Christian Education > Confirmation > Confirmation History

In 1529 Martin Luther toured the German countryside, and visited with many people. He found that most Christians, had what he considered to be an "appalling lack" of knowledge of the scriptures and of the basic beliefs of their faith.

To help parents teach their children the faith, he developed the Small Catechism. To make the teaching/learning process easier for both parents and children, Luther used a question and answer format that put the faith into common everyday terms. In the introduction to the Small Catechism, Luther stressed that it was the responsibility of parents to teach their children.

In the Service of Baptism in the Lutheran Book of Worship, the pastor addresses the parents and sponsors saying,

"In Christian love you have presented these children for Holy Baptism. You should, therefore, faithfully bring them to the services of God's house, and teach them the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. As they grow in years you should place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for their instruction in the Christian faith, that, living in the covenant of their Baptism and in communion with the Church, they may lead godly lives until the day of Jesus Christ."

Parents and sponsors are then asked to promise to fulfill these obligations.

At the end of the service, a representative of the congregation, usually one of the Deacons says, “Through Baptism, God has made this new brother/sister a member of the priesthood we all share in Christ Jesus, that we may proclaim the praise of God and bear his creative and redeeming Word to all the world.”

The congregation welcomes the newly baptized: “We welcome you into the Lord’s family, we receive you as a fellow member of the body of Christ, child of the same heavenly father, and a worker with us in the kingdom of God.”
Confirmation is an opportunity for parents to provide instruction in the Christian faith for their children with the help of the whole congregation.

Confirmation is a time of children and parents discovering together meanings to the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Sacraments, and Confession.

Confirmation is a time of searching the Holy Scriptures for answers to questions of faith and daily life. Confirmation is a time for students to grow in understanding of what it means to live in the promises of their Baptisms and in communion with the Church. Confirmation is a time for students to examine themselves and the ways in which they already do and will continue

• live among God’s faithful people
• hear God’s word and share in the Lord’s Supper
• proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed
• serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus
• and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.