CHICAGO (ELCA) -- This fall, Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will introduce "Waterlife Confirmation" resource materials, said the Rev. Jeffrey S. Nelson, senior editor, ELCA Group, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis. The first of these resources will be available August 1, he said.
The Waterlife materials were developed from a confirmation workshop called "Waterlife: Baptismal Living as Confirmation." The ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) was a co-sponsor.
During three Waterlife workshops held throughout the country between March and May, Augsburg Fortress and DCM presented a new way to approach confirmation ministries through Waterlife. The purpose of this curriculum is to emphasize lifelong faith formation.
The workshop gave people an opportunity to "explore how the work of the Spirit, begun at baptism, shapes and guides the church's practice of confirmation ministry," according to Augsburg Fortress promotion materials.
"I have told so many people that Waterlife was the best conference I have ever been to," said Tonya Rike, director of Christian education, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa.
The four-day, 10-session workshop offered pastors, youth ministers, confirmation teams, confirmation volunteers, education committees and others a chance to plan confirmation ministry that centers on "lifelong baptismal living and spiritual formation," according to Augsburg Fortress promotion materials. They also gained opportunities for public affirmations of baptism.
"Throughout the Waterlife conference I was so struck by our personal need for the daily affirmation of baptism, which doesn't consistently happen during my personal devotions," said Jacqueline Campbell, workshop participant from Zion's Lutheran Church, Greensburg, Pa.
A chance to discover how confirmands learn and think based on current educational theory and trends in cultural programs and the knowledge needed to instruct them about the concept of grace and the meaning of baptism was also part of the workshop. Participants learned how to incorporate life's happenings with baptismal reflections.
"Waterlife really started me on a journey to work things through for myself," said Rike. "Now hopefully I can share my vision with our congregation and our theology will form our practice instead of the other way around," she said.
The Waterlife Confirmation series offers several pieces. The Waterlife Confirmation Bible Resources offer both Old and New Testament courses that will be published new each semester and are organized into two semesters with five three-week Bible story units.
The Waterlife Confirmation Bible Resources Leader Guide provides the foundation for the resource. The leader guide offers suggestions on giving students an opportunity to learn about the major themes of each testament through discussion with their parents and mentors and a variety of other ways.
The Waterlife Confirmation student resource is a teen magazine called M. Louie. "It is designed to keep the attention of younger readers," said Nelson
"I greatly appreciate hearing about all the work that has been going into preparing a curriculum to work within this baptismal understanding of confirmation," Rike said.
Additional Waterlife Confirmation resources are available from Augsburg Fortress, including three resource books: "Confirmation: Engaging Lutheran Foundations and Practices," "Confirmation: A Congregational Planner" and "Celebrating the Seasons of Baptismal Living."
"I have read the three planning resources and have been quite impressed," Rike said. The Waterlife Confirmation catechism resource will be available from Augsburg Fortress in the Fall of 2002. --
More information on Waterlife Confirmation resources can be found at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/waterlife/index.asp on the Web.
*Michelle T. Mills is a senior at Bradley University, Peoria, Ill.
This summer she is an intern with ELCA News & Information.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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