‘How many of the adults in our congregation have an in-depth Bible knowledge?’ This is the question that I found myself asking when I read Rebecca Kirkpatrick’s 100 Things for Your Child to Know Before Confirmation.
In 100 Things for Your Child to Know Before Confirmation, Rebecca Kirkpatrick challenges youth workers, parents and church leaders that teenagers are coming to confirmation preparation classes without a basic grasp of the biblical story and Christian knowledge. (Confirmation preparation happens in Kirkpatrick’s church at 13 or 14 years old and is a year-long process!) The starting point teenagers have has changed, they are coming with different questions to the ones Kirkpatrick came to confirmation with. Kirkpatrick primarily takes the reader through an overview of the Bible and gives suggestions in how to encourage young people to engage with the text and want to read it.
100 Things… is a systematic journey through the biblical story. Kirkpatrick focuses on the biblical knowledge someone needs to have coming to confirmation. The last two chapters focus on Christian spirituality, knowledge about church – communion, services, liturgy, denominations and world faith.
Each section has ideas for the different stages of a child’s development towards adulthood. These encourage thought about the development of seeds – planting, feeding and watching grow. This book has some great ideas for how to get your youth group engaging in the Bible, for example, making bumper stickers to help think about the book of Proverbs.
This book is useful for a reference resource. If you read it cover to cover, it feels a bit intense, like a young person needs to have completed the first year of theological college in order to be confirmed. But used as a reference book, it can provide ideas and encourage biblical knowledge. There are nuances in this book, which remind you that it was written for an American audience. This was evident in some of the denominational language.
As this book provides a lot of knowledge for young people preparing for confirmation, and their families, it is worth remembering what Karl Barth is popularly thought to have said, when being asked what was the most significant thing he learnt in all his studying: ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’
‘100 Things for Your Child to Know Before Confirmation’ is available from SPCK Publishing and Church House Bookshop as a paperback and from Amazon as an ebook.
Susy Dand is an experienced youth and schools worker based in West London.