Key shifts in confirmation ministries

it’s interesting for me to watch the ways in which religious publishers are trying to catch up with the reality that our received notions of “confirmation” in Christian communities are just not constructive or effective any longer (if they ever were?). Thus there is the Sparkhouse re:form curriculum, the Church Publishing Confirm Not Conform curriculum, that old standby FaithInk, or even the Veritas Credo curriculum (which is really more a school-based program than a church-based one).

I think part of what we're struggling towards is trying to find a way to invite young people more deeply into a community of faith that believes and lives, rather than simply "accepts cognitively." But can any printed curriculum really do that? Or are they all primarily prompts to help us organize what has to be the first step -- living together in community in ways that access our deepest longings and loves?