ECP Confirmation/Adult Formation Class
Confirmation for adults…
In most Episcopal Churches, people are confirmed when they are young (7-8th grade). While they may have received great instruction about what it means to live the Christian faith, all of us - later in life - have to wrestle with what we believe as adults and how we will live that out in daily life. ECP offers an exciting opportunity to bring our adult minds to bear on the Christian faith in the context of our Episcopal/Anglican tradition. While this class is designed to prepare people for Confirmation into the Episcopal Church, this class is also an opportunity for adult formation. Together, we will (re)consider the Good News of Jesus Christ and what it means to “proclaim by word and example” this Good News. Bringing in theological, philosophical, and historical sources, we shall consider the riches of our tradition. We’ll wrestle with the practicalities of what this all means for contemporary life.
Here’s a preview of the 6 Sessions:
1. What is the Good News?
In the Baptismal Covenant, we promise to “Proclaim by word and example the Good News of Jesus Christ.” What is the “Good News of Jesus Christ”? What is it that we are called to proclaim by word and example? We say things like “Jesus died on the cross for us” – but what does that really mean? The baseline facts are about Jesus – He was born, lived, died, was raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven. And he promised to come back one day. Throughout church history, different interpretive models have been proposed to understand the significance of Jesus Christ for us and our world (i.e. penal substitution, Christus Victor, the Ransom theory, Recapitulation, etc.). Drawing on the Scriptures and key historical figures such as Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine of Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury, and Martin Luther – we shall consider various windows in to see the profound reality of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
2. Holy Eucharist: Heavenly Participation
What do we believe is happening on Sundays when we gather together for Holy Eucharist? As we go through our Liturgy, why do we do what we do? In this session, we will re-look at our Eucharistic Liturgy. First, we will pull back to a wide angle lens to consider the big picture of our Liturgy. Then we will pull back in to walk through the specific movements of the Liturgy. Beware: you may see and hear angels!
3. Anglican Prayer Book Spirituality
What does it mean to walk with God each day? What practices and tools might one use as a way to walk more intentionally with God each day? What can we learn from our Anglican tradition? In this session, we’ll consider the Daily Office in the BCP as well as other tools/practices available that can help a person to be more intentional in walking with God each day. Included will be a consideration of the Psalter as a key gift for our prayers.
4. Spiritual community
What does it mean to live the life of faith as a community and not just as individuals? Scott Bessenecker writes: “The Bible uses the plural “you” 4,600 times, which is rendered as singular since English does not have a plural “you” (except for Southerners, as in “y’all”). So when we read Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” we tend to read it as a personal promise. However, the verse is speaking to a community not an individual. Communal prosperity, a communal future, and communal hope—those things look different than promises to an individual. Christian experiences such as lament, Sabbath, calling, mission, and even conversion at times were communal experiences not individual ones. Certainly, our faith has personal and intimate aspects, like solitude and silence. But we have contorted many of our faith practices and experiences to fit an individualistic cultural form and lost something of the essence of our faith’s communal orientation.” So what does it mean to live as God intended - as a spiritual community?
5. Living a Life of Witness
In the Baptismal Covenant, we promise to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ by word and example. We talk about that dreaded word: evangelism. We know we’re supposed to “share our faith.” In our Diocese, we are called to: “Know Your Story, Live it Boldly.” But how do we do this in a way that fits the complexities of our contemporary world? And what does that mean for the “normal” person? In this session, we’ll deconstruct some myths about evangelism and explore new models and tools that help the normal Christian live life in a way that witnesses to the Story of Jesus Christ.
6. Baptism and Confirmation
In this final session, we’ll bring it all together as we prepare for Confirmation. Pulling together the lessons learned in previous sessions, we will think through what it is that we are doing as we re-affirm our Baptismal Vows and pledge to live the Christian life. We’ll also consider the basic logistics of what will happen at the Confirmation Service with the Bishop and we’ll spend some time in prayerful preparation for Confirmation.