On Saturday, April 17, 2010 during the Christmas in April Retreat, the 2010 Confirmation Class wrote their own Affirmation of Faith.  It was first read in worship on Confirmation Sunday, April 25, 2010 when 11 young people were confirmed, publicly professing their faith and choice to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Here is that creed:

We believe in God, the powerful, almighty Creator of heaven and earth, King and Ruler of anything and everything, Who gives us everlasting love, peace, and eternal life.

We believe in the Son of God, Savior of souls and Corrector of sin. Jesus loves us and nourishes us.

We believe in the Holy Spirit that opens the door to knowledge. The Spirit breathes into us the Breath of life, and is the Spark of the fire of love in our souls.

We believe in the Church, God’s house and place of fellowship, love, repentance, and devotion. It is a place where we learn about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. Amen.

Back L-R:  Emma Knight, Millicent Paris, Lauren Meaders, Ashley Tate, Ali O’Connell, Myrah Rogers, Mason Lamb
Front L-R:  McKinley Thacker, Collin Brauner, Paul Acosta, Cory Press

One of the highlights of the Confirmation year is the “Christmas in April Retreat” where the Confirmands learn about and begin to discover their spiritual gifts for serving in the church.  This year was no exception.

As a part of the primary program time, parents and grandparents came to share the experience with their 6th graders.  Thus, all were able to consider the importance of every member of the body of Christ, the church.  When one is not there, the tasks before us are more difficult – sometimes impossible!  Plus, as members of the same body, we have to learn to work together in sharing and using our gifts for the good of all.

After supper, the eleven Confirmands worked on their own Affirmation of Faith in their own words, and this creed will be read for the first time in worship on Confirmation Sunday, April 25, 2010.  Then, after a bit of free time, they watched the theatrical version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and considered how John Wesley’s basic theology is summed up in that movie!

Special thanks go to six youth helpers (Andrew Beltchev, Drake Davis, Breanne Press, Hope Rouse, Courtney Tate, and Keeley Trevino) and three adults (Jeff & Holly Ginn and Wilma O’Connell) who worked with Rev. Troy Sims to make this event a success.

The Confirmands that attended this trip include Paul Acosta, Collin Brauner, Emma Knight, Mason Lamb, Lauren Meaders, Ali O’Connell, Millicent Paris, Cory Press, Myrah Rogers, Ashley Tate, and McKinley Thacker.

Check out the pictures below!

On February 6-7, 2010, nine members of the Confirmation Class and four adults went to the Dallas area for the annual “Confirmation Celebration Overnighter.”  This entailed MANY things:

Doing a canned / boxed good scavenger hunt to benefit CCA (Christian Community Action) in Lewisville, Texas;

Learning about what John Wesley thought were the most important themes in Scripture and for our faith (Prevenient, Justifying, and Sanctifying Grace);

Playing Put-Put Golf, Lazer Tag, Go Carts, and Arcade Games at Adventure Landing in Dallas;

Spending the night at FUMC Lewisville;

Attending St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church in South Dallas (Confirmands said this was AWESOME); and

Attending the Confirmation Celebration with Bishop Earl Bledsoe at FUMC Denton.  Several hundred other confirmands from around the North Texas Conference were there.

Special thanks for the adults that assisted Rev. Troy Sims:  Karen Rogers, Kevin O’Connell, and Jeff Thacker.  This event would not have been a success without them!

For more pictures, click the “strip” below:

The 2009-2010 Confirmation Class attended Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Saturday, October 3, 2009 in order to see similarities and differences between Catholocism and Protestantism.  After the service, Rev. Troy Sims showed the class some of the distinctively Catholic aspects of their Sanctuary and faith.

Check out the picture below taken after worship:

The 2009-2010 Confirmation Class visited the House of Jacob Synagogue in Wichita Falls on Friday, September 25, 2009.  Rabbi Danny Kislin spent some time telling them about the history of Judaism as well as pointing out similarities and differences between Christianity, the Jewish faith, and even secular culture.  He even showed them two Torah scrolls (each scroll contains Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) – did you know that there are NO vowels in these writings?  In addition, each was written by hand!  One was even over 300 years old!

After sharing in worship with the local congregation, the Confirmation Class went and ate at Braums.

Check out the pictures below:

Confirmation for those entering the 6th Grade for the 2009-2010 School Year will begin on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 9:15am.  If you have a child (or know a child) going into the 6th Grade that will be participating in this important aspect of raising a child in faith, fill out the form below!

Confirmation is a time set-aside by the church to teach and nurture 6th grade boys and girls in the basics of the Christian faith and our understanding of that faith as United Methodists. The purpose is to prepare these young people to be able to decide for themselves if they are ready to make a personal commitment to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit as well as the church.  Here at FUMC, we do Confirmation throughout the school year during the Sunday School hour (9:15-10:15am).

Check out this list of topics and some special events coming this school year in Confirmation:

• 1-Beginning the Journey / 2-What is Confirmation (led by Rev. Sims)

• 3-What Is a Christian? / 4-What Is the Church?

• 5-Our Jewish Heritage

• A trip to the House of Jacob Synagogue

• 6-The Church’s History

• 7-Our Common Heritage With All Christians

• A trip to a local Roman Catholic Church

• 8-Our Protestant Heritage

• 9-Our United Methodist Heritage

• 10-Our Heritage As a Local Congregation (usually involves a “trip” to our heritage room)

• 11-United Methodists Talk Funny

• 12-Worship (led by Jeff Ginn)

• 13-Our Hymnal (led by Kristen Gossett)

• 14-Holy Communion (led by Rev. Goodrich)

• 15-Baptism and Confirmation (led by Rev. Dillard)

• 16-The Social Principles

• 17-Mission and Outreach: Called Into the World

• 18-Faith: To Trust, To Believe, To Commit

• 19-How United Methodists Approach Belief (led by Rev. Sims)

• The Bible: 20-The Book for Christians / 21-Guide to Faith, Belief, & Life / 22-A Tool of Faith (led by Rev. Sims)

• 23-Who Is The God We Worship?

• Let Us Pray:  24-Talking With God / 25-Listening to God (led by Jeff Ginn)

• 26-In the Image of God / 27-What is Sin?

• 28-Who is Jesus? 29-What Did He Do?

• 30-Who is the Holy Spirit?

• 31-The End of the World and Life After Death

• 32-Our Historical Beliefs:  The Creeds

• 33-I Choose Jesus Christ

• 34-I Choose to Live as a Christian

• 35-I Choose Life in the Spirit

• 36-The Call to Christian Discipleship

• 37-The Vows of Confirmation

• 38-Our Decision to Claim the Name

• Usually in February, we will do an overnighter to the Dallas area, which includes an event with about 1,000 other confirmands from the North Texas Annual Conference, a mission project, worship at an African-American UM Church, fun events, and more!

• Usually in April, we will do a retreat at Camp Chaparral (near Iowa Park) to focus on our spiritual gifts.  There, the kids will also write their Affirmation of Faith.