1. Welcome to the Year 2 Parent Meeting
Welcome to the Year 2 Parent Meeting. You are here today because you have a student who will be confirmed this spring. We are Carrie Conley & Rebecca Linscott, Directors of RE at St. James.
Prayer:
Lord God, Source of all wisdom and knowledge, you sent you Son, Jesus Christ, to live among us and to proclaim his message of faith, hope and love to all nations. In your goodness, strengthen all parents, teachers and catechists with your gifts, that they may teach the young people by word and example, the truth which comes from you. We as this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. James Parish

2. Confirmation Prep
As you know our students have been participating in a NEW Confirmation Program this year. SJS has integrated the curriculum into their Religion classes this year. RE students view videos in advance of monthly class on Sunday afternoon.
Thank you for being patient with us as we roll out this new programming and please know we appreciate any feedback you are able to send us! So please keep that coming!
Students typically begin the Decision Point curriculum by Dynamic Catholic in 7th grade and complete the second year in 8th grade.

3. What is Confirmation???
“The Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For the Sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by the word and deed.” (CCC no. 1285)
Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world.
We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service.
So this is an important time for all of your children as they prepare for the last sacrament of initiation.

4.
Here is a little refresher for you……We did share this video with our RE students and we will be sending it to the SJS teachers too!

5. Year Two Requirements Choose a Saint (Confirmation Name)
Attend Confirmation Retreat
Attend Reconciliation
Complete 10 Service Hours (due 4/6/18)
Choose a Saint (Confirmation Name)
Select a Sponsor
Write a letter to Bishop Manz
Candidate/Sponsor/Parent Rehearsal (4/9/18)
Confirmation Mass – 10AM or 2PM (4/14/18)
The requirements for our Year 2 students are…
Attend a Confirmation Retreat – SJS has 3 retreats during class time. RE has one retreat during class time.
Attend Reconciliation – SJS will do this in class during the Lenten season and RE will do this in class on February 11th.
Complete 10 Service Hours – SJS will turn in description and reflection forms to their homeroom teachers. RE parents can enter service hours on the on-line tracking sheet during the year. Service hours are due for both RE & SJS on April 6th.
We are going to get into more specific details on the remaining requirements which are….
Choosing a Confirmation Name – Saint Name
Selecting a Sponsor
Writing a Bishop Letter
Attending a rehearsal for candidate, sponsor and a parent on April 9th
Attending the Confirmation Mass on April 14th

6. Choosing a Sponsor & Saint
At least16 years of age
Fully initiated Catholic
Parents may not be sponsors
Be a person of faith & a role model to candidate
Help candidate continue faith journey after Confirmation
Choosing a Saint: Confirmation Name
RE – Saint Reports are due today
SJS – Working on in class in February
Most students have already chosen a sponsor…..
But just as a reminder……Sponsors must be 16 years of age and fully initiated Catholics.
Parents are not allowed to be sponsors but can stand in as proxy at the mass if the sponsor is unable to attend.
Sponsors should be spending time with the candidate and be a role model for the candidate.
Sponsors should plan to attend the Mass Rehearsal and Mass.
And of course the sponsor should continue to be a source of faith long after Confirmation day.
SJS students are still working on Saint selection …It sounds like they will be doing this in class in February. RE students have already chosen saint names and should have turned in Saint Info Sheets today….Any Saint can be chosen as long as he/she is a canonized saint. Choosing a saint is important because this becomes their Confirmation Name, which will appear on their nametag and is the name use when they are presented to the Bishop.

7. Writing a Bishop Letter
See handout…
Letter expressing your desire to live as a Confirmed Catholic.
SJS will be doing this in class
RE will be completing these at home.
Refer to the handout “Sample Letter to the Bishop”
This is a letter the Confirmandi writes asking the Bishop for the Sacrament of Confirmation. It should include the reasons the students feels they are ready to receive the sacrament. Such as, What they learned in class, what service or retreat experiences were like, who they chose as their sponsor and why, what saint they chose as their confirmation name and why.
RE students will be completing these at home and SJS students will be completing these in class.

8. Monday, April 9th in the Parish Center
Mass Rehearsal
Monday, April 9th in the Parish Center
7PM
There will be a Confirmation Mass Rehearsal on Monday April 9th
This will take place in the Parish Center at 7PM. Should last about an hour. At least one parent should plan to attend with Confirmandi and Sponsor.
Here we will discuss pertinent information about the mass and there will also be a portion of reflection time between the Sponsor and Candidate.

9. Saturday April 14, 2018 in the Parish Center
10AM MASS:
St. James School
2B (Madden/Madden)
2PM MASS:
2A (Caliendo/Wilhelm)
2C (Bleasdale/Miletic)
2D (Johlie)
There will be 2 Confirmation Masses held on Saturday, April 14th in the Parish Center. These are the mass assignments (see slide)
St. James school has asked us to keep all the SJS confirmandi at the 10 AM mass. So in order to split the students up evenly between the 2 times we have included one of our RE classes with the SJS students at 10 AM and our other 3 RE classes at the 2PM Mass. So we will have about 60 kids at each mass.
The Village of Arlington Heights approved our Church expansion plans and we are expected to be under construction this spring. Fr. Matt has asked us to move all sacraments after April 1st to the Parish Center. So in 2018 Confirmation and Communion will be held in the Parish Center.
Expect the mass to last 2 hours.

10. stjamesCONFIRM@stjamesah.org Mass Info
If you are unable to make your assigned mass due to extenuating circumstances you need to contact the RE office
Confirmandi & Sponsors will have assigned seating in the front rows. Families can fill in the rest of the seating.
We know some of you have extenuating circumstances that will not allow for your attendance at your assigned mass. For those of you who have reached out to us to let us know we have already made the mass time change. If you are unable to come at your assigned time and have not let us know please s us at
Seating – Seating will be reserved for the Confirmandi and Sponsors in the first few rows of the Parish Center. Families will have plenty of open seating on a first come first serve basis in the remaining seats.
Since we will be having masses in the Parish Center we should not have any accessibility issues. However if you have a special need we can help you with please let us know so we can assist you on confirmation day.

11. Mass Roles
If your child is interested in participating in the confirmation masses we will have a few opportunities for them to do so. We need 4 banner carriers, 2 lectors and 3 gift bearers at each mass. You will be able to sign up for this and we will randomly select students to do these at each mass. If you are selected you will be notified in early April with your assignment. You will check in with us early on Confirmation day so we can be sure the student is comfortable with their role. We will briefly touch on it at the rehearsal too!

12. Dress Code Guys - Dress shirt and Tie with a suit
Dress shirt and Tie with a sport coat/dress pants
Dress shirt and tie with dress pants
Girls-
Church appropriate dress (shoulders should be covered)
Skirt with a blouse
Dress pants with a blouse
* No miniskirts, no spaghetti straps or low cut dresses.
* No tennis shoes, polo shirts or jeans.
We know some of you are beginning to think about what to wear on Confirmation day, so we wanted to review the dress code today so that you can plan accordingly.
Guys have a couple options. They should wear a button down shirt with a tie. They can wear a suit, a sport coat with dress pants or just dress pants. No tennis shoes, polo shirts or jeans.
Girls- also have a few options. A church appropriate dress, skirt and blouse or dress pants and a blouse can be worn. Dress/skirt length should be finger tip length. Shoulders should be covered.
* No miniskirts, no spaghetti straps or low cut dresses.

13. What we need from you?
We will be sending a google sheet to capture the following information:
Candidates Name (as it should appear in the program and weekend bulletin)
Saint Name
Sponsor’s Full Name
Interest in Mass participation
Submit Bishop Letter
Google Form for Confirmation Parents
So a few things we need you to remember…
We will be sending a Google form next week – this will be sent directly to all RE families and to the SJS homeroom teachers to distribute. We need all parents to submit an entry. We need to know how you would like your confirmandi’s name listed in the program, and the weekend bulletin. We need to know if your child would like to participate in one of the mass roles. We need to know the name of your child's sponsor (full name) and the Saint name they have chosen. On this form you can also attach your bishop letter if you have it ready to go. SJS students will be completing their bishop letters in class so teachers might be collecting these. RE students you can submit bishop letters online or you can bring them to class on March 1st.
Here is what the Google doc looks like…Open the document to show the parents.

14. Communication
Next week we will be sending home the notes from this meeting and the Google Form to all RE families and the SJS teachers will distribute this info to the SJS parents.
After we have collected all of the confirmandi info that we need for the mass all communication about the rehearsal and mass will come directly from the RE office for both RE and SJS families. We will send reminders and all the information you need for your childs confirmation day.
Any questions…please us!

15. Important Dates 1/21/18 - RE Saint Info Reports Due (RE)
2/11/18 – Reconciliation (RE)
Lenten Season – Reconciliation (SJS)
3/1/18 – Google Form – Confirmation Info (ALL)
3/1/18 – Bishop Letters Due (ALL)
4/6/18 – Service Hours Due (ALL)
4/9/18 – Mass Rehearsal (ALL)
4/14/18 – Confirmation Mass 10AM & 2PM
5/1/18 – May Crowning Mass – 8th Graders (RE)
There is a handout with Important Sacrament Dates

16. Questions?
If you have any general questions we can take those now. If you have a specific question in regards to your situation please send us an or see us after the meeting.

17. St. James Religious Education Office stjamesCONFIRM@stjamesah.org
Carrie Conley & Rebecca Linscott Contact Information
St. James Religious
Education Office
Thank you for being here tonight and making your child’s faith a priority. We appreciate you support. Please know we are praying for your children and families.
Prayer