Confirmation Session 1: God
- Jan 31 – Feb 2 –Confirmation Retreat Sessions 2-4: Revelation, Sin, Redemption
- Feb 9 – Confirmation Session 5: Community
- Feb 16 – Confirmation Session 6: Worship
- Feb 23 – Confirmation Session 7: Bible
- Mar 2 – Confirmation Session 8: Prayer
- Mar 9 – Confirmation Session 9 & 10: Sacrifice & Obedience
- Mar 16 – No Confirmation due to Best Wknd Ever
- Mar 23 – Confirmation Session 11: Service
- Mar 28 – Confirmation Ceremony & Reception
- Mar 30 – Confirmation Sunday (Contemporary Services, 9:00 and 10:45 AM)
POLICIES
- Registration will not be accepted after January 5, 2025.
- Attendance at our Confirmation Retreat is mandatory. Please arrange your schedule to make attendance top priority. Students who miss the retreat will not be Confirmed.
- One regular Confirmation Session absence will be allowed, with the understanding that there will be a required make-up assignment covering the content missed. More than one absence and/or failure to complete make-up assignments will prohibit student from being confirmed. However, that student will still have the opportunity to seek membership at Mt. Horeb Church by participating in one of the regular Membership Classes.
- All students, parents/guardians, and mentors will be required to sign a Confirmation Covenant, which details the requirements for participation in the Confirmation experience.
- If a student makes a profession of faith during this Confirmation experience, or if he/she has made one prior to this experience, he/she will write a Statement of Faith describing that commitment (details to come).
- At the end of Confirmation, the student will meet with his/her mentors to review and discuss his/her Statement of Faith.
Please be familiar with these policies and work to follow them. The Student Ministry Staff reserves the right to make adjustments or concessions on a case-by-case basis
RETREAT INFO
DATE: Friday – Sunday, January 31 – February 2, 2025
CAMP LONG
82 Camp Long Rd
Aiken, SC 29805
(803) 649-9512
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Friday January 31
Drop Off Friday 6:30-7:30 PM
Night Session
Small Group Time
Group Activity
Saturday February 1
Breakfast
Morning Session
Small Group Time
Lunch
Free Time
Dinner
Evening Session
Small Group Time
Bonfire
Sunday, February 2
Breakfast
Parents join us for Worship Service – 10:00 AM
Pack Up and Return Home
DIRECTIONS FROM COLUMBIA
Take I-20 towards August. Get off at Exit 29 and take a left onto Wire Road. Travel approximately five miles and turn right onto Roberts Dr. After 900ft turn right onto Camp Long Rd. Camp Long will be on your right.
CONFIRMATION CEREMONY
FRIDAY, March 28 – The Confirmation Ceremony will be held in the Contemporary Auditorium. We will celebrate the students’ completion of Confirmation by praying over each student, awarding them with their certificates, and giving them a brief charge and gait to remember their journey.
We will also use this time to thank their mentors. friends and family members are invited and encouraged to attend. A reception will follow the ceremony including light snacks and a photo booth. More details will be sent out closer to the date of this event.
Dress code: Semi-formal attire
CONFIRMATION SUNDAY
SUNDAY, March 30 – Confirmation Sunday takes place during our Contemporary Services in the Auditorium at 9:00 and 10:45 AM. Students will sit together during the service and have the opportunity to be recognized, join in church membership and be baptized if they have never been baptized before. The church will also enjoy a recap video that will include clips from the Retreat and the Confirmation Ceremony.
Dress code: Confirmation t-shirt with pants or a skirt. Shorts are not acceptable.