
Catechetical Ministry
Parents,With love and joy you brought your child to the baptismal font. There, through Water and the Word, God cleansed your child from sin, adopted him/her into God’s chosen people, and gave the promise of salvation. Your child’s life was marked by the sign of the cross and by the seal of the Holy Spirit.
If your child was an infant at the time of baptism, you made the expression of faith upon which God gifts the Church with this sacrament of initiation. We the congregation did the same along with you. Together we promised before God and each other:
- To live with your child among God’s faithful people
- To bring your child to the Word of God and the Holy Supper,
- To teach your child the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, & the Ten Commandments
- To place in your child’s hands the holy scriptures
- To nurture your child in faith and prayer.
The reason you and congregation made these promises and assumed these responsibilities was so “… our children may learn to trust God, proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.”
The Confirmation Ministry of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church is a partnership between home and congregation. We endeavor to guide our youth into a fuller understanding of their identity in Christ and the call placed upon their lives to follow Jesus. Upon completing the confirmation journey, the youth are given the opportunity to express both their faith in the Triune God and their desire to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Thereby, they take hold for themselves the faith that was first stated on their behalf at Baptism.
Confirmation is a journey of discovery. It involves learning about the Christian faith through worship, service, lessons, play, and dialogue. Each component of the program has a purpose in forming the adolescent into a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
We begin the journey with seventh grade students and conclude when the student is in ninth grade. The journey matches the student’s physiological and emotion maturation. During the final year the ninth grade student is capable of reflective thinking and asking deeper questions about life, faith, and relationships. The final task in the journey is the student’s faith project.
I value the privilege of being one of the guides for this journey of discovery upon which your child embarks. If you have a question or thought, please contact me.
Together in Christ,
Pastor Robert Wallace