“We really enjoyed ourselves,” says Tom Ahlberg who taught the class. The adults were using The Journey Discipleship/Confirmation curriculum initially designed by the denomination for students in junior high.
Although the curriculum was written for a younger audience, it proved an excellent resource for “well-seasoned Christians,” Ahlberg says.
Ahlberg acknowledges that often adults “take classes and get head knowledge, but we don’t let it get inside to change us.” The hands-on projects helped break that brain-heart barrier.
Doing the lessons also helped make connections between the adults and teens. On Confirmation Sunday, the adults stood behind the graduating confirmands and laid hands on them while offering a blessing.
Ahlberg says he needed to make few adjustments in the material in order to tailor it for adults, and the adults looked forward to the activities. One of the students even wrote a play about Ash Wednesday that the adults performed for the church.
Although they did many of the same activities, the adults and youth worked through the material differently. The confirmands used the material during four retreats, whereas the adults met weekly, Ahlberg says. He hopes that the adults will participate with the youth in at least one of the retreats in the coming year as they focus on the New Testament.
To learn more about the curriculum, visit the Journey website.
