Looking Again at Confirmation

What were your reasons for taking it?

I took it because of the enormous pressure that was put on us -- beer party after beer party at JRA's (Jim Adam's) home, Kay Keeler leaning, people telling us how it had done such great things for them. The final push came from my husband who took it himself and told me I would get something out of it and he would smoke his last cigarette. He did. (1)

Peer pressure -- spouse too. Curiosity, so "belong" and be in the "in" group/crowd (2)

Peer/clergy pressure. Vague desire/longing to belong at a deeper level. (3)

It was the "thing to do." (4)

I took it because I finished the into class and it was the next logical step on my spiritual journey. I was an atheist then, but felt a yearning for something more traditional, universal, ritualistic, and spiritual than my Ethical Culture upbringing. (6)

I wanted to "belong," and it was the threshold at St. Marks. I thought that I wanted to take a number of Christian Ed classes for which it was a prerequisite. And I wanted to know why it was such a big deal. (7)

Nancy's (wife) urging. (8)

I had first started coming to St. Marks in 1970, having heard through my brother Don Sarles, who had heard from Joya Cox, that they need a temporary organist. I visited on Lessons and Carols Sunday, and have been coming ever since. In 1970 I proclaimed that I had been confirmed (in 1941!) and didn't need to be re-tooled, thanks just the same. In the fall of 1973 my mother died, I moved out of my marriage, and my attitude changed radically -- "if they can do something to help me, I beg for the chance to try." (9)

I took it because everyone I met or talked to at St. Mark's asked me whether I had taken it and told me I must. I understood that it was the primary/only way to become a part of the community. (10)

I took it because everyone encouraged me to do so - that it was the way to become part of this community. (11)

Had not had a lot of involvement because of work/school schedule. That had changed and it seemed like a good time to do it. (12)

(Did not take it for the first 20 years at St. Marks) You will quickly note a long lapse between coming to St. Mark's and taking Confirmation Class. We did not take it for these reasons: 1) we were told there was very little Biblical content. 2) we were told it would not teach us much more about the Episcopal Church or St. Mark's. 3) we were concerned about what we heard about people being put in positions where serious emotional issues surfaced with people not trained to deal with them - and we felt that was not responsible.

We did take the Class because: 1) Jim Steen was teaching it and he was leaving, which meant it would be our last chance with him. 2) he was flexible so that we could miss a few sessions if necessary-my husband travels a great deal for work. 3) others we liked were taking it. 4) we wanted to get it over with and see if there really was a "secret password." 5) Verna told us to. (13)

A.) I took the class because I wanted to be a part of the St. Mark's community, and it seemed clear that this was the way to become a "full" member. The Rite of Entrance which I participated in at the Bishop's visit confirmed the fact that, although I had attended St. Marks for over a year, pledged for two years running, and ran one of the youth groups, I only was fully a part of the Church having completed this class.

B.) I was told that it was a wonderful experience. Many people who I knew told me what a wonderful experience they had in confirmation class, and I was hoping for a similar experience.

C.) Professional interest. Having heard many good things about the class (it's curious-after my experience of the class, I've heard of many folks who had negative experiences in the class. But before I took it, I only heard the positive experiences) I was curious to see what this Church was doing that many had responded to.

D.) Need of community. I was new to DC, and felt like the class would provide me a community of folks with whom I had some intimacy. (14)

I took the class that began in Fall of 1993/ended in Spring 1994. I took it because I had had a very good experience with the Intro Class (taught by Jim Adams), because confirmation class was presented as the next logical thing to do after Intro Class, because it was presented as THE way to understand, and thereby belong to, the parish, because I was feeling that void in my life on Monday nights, and because a lot of the people I had made friends with during Intro Class were taking it, too. (15)

I wanted to strengthen my connection to the St. Mark's community. I came to St. Mark's because it was a block away from home. I stayed because the building was beautiful, the liturgy was meaningful and creative, the sermons were engaging, and the church's worldview seemed to match my own. >From my first Sunday service, however, the vestry member at the welcome table made clear to me that confirmation class was the central experience around which the parish community was formed. I also looked forward to joining a small group of people with whom I could forge lasting friendships in the context of our community.

I wanted to grow spiritually/as a Christian. From the descriptions I heard from various members before I took the class, I honestly expected a challenging and rigorous experience that would change the way I looked at life, etc. In hindsight, I feel extremely naïve that any one class could do that, but that is how the class is billed here: as a revelatory experience.

I wanted to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church. This may seem to be hopelessly old-fashioned, but I truly felt that the Episcopal Church was an appropriate home for me. As someone who was raised in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist environment, I had long sought a church home that was less rigid in theology and richer in liturgy. After a lot of soul-searching, I had made up my mind before the class had begun that I wanted to make a formal commitment to the church. I was optimistic that this class would confirm my decision. (16)

I took confirmation class because the friend who introduced me to St. Mark's had just taken it and she raved about it. She had met a group of people our age with whom she did a lot of fun things with and I wanted to do the same. Looking for community, I guess. (17)

I thought it was a regular confirmation class and took it because I wanted to be confirmed. I had not been at St. Mark's long and was completely unaware of Func. Ed. (19)

I knew that Confirmation Class was the way to become integrated into the St. Mark's Community. Margie Ware told me, "I don't care where you live, I don't care where you work, but this is where you go to church. And as soon as you are able, you take Confirmation class." Now, you really can't argue with Margie, don't you agree? (20)

I've been attending St. Mark's regularly since the Fall of 1998, when I moved downtown. I joined the choir, but for the first few months didn't have a strong sense of belonging. I was deeply drawn to St. Mark's for its aesthetic qualities, and for its openness to skepticism. I very much enjoyed the Intro to St. Mark's class, and actually looked forward to the Confirmation class.

I took the Confirmation class because, at age 30, I had never really been part of an organized community, certainly not a religious community. For much of life I went dutifully about my business, and generally succeeded very well, but very much alone. I also struggled to make sense of Christianity. Having grown up in an evangelical church from which I later recoiled, I yearned to develop an understanding of "carrying out the mission of Christ" that didn't insult my intellectual and emotional understanding of the world we inhabit. I assumed that Confirmation class, while not being doctrinaire, would nonetheless be an opportunity to think about life and spirituality and be a meaningful process for making a commitment to joining a church. I had heard stories about the class, and knew that it was a big deal in the life of the church, and knew of certain horror stories, but I looked forward to the opportunity to move toward reconciliation with Christianity. (21)

My wife and I took confirmation class in fall of 1996. I took Confirmation Class to re-acquaint myself with the core beliefs of the Episcopal Church - I was already confirmed as a teenager; transfer my membership to St. Mark's; and meet other members of the congregation as well as the clergy. (22)

I came to St. Mark's for the first time to attend a production of "The Music Man." I liked the church, and attended a few times in the summer. I might not have come back, but late in August of 1994, Jim Adams paid me a pastoral visit. I was impressed that he had gone to the trouble, and intrigued by what he had to say about St. Mark's, so I decided to begin attending more regularly. I took the Intro. class in the Fall, and I was hooked.

I took Confirmation Class in the Spring of 1995 (Jim Adams' last class). I decided to take it when I did because I had taken the Intro. class from Jim Adams in the Fall of 1994, and I liked the people I'd met in that class, several of whom were planning to take Confirmation Class in January, 1995. Even though Confirmation Class was very expensive, I decided to go ahead and take it. I took it in order to meet people and learn more about St. Mark's. I was already confirmed in when I was a teen, by my father, who was a Lutheran Pastor, so I didn't take it in order to be confirmed again. (23)

I took the confirmation class in the Fall of 1999. I took the class because I was/am looking to bring more spirituality into my day-to-day life, and would like to find a community that is supportive of that my spirituality. (24)

I was curious about the language and terms used in sermons, announcements, skits at St. Mark's and I suspected that Confirmation Class would give me some window into all that.

I had already taken a Fall 1980 functional class (Men's and Women's Class led by JRA, Tucker Harris, JJ Smith and Rebecca Fey.) This class experience was bizarre and upsetting to many. Despite the chaos in this class process, I respected the leaders and I wondered what was going on and wanted to know more.

I had gotten to know Kay Keeler, the lead teacher, and I figured that if she was leading Confirmation Class it would be interesting. Also, she made a really determined effort to recruit me which was, naturally, very flattering. I felt that somebody at St. Mark's was actually interested in knowing me.

After nearly nine months attending St. Mark's I was beginning to feel comfortable enough to take the step to begin to know others.

I had read "A Way to Belong" - the Adams/Hahn Book describing Confirmation Class and I liked the descriptions of the class process.

As a Jew turned UCC member, I was eager to learn more about the Episcopal Church, its practices and traditions. I also wanted to know more about Gospel stories since I was familiar with Hebrew Scripture but much less comfortable with the New Testament.

I happened to have both the class night and the two weekends clear on my calendar. (25) A

l and I were members of the 1997 Confirmation Class with Jim Steen as one of the teachers. Al and I did not take the class earlier because of our work travel schedules and the rule that Jim Adams and Susan adhered to--"you can't miss any of the classes." For several years I tried, obviously unsuccessfully to convince Jim that missing one or two classes, if they weren't the weekends, would not be the end of the world--but it was to him. After awhile, I didn't care and was somewhat irritated by the rigidity and became somewhat suspect of the process.

We took the 1997 class because we were asked by Jim Steen. Verna encouraged us because she said "you can't change something you don't know about!" And she had been verbal for years that it needed changing. Jim gave permission for me to attend even though I had to miss two Monday meetings. We also were excited about the fact that Maureen and Kenn were going to do it too. (26)

My reasons for taking it were that I was curious about the "mystery' that shrouded confirmation class, and I wanted to learn about what it meant to be Episcopalian. (27)

I took the class because as it was explained to me by both the rector and associate rector, this was the ONLY way to become a confirmed communicant at St. Mark's. (28)

My husband and I took Confirmation Class in Spring 1995. This was the last Confirmation Class taught by Jim Adams. We took it because it seemed to be a "gate course" to much participation in the parish, though it was made clear that many activities did not depend on the class. However, it clearly was greatly valued. We had the sense that anybody who was anybody took the class, and we didn't want to miss out on anything. We took it pretty promptly, partly to get it over with.

Before, during, and after taking the class, we bitched and moaned a lot, particularly at its being called Confirmation Class and especially at its being associated with the sacrament of Confirmation. We had been confirmed in our RC days and sort of felt our Confirmation was not being recognized or accepted. What's this? we thought. It's good enough for the worldwide Anglican Communion but not for St. Mark's? And on and on in that vein. But we took it, and by and large, we liked it. (29)

Bullied by Adams (I'd already been confirmed in 1954 - there were a bunch of us draft resisters at the time, mostly married couples (the issue du jour was married v. single) (31)

It's the "eye of the needle" at St. Marks. (33)

It was recommended for fuller understanding and participation in the community. I wanted to learn about it. I felt I wanted and needed a group activity not related to my professional or family world. (34)

My wife and I became interested in St. Mark's and wanted to become fully involved. We took "Intro" and went straight into confirmation class. We were impressed with Jim Adams, and he was one of the teachers. At the time, I doubt that I could have articulated other or better reasons for taking Confirmation Class. I really didn't know what I was getting into. (35)

To become a "real" part of St. Marks -- Learn how it "clicks" -- Susan Gressinger's last class. Needed it as a prerequisite for other classes -- building a "mini" community within St. Marks. (36)

To get my St. Marks ticket punched. (37)

To belong, to be able to take classes for which it was a prerequisite. (38)

Knew I had to if I wanted to belong to St. Mark's (39)

It was the thing to do at St. Mark's. Helped you to be more a part of the community. (40)

We were at St. Marks for a year. Liked the church, but were given an explicit feeling that "you don't belong" until you take Confirmation Class. With a new baby, it was difficult to find one night a week, plus 2 weekends, into schedule, not to mention expense of course, babysitters, etc. (41)

My spouse took it before I did. If my relationship with my spouse was going to be maintained, I realized I needed to take the class. (42)

I was brand new at St. Mark's and was told it was the "way to begin" so I signed right up. (43)

The time was right. The recession helped bring my professional practice to a halt, leading me to enter into a period of soul searching, reaffirming my faith to help cope with things beyond my control. (44)

Susan G. said to do it. (45)

To become part of the St. Mark's community -- learn the ropes. (48)

Wanted to join the church (49)

Bill Baxter told us we had to take it if we wanted to be active participants in the community. (50)

To get to know people better. (51)

I took Confirmation Class immediately after doing Intro because I was an intern in Washington and I really wanted to take this class immediately, in case I had to leave the area to get a job elsewhere, because I felt St. Mark's was a special place and confirmation class was tied into the special feeling in some fundamental way. (52)

To become more a part of St. Mark's (53)

I took it because I wanted to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and I wanted to become a member of St. Mark's. This was my third class at St. Mark's. I also took Introduction to St. Mark's in Winter 1999, and What Episcopalians Believe in Fall 1999. In addition, I am a member of the Thursday night Education for Ministry class. I approached each of these courses as a way to deepen my faith and to develop my membership within the St. Mark's community. On the whole, the experience has been quite positive and successful. (54)

To find a folk and myself at St. Mark's (55)

Took Confirmation Class with Jim Adams. I took it to become more involved at St. Mark's; to find my place as an adult in the church. (56)

Because I had to (57)

Enthusiasm for joining St. Marks. (58)

To feel connected to the community of St. Marks. To learn more about the Christian Ed process. To help me find my place in this community. To help me "grow." Experience taking risks. (59)

It started when I received a letter Jim Steen had written to me (and fifty others!) suggesting I take the class which would be taught by Jim, Emily Guthrie, Rick Wilson & M. L. Wagner. The timing must have been right. I immediately yelled to Stephanie that I was going to take confirmation class. She was flabbergasted. So was I. So why did I take the class? partly because I admired Jim Steen, although I didn't know him that well, partly because I liked Emily Guthrie, and probably most importantly, timing. I finally felt like acting on a long suppressed need to "become more spiritual." I had no clue as to what confirmation class would teach. I vaguely though it would teach me about Episcopalians and St. Mark's--a kind of road map to start a spiritual journey. I did realize from the letter that this was to be no quick task. (60)

To become a member of St. Marks parish. (61)

The Lawrenzes invited us and we didn't even go to St. Mark's. (62)

Lawrenzes said it was in interesting discussion group. (63)

Bill Baxter's last class. (64)

Flexibility of Jim Steen on staff re: attendance regulations and strong invitations from Jan Hoffman and Verna Dozier. (65)

I and my three children had been baptized the year before by Will Billow at the Cathedral (the kids went to Cathedral schools) and Ellen Frost has been my sponsor. She had urged me to check out St. Marks which I had. I liked it better than St. James or Christ Church, partly because I knew quite a few people here. I took confirmation class because I wanted to know more about Christianity -- I grew up without religious education. Our Baptism hadn't included any kind of class or preparation, it was just a ceremony. (66)

We were invited to and encouraged to as part of becoming a "full member" at St. Mark's. (67)

Highly recommended by St. Mark's friends. (68)

To jump through the hoop set forth by St. Mark's as a requirement to be considered as part of the community. I was already a confirmed Episcopalian, but felt that the class was the ticket to be paid to gain entry to St. Mark's. I needed to get through the rite of initiation. I believe that we need to keep the community building tool, but need to examine it and improve the model. (69)

I wanted to explore whether I could be a Christian or wanted to be a member of St. Mark's. (71)

Intrigued by Introduction to St. Mark's -- liked the format and concepts discussed, actually looked forward to Confirmation Class. I expected more questions than answers (just like the Intro. class). I expected a challenge, not to be "psyched out." (72)

The real reason? One Sunday shortly after -- very shortly after -- I'd started coming to services, Ken Lee looked me in the eye and said, "I think you should take this class. It starts tomorrow night." I had nothing better to do. I was flattered to have been noticed. I had no idea what I was getting into. (73)

My husband and I liked the introduction class and we were looking for a church to join. (74)

Because Jim Adams said it was not the same as the confirmation class I had before I came to St. Mark's. (76)

I took confirmation class because I was curious as to what it was all about. It seemed surrounded by mystery. Also, I knew Pete Eveleth and Lou Bayard from the St. Mark's Players and they recommended it. (77)

I took confirmation class in the Fall of 1982 because I wanted to know more of what St. Mark's was all about, what it stood for. (78)

Wanted to join the church (79a)

Same reason (79b)

I knew it was the basis for Christian Ed here and that it was excellent. It was super and I wished I had taken it when I was in my 20's. (80)

I took confirmation class in Fall 98 (?--whenever Paul took it) because I heard that it was an entry point into the St. Mark's community, and because I had been on Episcopal retreats in the past that were very positive experiences that brought me closer to God. (81)

Jim Adam's last class. It is a requirement for being part of the "ingroup" at St. Marks (82)

Mid-70's. Staff: Jim Adams, Scilla Adams, JJ Smith, and Lydia Finkelstein. My then-wife, Eileen, took the class before me & she got a lot out of it. I was intrigued by how close the members of her class were. Further, at that time, anyway, this was the way to belong at SM, or so I assumed. (83)

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