What is "confirmation?"

Many Lutherans are baptized as infants, and their parents make promises for them: 
  • to live among God's faithful people
  • to bring them to the word and the Lord's supper
  • to place in their hands the holy scriptures
  • to teach them the Lord's prayer, the creed and the ten commandments

When children "affirm their baptism," that is, choose to make these promises for themselves, we celebrate their coming of age with the service for Affirmation of Baptism, also called Confirmation. In this service, they make promises of their own:
  • to live among God's faithful people
  • to hear the word of God's faithful people
  • to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper
  • to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed
  • to strive for peace and justice in all the earth

Confirmation is a life-long process. Throughout our entire lives, we are constantly learning new things about our faith, the Bible and God, and growing in deeper relationship with God and one another. One important step in this process is the Affirmation of Baptism. At Our Redeemer's, young women and men participate in our confirmation classes during their 7th, 8th and 9th grade years. They may affirm their baptism after these classes have been successfully completed.

Why do we do confirmation at Our Redeemer's?

All of us have deep, sometimes unsettling questions about God: Why does God allow suffering? Does God care if I'm in church? How do we know that the Bible is correct? 

Confirmation is the process through which we engage these questions as a community. The faith of our neighbors helps us build and shape our own faith, and vice versa. God is here to walk alongside all of us as a community, not just as individuals. Confirmation helps us accompany one another along the way, engaging these hard questions, so that whether or not we find answers, we know that we are not alone.


Lutherans do not consider confirmation a sacrament like the Roman Catholic Church does. Nevertheless, confirmation is an important part of a Christian's life. All Christians are called to deepen their faith and relationship with God. This begins as soon as our parents begin singing "Jesus Loves Me" to us in our cradles and doesn't stop until we are commended to God's care at our funerals. Confirmation is not just for children, but for all God's people.

Requirements for Confirmation

In order to be confirmed at Our Redeemer's, candidates must complete the following criteria:

Mandatory - these things must be completed in order to be confirmed.
  • Informational and registration meeting. If you cannot make this meeting, please contact Pr. Seth to set up another time to meet.
  • Faith statement. As part of being confirmed, all candidates are required to write a short statement of their faith. This is not a test for passing, but a confession of what a person believes.
Required - if these requirements are not fulfilled, the candidate and their family must have a conversation with the pastor to explore how the confirmation process will proceed.
  • Regular class attendance. This includes family attendance at family class nights.
  • Discussion participation. Candidates are expected to add to the discussion, both in class and online on the class discussion forum.
  • Family participation in worship. Family groups will be asked to volunteer to usher, read, assist with communion, etc.
  • Community service. Some service events will be done as a class; candidates may also create their own service projects (CROP walk, visiting shut-ins, etc).
  • Sermon Notes. Candidates are expected to hand in sermon notes at least once per month. These will be checked and handed back. Families are encouraged to complete sermon notes together.
Expected - completion of the following is on the honor system and is intended to help candidates get the most out of confirmation.
  • Regular worship attendance as a family.
  • Regular bible reading, as well as
  • Memorization of a Confirmation Verse. More details are available on the confirmation home page.
  • Daily family devotions. One option for this is to use the Faith5 system described on the confirmation home page.
  • Bring Bibles to class each week.