Confirmation

Confirmation is a sacramental rite for people who want to commit themselves to the Christian faith.  The purpose of the confirmation process at St. Mark's is to help youth reflect on whether they are ready to commit themselves to continuing their faith journey on the Christian path and ready to accept the vows taken at their baptism as their own. Our program focuses on living the Christian life and includes the following components. 

1 - Participation: Regular participation in St. Mark's or another Christian community - We are not Christians on our own in the world - we are part of a community and it is important to worship and develop together as one.

2-Mentorship: A mentorship: Youth will have a mentor from within the congregation with whom they will meet nine times following the Keeping the Promise mentoring program; the program incorporates discussions on Scripture, the sacraments, and church life and will provide a venue for the youth and mentors to explore their faith together.

3-Faith Retreat: Faith reflection retreat - Each fall we will have a faith reflection weekend for all high school students. The focus of this weekend will be on prayer, reflecting on our beliefs and questions, and building a Christian community.  It is not only for those preparing for confirmation, but one must go once before being confirmed.  If the dates do not work for a youth, they can attend a Teens Encounter Christ weekend - several weekends occur during the year.

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Youth can begin the program in 9th grade, doing the various components as their schedule allows, and can be confirmed in fall or spring of their 10th grade year or later.  Some exceptions to this are possible depending on the maturity of the youth.  If you would like to start the confirmation program, please let me know, and we will start by having a conversation about how the process will look for your youth.