Confirmation
Confirmation class is designed to prepare our youth to decide whether or not they wish to confirm the promises of discipleship made on their behalf at baptism when they were much younger. Classes meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month and are generally meant for youth entering their eighth grade year though sometimes seventh graders are admitted to the class to help form a group large enough to facilitate more active interaction between the students.
In 2019, we are beginning to use a new curriculum called Confirm not Conform whose emphasis matches are own - to give youth the formation they need to make their own faith decisions rather than expect them to conform to our own. We also supplement class instruction and discussion with experiences such as participating in Stations of the Cross at Our Lady of the Island Shrine, service in the Maureen's Haven homeless ministry at St. Mary's, and attendance at Bar Mitzvahs at neighboring synagogues to learn about the simiarities and differences between this rite and our own sacrament. Confirmation is a two-year program leading to experiencing the sacrament of confirmation, should the youth so decide, at the end of the program either at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City or at St. Mark's, Westhampton Beach. The choice regarding location is left to each family.
St. Mary's also provides separate adult confirmation classes as needed.
In 2019, we are beginning to use a new curriculum called Confirm not Conform whose emphasis matches are own - to give youth the formation they need to make their own faith decisions rather than expect them to conform to our own. We also supplement class instruction and discussion with experiences such as participating in Stations of the Cross at Our Lady of the Island Shrine, service in the Maureen's Haven homeless ministry at St. Mary's, and attendance at Bar Mitzvahs at neighboring synagogues to learn about the simiarities and differences between this rite and our own sacrament. Confirmation is a two-year program leading to experiencing the sacrament of confirmation, should the youth so decide, at the end of the program either at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City or at St. Mark's, Westhampton Beach. The choice regarding location is left to each family.
St. Mary's also provides separate adult confirmation classes as needed.