Catechesis and Confirmation

I have often heard Confirmation and Confirmation instruction touted as the pride and joy of the Missouri Synod but I have always feared what Confirmation might be inadvertently confessing and my experience with the biblical and doctrinal literacy of our Church body has been very disappointing.

Rome’s position that Confirmation is a sacrament may have colored my read. Their position, of course, is right out. Confirmation is a man-made tradition. It doesn’t confer grace and it wasn’t instituted by Christ. Nonetheless, sometimes, in some places, in my experience, Lutherans have treated it with great pomp and ceremony, so much so, that it has sometimes looked a lot like ordination or holy marriage. It may have even been given greater emphasis than those institutions of Christ. I have often heard people speak of it in a way that tied Confirmation to a worthy communion. Perhaps it was just sloppy language and that wasn’t what was meant, but I have heard it.

I have also heard great pride in Confirmation, especially in the elderly, often just after they have shown their biblical and doctrinal ignorance. A few times I have been very cheeky in response. After being told how thorough and difficult Confirmation was back in the golden age of Missouri, I have asked the boaster to recite some of the Catechism for me. So far, no takers. No wavering though in the thought that they had, in fact, a far better and more thorough instruction and were better catechized and more Lutheran than maybe any before or after them. Again, in my cheekiness, and to no avail, I have pointed out that I think it would have been even better if it had actually stuck. In any case, since Confirmation is not in the Bible, all of that has made me uncomfortable and given me the idea that maybe we are looking at it wrong and perhaps misleading people with it.

On top of that the retention rate is horrific. These same people often lament that terrible track record. The LCMS is not good at retaining confirmands after Confirmation and never has been. Frankly, I don’t know how we could do worse in that regard. It seems like we have to try to do something.

I know I am not alone in any of this, especially in the Ministerium. Pastors typically try to claim that it is an opportunity for catechesis. It certainly is. Still, my experience leaves me troubled. It seems to me that in most places, in the end, almost all of the children are confirmed when the prescribed period of lectures is complete. They are confirmed no matter if they can recite the catechism by heart or if they come to church regularly or if they have attended all or even most of the lectures or not. The leniency is often extreme. Most years, in most parishes that I have seen, everyone who begins confirmation instruction, even if he doesn’t begin in the beginning, “graduates” on time. Very few fail or are asked to repeat the instruction. The children hit the magic age and they are confirmed.

The “catechesis” seems to be mostly lectures that the children endure. These lectures don’t appear to me to be much different in pedagogy or effectiveness than the lectures that those engaged for Holy Matrimony endure – which I also find insufficient and ineffective. A large part of the problem is that there is no real accountability or examination of the students. They sit through the lectures or some of the lectures. That is it. Then they are confirmed. There is likely some gentle testing but is at times gentle to the point of being a mockery. The child is spoon-fed the Catechism, word for word, which he mindlessly repeats immediately after it is given to him. There is no way he could say any of it five minutes later without being spoon fed again, word by word and phrase by phrase.

To be sure, the pastors are often under tremendous political and social pressure – but whence cometh this pressure? It seems to me that it comes from an overvaluing of confirmation over catechesis. I suspect the pastors console themselves with simply exposing the children to the catechism through lectures rather than actually examining and challenging and testing them, that is, holding them accountable and teaching them, in the confidence that the Holy Spirit works through the Word. He creates faith when and where He wills. Salvation doesn’t come by intellectual achievement or understanding. The recitation of the catechism isn’t a prerequisite or qualification for salvation. Those are all true statements in context. Catechesis is not the same thing as Baptism. And yet, our goal is more than to create a smoldering wick of faith to be extinguished as soon as the party is over. Our goal is to teach all things that Christ has given and to inculcate faith that make the confirmation vow in sincerity and truth and by the aid of the Spirit, keep it.

Another issue is that there is rarely the expectation that the children would continue with the catechism after confirmation. All the pastors want this, but they rarely do much about it. The youth group doesn’t want to recite the catechism. Neither do the adults. Many of them will never be asked to do so again, not even once, unless they run across me and boast of their instruction decades earlier. We rail against the idea that confirmation is graduation, but what we claim with cliches and platitudes while the people solemnly nod in agreement, we take away with our every action. I also fear that at least some of what pastors lecture about in confirmation class may never find its way outside of confirmation class.

Perhaps that is all unfair. I don’t have hard evidence. I can’t prove it. Maybe I am overstating it though I am trying not to. This is based upon my own experience and observations. It could well be inaccurate. In the end, though, I am not impressed with the level of catechesis that is generally tied to confirmation. I have found all the hoopla, especially if that catechesis was weak, to be distressing and unhelpful.

I don’t think I am alone in this distress. I actually expect the majority of our pastors feel the same but maybe don’t want to say it out loud. I don’t doubt either that the cliches and platitudes that claim confirmation isn’t graduation and the catechism isn’t just for children are heartfelt and sincere. Still, we need some real strategies for changing this. We need the courage and strength to ruffle some feathers. We need to do something.

Here is what I propose. First of all, the pastors and their families need to be able to recite the Catechism themselves. We must lead by example. We probably need to have the circuit visitors actually go through the motions and listen to the pastors and their families do this. It shouldn’t be assumed. Accountability needs to start with the clergy.

Next we need to commit to the work of teaching and leading the leadership in reciting the catechism. The elders, at least, should be able to recite the catechism or, at the very least, be actively working on it. This needs to be seen as a masculine activity, not limited to males, but, nonetheless, a feat of strength. Elders meetings should spend 10-15 minutes rehearsing and reciting the catechism. If there are men who find this beneath them they should be dismissed. They are not worthy of this office.

At the same time, catechism instruction needs to become rigorous. I suggest requiring a parent to be in attendance. Catechism instruction should be boring for the pastor. It should be boring because he is not talking about interesting theological topics. Teaching the catechism is not intellectually or conceptually difficult. It doesn’t require advanced theological degrees or sophistication, but it is hard. It requires diligence, endurance, and patience. It takes grit. He shouldn’t be entertaining the children. He should be drilling them. There should be no textbooks or workbooks. We should use only one of the synodical catechisms and the Bible. The pastor should repeat himself a lot. He should say the same things over and over again in the simplest ways possible. This will not only aid the children, it will also teach the parents the Catechism while teaching them how to teach it.

Just like the pastors and the elders, the children need to be held accountable in some way or other. They need to be tested, examined, extolled, and challenged. They can’t be allowed to simply sit through lectures. It sounds cruel but there should likely be some attrition, some standards of recitation and attendance both at class and worship. Some children should be held back and required to attend again. Some children and families should be encouraged to take more years for the process than others. Some might finish in two school years, but others will take three or four. This can be normalized and it can be explained to families that this is the cost of trying to be in travel sports and confirmation instruction at the same time, etc.

Finally, Catechism recitation needs to move into youth group and High School Bible study or Sunday School. It needs to be included also in church meetings and other groups. Everyone should be reciting it, daily.

An actual rigorous catechesis won’t solve all past or possible abuses and confusion with the rite of confirmation but it is the right and necessary place to begin. If all of the above is put into place we will still have to remain diligent. We will have to keep paying attention, tweaking, pushing. We cannot rest or assume that it is good enough. But if the catechesis becomes rigorous and the catechism is implanted deeply into the hearts, minds, and lives of the people then I think we can also redeem the confirmation rite and put it into its proper perspective. But that will have to wait for a follow-up post.