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Hello St. Andrews Family!
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As you have likely heard several times from either Pastor Matt or me; Significant changes will be made to the 11am service when it makes its return after Labor Day. In broad strokes, the service will focus on teaching the foundations of our faith using the Scriptures and Luther’s Small Catechism. For this reason, we’re calling it the Foundations Service.
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We’ve held off giving many details until we had them all finalized. Now, we would like to share what we’ve been working on over the summer. Drum roll please…
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It all started with Confirmation.
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After the completion of my first year leading Confirmation, I spent some time reflecting on how the year went. My main takeaway was: What a blast! I had such a great time getting to know the kids and watching them develop in their faith. However, it struck me that we could do a better job instilling a habit of regular worship in our confirmands and their families. So, I brought my thoughts to Pastor Matt: “How can we ensure that our confirmands, and their families, are regularly receiving the gifts that God gives us in worship?”
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Through many discussions and many prayers, God put it on our hearts that the 11am worship service provides a great opportunity to address this.
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Now, how did we get this idea?
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As the confirmands and I walked through Luther’s Small Catechism, we would repeatedly point out that the 6 Chief Parts of the catechism are basically the framework for the Divine Service. Here are those 6 Chief Parts:
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- Confession and Absolution
- The Apostle’s Creed
- The Lord’s Prayer
- Holy Communion
- Holy Baptism
- The Ten Commandments
Then it clicked. With the instructional portion of the Confirmation program happening within the actual worship service, kids are able to learn the material in a way that is much more immersive and experiential, and inevitably more impactful. This is super exciting!
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So, what does this look like?
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In many ways the service will be “owned” by the confirmands. They will lead/participate in as many facets of the service as possible: ushers, readers, communion assistants, offering, perhaps music, etc.
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The “lesson time” will not be the sermon preached in the previous two services. Rather, whoever is not preaching that weekend will lead an interactive lesson from the prescribed portion of the catechism. Each lesson, although not necessarily a sermon, will be a proclamation of the Law and the Gospel.
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This year we will spend a few weeks getting familiar with the overall scope and narrative arc of God’s Word. Then we will study Baptism, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer using the catechism. Since Confirmation will remain a 2-year journey, we will study Confession, Communion, and the Commandments next year. Kids who are returning for their 2nd year will be confirmed on Confirmation Sunday!
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We anticipate this to be a year of learning and adjusting. There are probably several things we haven’t thought of yet. We expect this service to adjust and evolve over time to appropriately support the spiritual needs of the St. Andrews family.
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Who is this worship service for?
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Great question! The 11am service will still be for EVERYONE. It will continue to function as one of the three worship services offered by St. Andrews. We will confess our sins, then rejoice in the proclamation of the absolution. We will raise our voices in song and in prayer. We will confess our faith using the ancient creeds. We will partake of the body and blood of Jesus. And we will hear God’s Word read aloud and proclaimed.
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For anyone needing a refresher of their own confirmation experience, for the new member wanting to learn more about the foundations of the Christian faith, for the visiting guest curious about what Lutherans believe – this service is for everyone.
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What about the social aspect of Confirmation?
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As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, forming relationships with the kids (and seeing them form relationships with each other) was one of my favorite parts of the entire Confirmation experience. Young Christians need a space to fellowship with each other - outside of a worship service. So, the social portion of the Confirmation program will take place during the Sunday School hour. The confirmands will share their lives with each other, pray together, and participate in activities aimed at forming relationships.
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There will also be up to four “Confirmation Benchmarks” throughout the year when the group gets together during a weeknight to engage with some of the lesson material in a more creative and fun way. For example: When discussing “Give us this day our daily bread” from the Lord’s Prayer, we will have a Confirmation Benchmark which includes the group cooking a meal with and for each other.
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Finally, since Confirmation will take place during Sunday mornings, each confirmand will be able to join their friends in Youth Group every Sunday Night! (Beginning August 9)
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For confirmation families:
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Whether you are a family with a returning confirmand or looking to start the process, please register your child using this LINK.
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Also, please come to Confirmation Orientation on Sunday, September 6. We will meet immediately following the 9:30am worship service to go over important information about the coming year and make sure everyone is one the same page.
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Just to reiterate, these decisions have come as a result of diligent prayer. The Church Council, the Board of Deacons, along with Pastor Matt and I, believe this will allow for significant spiritual formation to take place at St. Andrews, regardless of your age or stage of life. We will learn as we go, we will need to make adjustments, but in the end we pray that God will use these changes to mold more lives for His name’s sake.
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Thank you for your prayers and support in this matter.
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