First Communion and Confirmation at Good Shepherd
The education and nurturing of God’s children in the Christian faith is meant to be lifelong. At Good Shepherd, we seek to provide our congregation’s children with a firm foundation in the Word of God, one that continues far beyond their First Communion and Confirmation instruction. These milestones are not the end of their spiritual formation, but important steps in a life of faithful reception of God’s gifts.
We walk alongside parents whom Scripture calls the primary teachers of the faith in the home in equipping their children to receive the Lord’s Supper with understanding and reverence, to confess Christ boldly, and to live as His baptized children throughout their lives.
Following Confirmation, young Christians are expected to continue attending the Divine Service regularly, where they receive God’s forgiveness in Word and Sacrament and are strengthened to live as His witnesses.
We take seriously the charge of Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” In keeping with this, our approach to First Communion and Confirmation aims not only to prepare children for a moment in time, but to set them on the lifelong path of discipleship, grounded in the truth of Christ crucified and risen for them.
In addition to weekly Sunday School, children begin to serve in the church as acolytes (young men) and junior altar guild (young ladies) starting in 2nd grade. First Communion classes are offered to all 3rd graders who attend regularly and can recite from memory the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer to the pastor.
In the 4th grade, children study the Ten Commandments in depth; in the 5th grade, they focus on the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. As they approach Confirmation, the 6th grade year turns to the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Confession and Absolution. In the 7th grade, they review the Lord’s Supper and the Divine Service before being confirmed in the faith.
