tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024052508755907865.post4333829698928369703..comments2023-04-10T12:01:00.266-04:00Comments on Lutherama: The Confirmation Assembly LineDr. Luther in the 21st Centuryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07721847446086170082noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024052508755907865.post-52090530177216070782007-05-25T09:29:00.000-04:002007-05-25T09:29:00.000-04:00Wow! Great post Lutherama...and something that I'v...Wow! Great post Lutherama...and something that I've been wrestling with for a while.<BR/><BR/>There's alot to your post and I have to run soon, so I'm not sure that I'll be able to comment on everything in full - so I'll do it in brief.<BR/><BR/>"Graduation" - Unfortunately, this isn't only a problem amongst us Lutheraners. Even Baptists and Evangelical kids feel the pressure to "graduate" in their own denominations (by Baptism in that case). Many of these denominations even allow children to come forward and say "I want to be..." I have a friend, however, who was basically told that she *had* to go up because she was around the right age. <BR/><BR/>Parents - Parents are an issue that we really need to address in all of this. They are not only giving confirmands the idea that they have graduated but they would probably do the same pressuring thing that happens in the evangelical camps.<BR/><BR/>Confirm-munion - Many churches are addressing this by allowing younger kids (i.e. 2nd grade) to take communion and then get confirmed later. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but my gut is against it...that could just be because I'm a Lutheran and change frightens us to the core. ;-) It works out well culturally here in StL where just about everyone is a Roman Catholic.<BR/><BR/>All in all - I think that the key to cracking some of this problem is actually not going to show up in how we do confirmation and communion. I think it is going to be in what we do with people who are confirmed. My church was guilty of it - after I was confirmed, I was dropped like a bad habit. Sure there was youth group and stuff, but nothing that gave me any responsiblity or sense of being a "real member" of the congregation. <BR/><BR/>Ok...this is too long. I could jaw about this forever. Maybe I'll throw something on my blog later. Thanks for your post again!<BR/><BR/>in Christ,<BR/>jWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com