Over 80 youth and adults from 15 churches attended Confirmation Camp. Photos by Rebecca Trefz.

On Feb 27-28, over 80 youth and adults gathered at Lake Poinsett Camp and Living Waters Retreat Center for Confirmation Camp. The overnight retreat allowed youth to explore what it means to be a United Methodist follower of Jesus through spiritual exploration, group activities, and fun.

"I bring youth to Confirmation Camp because it allows them to hear and engage with material in ways outside of our normal confirmation experience," said Rev. Bryce Blank, associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Watertown, S.D. "Confirmation camp also shows students that they are not alone and that they are going through this process like so many other students their age. My hope is that it is an encouraging experience for them."

Watertown First was one of 15 churches that brought students in grades 6-9 to the gathering. The cabins and retreat facilities at Lake Poinsett provided flexible space for both large-group and small-group activities.

This is Rev. Valerie Hummel LaBounty's fourth year deaning the camp. "I wanted to bring Confirmation Camp back to the Lake Poinsett location because I really value camp," said Pastor Valerie. "I see it as a wonderful experience for people of all ages to spend intentional time away from regular life with the purpose of focusing on God and community."

The event opened with a time of worship and sharing in holy communion.

Retired elder, Mark Philips, helped lead the baptismal remembrance service at closing worship.

"The best thing about Confirmation Camp was hearing the youth sing along with our worship!" said Rev. Seth LaBounty from Hartford, S.D., who served as one of the retreat leaders. "There were a few times when I had to intentionally tune them out, or else I would be overwhelmed with the joy of hearing so many of our youth singing with such enthusiasm!"

After some icebreaker games, the students began their learning sessions. The youth were assigned to groups with a mix of students from other churches along with adult group leaders who served as companions in the learning experience. Groups rotated through learning sessions that focused on United Methodist-specific theology and doctrine around six different topics:

Communion: One of two sacraments in the United Methodist Church, communion is a visible sign of an invisible grace. We practice an Open Table, meaning all who wish to receive the grace of God, confess their sins, and follow Jesus are welcome at the table. Communion is not a quick snack during the service. It empowers us to take part in ministry to all the world in union with Christ.

Baptism: A sacrament (a tangible, visible action/sign that points to something God is doing in us through grace.) Through baptism, we are initiated into Christ's holy church (we BELONG in God's family), we are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation (we BELIEVE we are a part of God's ongoing story), we are given new birth through water and the Spirit (we BECOME who God has created and called us to be) as we share in Christ's death and resurrection and also the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Wesley's Grace: John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, taught about three expressions of grace: Prevenient grace – the grace that is present before we know who God is. God loves us and extends God's love to us before we even know God exists; Justifying grace – the moment when we come to know God and commit our lives to follow God and God's will; Sanctifying grace – the grace that is present through the rest of our lives as we grow in our relationship with God and the world. God doesn't want us to be saved just so that we can end up in heaven - God wants us to continue to grow and be more and more like who God has created us to be - today and tomorrow and for the rest of our lives on earth.

The Wesleyan Quadrilateral (from United Methodist Insight)

Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Wesley believed – the four "sides" of the quadrilateral illuminated the core of Christian faith and help us unpack the "whys" and "hows" of Christianity. For United Methodists, Scripture is the primary source and standard for Christian doctrine. Tradition is the experience and witness of the development and growth of the faith through the past centuries and in many nations and cultures. Experience is the individual's understanding and appropriating of the faith in the light of their own life. Through reason, the individual Christian brings discerning and cogent thought to bear on the Christian faith. These four elements, taken together, bring the individual Christian to a mature and fulfilling understanding of the Christian faith and the required response of worship and service.

Creeds and personal faith: The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, meaning "I believe." The creeds are a way that the church can pass along its "statement of faith" from generation to generation. The creeds tell us the basics of what Christians have believed throughout the centuries. Having that connection to the past helps us better understand our present and future in Christ. We have many different creeds, and each is unique. Often, creeds were written to deal with issues that were in dispute. You can sometimes tell why a creed was written by what is in it and by how much space it devotes to a particular topic. For example, the big issue in the Apostles Creed is "Who is Jesus?" The Paragraph on Jesus is bigger than the rest of the Creed. Each Creed emphasizes specific concepts.

Students read through some of "God's mighty acts of salvation" that they are incorporated into through baptism.

Vows taken as a part of confirmation: A promise, commitment, and invitation to accountability, membership vows express God's call to discipleship. God invites us to live into that calling wherever we go, whatever we do. We participate in God's mission and witness, and none of that stops at the church doors. We live out our faith in our local church and community, in the midst of people with real problems and differences and people who know about our weirdness and weaknesses. Loving God and others starts with the challenge of loving our sometimes-cranky neighbors and the members of our local church.

"I truly could not do this camp without all the adult leaders, and more specifically, the adults who were willing to teach the six classes we offered," shared Pastor Valerie. "I am so grateful they are willing to prepare a lesson and teach it multiple times throughout the weekend. And, a big thank you to Nicole [Anderson] at LPC, who hosted our big group!"

The collaborative leadership enhanced the connectional value that all of the leaders hoped attendees would take away from the experience as they take this step of faith and commitment as United Methodists.

"The best thing about confirmation camp was the sense of hope in being in a room with 60 young people preparing to claim the faith for themselves and are choosing the United Methodist tradition as their church home," said Beata Ferris, director of discipleship at First United Methodist Church in Pierre, S.D.

"These students are the now - not the future – they are the church right now," added Pastor Valerie.