about youth confirmation preparation

Our preparation requirements consist of a combination of in-person commitments as well as activities and forms to be completed at home.

It’s important to note that we do not provide a traditional “Confirmation Class” as many people have previously experienced, for a number of reasons. To help you understand what preparation looks we provide a description of our preparation requirements and sample timeline of activities on the “Preparation Requirements and Timeline” document below.

Our preparation track takes 15 months, or about 1.5 school years, to complete.

Youth may begin preparing for Confirmation as early as 7th grade and as late as 11th grade. We encourage parents to sign their child up for preparation whenever they feel their child is ready to begin preparing for the Sacrament. This replaces the former model in which youth were required to complete Confirmation preparation during one set grade (e.g., 8th grade).

We believe that arbitrarily attaching Confirmation to one particular grade level fails to honor the unique faith journey of each individual. After all, Confirmation isn’t just a rite of passage in which  youth “become adults in the faith” or graduate from religious education- it is meant to be a profound encounter with the Holy Spirit that prepares us to live out our call as disciples in the world! As we eliminate the practice of confirming all youth at any arbitrary age, we hope to foster greater intentionality surrounding preparation and increased reverence for the Sacrament and its effects.

For what it's worth, many of our youth do still get confirmed as 8th graders by beginning their preparation at the earliest opportunity in Fall of their 7th grade year. However, we do not enforce one particular grade as the universal standard for Confirmation preparation/reception, nor are youth automatically enrolled in preparation in any set grade.

The simplest sign that your child is ready to begin preparation is that they personally desire to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please note that this is different from wanting to get confirmed because it's what their parents want. However, some teens won't express this desire, or they might not be sure what they want. In this case, we are looking for our candidates to simply be open to the possibility of being Confirmed and willing to participate in preparation activities while they explore that possibility.