Cultivating teen faith : insights from the confirmation project

Osmer, Richard Robert, 1950- (editor.). Douglass, Katherine M., 1981- (editor.).

Summary: What are churches doing to form the faith of their young people? Many church denominations that practice infant baptism offer confirmation or an equivalent ministry when children reach adolescence and enter a new phase of spiritual growth -- but all churches, regardless of tradition, wrestle with how to get young adults to join the church. What really works? In this book twelve authors draw on a three-year study of more than 3,000 US congregations across five denominations to answer this pressing question. They tell stories of excellent and innovative confirmation programs that work and that show, above all, what good discipleship with young people looks like. Youth pastors, church leaders, and parents alike will benefit from the practices and new ways of teaching presented here that have proven helpful in forming and enhancing the faith of youth.

Record details

ISBN: 9780802876607
ISBN: 0802876609
Physical Description: print
xiv, 226 pages ; 23 cm
Publisher: Grand Rapids, Michigan : William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018.
Copyright: ©2018

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction / Kenda Creasy Dean and Katherine M. Douglass -- 1. Learning in the image of God : encountering God in body, mind, spirit, and relationship / Katherine M. Douglass and Gordon S. Mikoski -- 2. Mentoring : building deep relationships that matter in confirmation / Lisa Kimball and Kate Harmon Siberine -- 3. Deep rhythms of faith formation : separation and reintegration in summer camp and retreats / Kermit Moss and Jacob Sorenson -- 4. Parents and confirmation : the role of families in faith formation / Joy L. Arroyo and Kate Unruh, with Katherine M. Douglass -- 5. A Spirit-led people : traditioned innovation for confirmation in congregations and denominations / Reginald Blount and Gordon S. Mikoski -- 6. A summary of our findings : theology and empirical research in conversation / Terri Martinson Elton and Richard R. Osmer -- 7. The Confirmation Project as practical theology : embodying faith in contemporary Christian life / Katherine M. Douglass and Richard R. Osmer -- Appendix : The Confirmation Project opinion questionnaire.