BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260818T133154Z UID:257-532150@mcphersonfirst.org DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20270110 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20270110 CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20260813T165539 DESCRIPTION:Your child has been handed a faith. Confirmation is where they decide whether it is theirs.\nConfirmation 2027 runs January through Easte r for students in 8th through 12th grade. Sunday mornings\, students worsh ip at 10:15\, share a meal with their mentor at 11:15\, and meet for the s ession until 1:00. They spend a Saturday together on retreat\, and walk th e whole season alongside an adult mentor from this congregation. Not a tea cher. Someone who shows up\, asks how the week went\, and prays for your s tudent by name.\nThe year is built around five promises: prayers\, presenc e\, gifts\, service\, and witness. Each session takes up one promise and t he practices that go with it. Students pick one to try that week\, their m entor asks midweek how it went\, and the next session opens with what actu ally happened. Faith gets practiced\, not just studied.\nThe Season\n\nJan uary 10: Kick-off\, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Worship together\, then lunch wit h families and mentors.\nSunday sessions\, 10:15 AM to 1:00 PM: January 17 \, January 24\, January 31\, February 7\, February 14\, February 21\, and March 7. Worship at 10:15\, a meal with mentors at 11:15\, the session unt il 1:00.\nFebruary 10: Ash Wednesday worship\, 7:00 PM.\nFebruary 27: Retr eat\, Saturday\, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM\, location to be announced.\nMarch 31: Supper and rehearsal\, 5:30 to 7:30 PM.\nApril 4: Confirmation Sunday.\n\ nCome to worship together. The 10:15 service is part of confirmation\, and we mean the whole family\, not a drop-off. Presence is one of the five pr omises your student makes in April\, and it is not a promise anyone keeps alone. Thirteen Sundays sitting beside your student will teach it better t han any session we could design.\nThat is the only thing we ask of parents \, and here is the one thing we invite. Families take turns providing the Sunday meal. Students and mentors eat together at 11:15 every week\, and t hat table is where most of the real conversation happens. Sarah works the calendar out with families directly\, so there is nothing to sign up for n ow and no date to pick today.\nEach student serves in worship twice during the season\, alongside their mentor. Greeting\, ushering\, reading script ure\, serving communion\, hospitality\, or the tech booth. Presence\, gift s\, and service are three of the five promises your student makes in April \, and they will practice them before they promise them. Students and ment ors choose together at the January 10 kick-off\, so there is nothing to de cide right now.\nConfirmation Sunday is April 4\, 2027\, the Sunday after Easter\, and a service of confirmation\, baptism\, and reception of new me mbers. Students profess their faith in front of this congregation and are received as professing members. Students who have not been baptized can be baptized that morning\, and plenty of students come into confirmation hav ing never been baptized. Either way\, your student is welcome exactly as t hey are.\nParents\, that morning can be yours too. If you have never been baptized\, never joined a church\, or have been part of this congregation for years without ever making it official\, you can take that step alongsi de your student. Watching your child claim this faith has a way of raising the question for yourself. Say so in the registration and we will walk wi th you the same way we walk with your student.\nThere is something else fo r you in this season. While your student is in the session\, you can be in a Grace Group down the hall from noon to 1:00. A small circle\, one hour\ , honest conversation\, practicing the same five promises your student is learning. You are already here for worship and you are coming back at 1:00 anyway\, so the hour in between costs you the walk down the hall. We are forming these for January through Easter. Say you are interested in the re gistration.\nWe also need mentors. This congregation promises to nurture t he young people among us\, and a mentor is how that promise gets kept. You do not need to teach or to have answers\, only to show up and pray for on e student by name. It is a Sunday morning and a text most weeks from Janua ry through Easter: worship at 10:15\, the meal at 11:15\, and the session until 1:00 alongside your student.\nWe expect students at every session\, and we know that will not happen perfectly. If you already see a date your family cannot make\, tell Sarah when you sign up and we will work it out. The two hardest to miss are the February 27 retreat and Confirmation Sund ay.\nOne link does both. Choose Confirmation Student to register your stud ent\, or Mentor Interest to tell us you are willing and Sarah will call yo u.\nQuestions\, or wondering whether your student is ready? Contact Sarah Hendricks at sarah.hendricks@mcphersonfirst.org or 620-480-0165. She would rather talk it through than have you guess. LAST-MODIFIED:20260813T165539 LOCATION:McPherson First UMC (1200 E Kansas Ave\, McPherson\, KS) SUMMARY:Confirmation 2027 Kick-Off URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.mcphersonfirst.org/events/confirmation-2027-kick- off/2027-01-10 ATTACH;FILENAME=Discipleship-Pages-Hero-Graphics---Finals---High-Definition -1920x1080---2.jpg;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net /2026/08/12/00/41/19/eb946b4d-9ae1-43a8-a725-ab24dd795d39/Discipleship-Pag es-Hero-Graphics---Finals---High-Definition-1920x1080---2.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR