Expert: Brad Varvil - 4/3/2009

Question
I come from a Lutheran background and started confirmation with my church but before we finished my pastor left and my church closed down. We currently are only able to get a pastor in once every couple weeks and no longer have a Sunday school or confirmation program. A United church in a nearby town is starting a confirmation program and some of my friends are going to it. It would mean a lot if I was able to get confirmed and that is currently my only option. My questions are:
What would the difference be between the two programs?
Would the Lutheran church acknowledge my confirmation?
Is it enough difference to just not get confirmed at all?
When I get confirmed in the United would I be learning and acknowledging everything I would be in the Lutheran Church?

Thanks

Answer
Dear child of God, Lisa,

My heart breaks for your situation.  Here are a few thoughts that may be of help.

As you may have learned from your Confirmation preparation, the Lutheran perspective on Confirmation is regarding the faith we confirm-- i.e., you are being Confirmed in the Christian faith, according to ancient Christian symbols of faith we have had handed down to us for nearly 2000 years in the west (the Eastern Church is a little different, but not much.)

So, when we prepare folks for confirmation (and we should do this for adult converts, too...) the basis of instruction is Luther's Small Catechism.  Like one similarly written by St. Augustine, it contains the Ten Commandments, The Apostle's Creed, The Lord's Prayer, and a discussion of the Sacraments (Baptism, Lord's Supper, and Confession/Absolution.)  These brief statements are how Lutherans understand the basics of the Scriptural, Apostolic faith once for all delivered to the saints-- The Commandments teach us what God expects of us and how far short we fall; the Creed proclaims the Gospel of salvation which is freely given to us by grace through faith in Christ; The Prayer teaches us how to communicate regularly with our redeeming God; the Sacraments are means of God's grace to us, which nourish and sustain us throughout our lives.  If you can affirm these truths, you are ready for Confirmation.

The United Church of Christ is not Lutheran... and in some senses, one never quite knows what they believe until one may sit and chat with them.  Some of them come from Lutheran roots, others from different streams of the Reformation.  Some of them don't believe much of anything at all, and some of them are very faithful.  From a doctrinal standpoint, I don't think I could recommend anyone go to the United Church of Christ for faith formation, because they have very little in the way of doctrinal standards... and who knows what they might try to teach you (as a national Church body, they have already declared that they are not bound by the Holy Scriptures... and have done some pretty weird things.)

As for the validity of Confirmation, if you have already declared that you confess and believe the one holy faith of the Christian Church, you have already, in a sense, been confirmed in the faith before God.  The Rite of Confirmation is normally done by a pastor, but if you have a hymnal at home, your father or mother may administer the Rite to you in a family setting, and assuming they are faithful Christian people, I would argue that such a Rite is just as valid as any other.  Once you get a Lutheran pastor back again, you might need to clear up the paperwork with him (which is usually just a repeating of the confession of faith, which is what all adult members do when they transfer from one congregation to another... basically re-affirming their Confirmation in/of the faith) but that's just administration.  If you confess Christ before men, Christ will confess you before the Father-- this is the heart of Confirmation in the Lutheran understanding, and pastors simply function as a means to that end.

Grace and peace be with you, Lisa.  If you would like private counsel, feel free to contact me privately-- perhaps I can help find you a pastor in your area that could work with you.

Rev. Brad