When a young person takes the vows of confirmation, the congregation also vows to love, guide, and nurture him or her. But a young person should experience this love and guidance long before he or she is confirmed. One way a congregation can nurture a young person preparing for confirmation is through a relationship with an adult mentor. TalkPoints help get mentors and parents involved in confirmation, leading to greater participation and more meaningful dialogue outside the classroom experience.
A mentor doesn’t need to be a trained theologian or someone who has all the answers. Rather, a mentor should just be an adult who is mature in his or her faith and who can walk alongside a youth on his or her confirmation journey.
Credo Confirmation TalkPoints® for Mentors and Youth helps mentors with this task by providing ten guided conversations that young people going through confirmation can have with their adult mentors:
• Introduction
• God
• My Beliefs
• Church
• Following Jesus
• Relationships
• Being United Methodist
• Spiritual Growth
• Life After Confirmation
• Confirmation Promises
For each conversation, both the mentor and the youth have a TalkPoints® sheet on which they can jot down responses to questions and discussion prompts. These sheets provide an outline for what the mentor and youth will talk about during their time together.
