During the upcoming year, there will be lots of preparation that will go into the decision to participate in the Confirmation ceremony to become a disciple of Christ. This preparation will involve the confirmands, teachers, sponsors, and most critically, the parents.
At the time we had our child baptized, we, as their parents, made the commitment to raise our children in the Catholic faith. This year will be a special year of preparation as we share our faith more fully with our child and see them grow in their understanding of their faith.
One of the requirements that the confirmands need to be made aware of is the service hour requirement. All confirmands will be required to complete 21 hours evenly divided between the church, the community and family. Each student will receive several service hours' sheets that should be completed by the student and returned to the teacher at the beginning of the Confirmation class. A sampling of ideas and suggestions is provided.
We will arrange some service projects for the students but the majority of the hours will need to be obtained, individually, by each student. It is the program's intention for these hours to serve as an example to the students of the many types of ongoing service that Christians perform throughout their lifetime. We would like to suggest that some of your service hours are performed throughout the summer instead of during the busy school year.
We have a dedicated team of volunteers who have thoughtfully consented to organize and teach the 2005-2006 Confirmation class. This is a unique and extremely important commitment to the adolescents of our parish and to their families. We intend to make it a fun year with activities that help our child stretch and grow in their faith and their commitment to Christ. We will need the assistance of parents throughout the year and are asking that each parent be committed to function as an assistant twice throughout the year. In the fall, we will give you a schedule for your assigned week, please reschedule with other parents if you are unable to make your commitment. Together, we can make this a memorable experience for our youth of the church.
Thank you for sharing your children with us and we are looking forward to a wonderful, rewarding year. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have questions, concerns or problems. We will communicate with you by sending emails and/or notes home with your child. Please check your email frequently to keep up to date. We also will be using the church website:
http://www.germantownhills.com/lourdes to communicate.
We will be having another parent meeting at the beginning of the year
to further discuss our goals, class expectations, absentee policies, etc.
Mary Kiefher mkiefner@mchsi.com 822-0116
Bobbi Soule bsoule@.mtco.com 383-2513
Terry Polanin tpolanin@mtco.com 383-2295
Maureen Severinsen mlseverinsen@yahoo.com 383-4770
Debbie Quinn dquinns4@aol.com 383-4454