Students: Confirmation Pathway

Families who wish to sign up for Confirmation Pathway and receive a journal may do so by contacting the leader of Student Ministries for their campus:

Kingsland Campus

Chad McElveen - Pastor of Student Ministries

Ethan Venker - Associate Director of Student Ministries

The PDF version of our Confirmation Pathway journal can be viewed online here:

The goal of this pathway is to give students the experiences and knowledge they need while helping them be connected in the larger community of St. Peter's. This will allow them to grow in fellowship with their peers and mentors, therefore providing a place for them to grow and take ownership of their faith.

Throughout this process, students will experience and learn about both the life and practices of the church and many of the foundational, core beliefs of the Christian faith. Students and families will be asked to participate and attend various church events (worship services, serving opportunities, student events, etc.) as well as discovering better understanding of our Christian Faith (personal devotionals, Bible studies, etc.).

Students will receive a journal with all of the experiences needed to connect with the church during the Confirmation Pathway. Throughout the year, they will complete all of the experiences in the journal and later share their experience and readiness for Confirmation. This process will make it to where anyone can take part no matter their schedule.

The Confirmation Pathway does not have a specific weekly meeting time or class. Students can go through this process at their own pace. Though there is no “confirmation class”, students are asked to attend at least one of our regular, weekly student ministry events to be in community with other students and to learn/grow more in their understanding of their faith. 

The events include:

West Campus Student Events: 
Sunday School: Sundays at 10:30am
Midweek: Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm

Kingsland Campus Student Lesson Events:
Sunday School: Sundays at 9am
Life Groups: Sundays from 4-5:30pm
Midweek: Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm 

All students, 6-12th grade, can take part in the pathway.

Because everyone will go about this process at their own pace and what works best for their schedule, the time for completing the Confirmation Pathway will vary from each student and family. Students can begin as early as August and will have until April to experience everything within their journal. Confirmation Sunday is May 4.

Remember, this process is to help students feel more immersed within the life of the church, which is something that cannot be rushed. Our hope is this process invites students to participate more in the church throughout the year, and then after they are confirmed, they will continue being a part of it.

This is a good thing, and this process will encourage them to think more about how they are involved and why it is important to their faith. This process may help students try new things within the church and help everyone better articulate their relationship with God.

In the last couple of years, some have seen Confirmation as a specific class/event to attend. This meant if students could not attend that specific event, then they were not able to be confirmed. Also, this may also give off the appearance that confirmation is a “one-and-done” event, when really, we are always growing and reaffirming our faith our entire lives. Lastly, Confirmation is much more than students feeling connected to the student ministry of the church, they need to feel connected to the entire church! The Confirmation Pathway will not only help students find community with other students but with their entire church family!

Yes! Because confirmands will be able to attend any student weekly event they want, we organized special lunches and hangouts for students throughout the year. There will be a time for students to get to know each other better and to check in about their experiences with the Confirmation Pathway. The dates for these events are:

September 26 at 6-7pm. Location TBD
October 17 at 6-7pm. Location TBD
November 17 at 12-1pm - Lunch at West & Kingsland Campus
More Spring Dates TBA
April 27 at 12-2pm - Lunch & Pastor visits at West & Kingsland Campus

This will be a time when confirmands have the opportunity to share about their experiences and what they have learned about their faith to the pastors here at St. Peter’s UMC. This is not a test, but just a chance for students to articulate how they feel with their relationship with God and if they are ready for this next step in their faith journey, to be confirmed. 

This will be on April 27 at 12-2pm