St. Angela Merici Catholic Church in Brea - Sacrament of Confirmation

CONFIRMATION

Baptized Catholics who have received First Eucharist are prepared for confirmation through a series of classes, service and faith-sharing opportunities. Confirmation is usually celebrated in the spring. Typically teens are encouraged to begin their preparation program as they enter their freshman year in high school. This would ensure, assuming they have completed all the requirements, that the students would be confirmed during the Easter season of their sophomore year. The program is a two year program for preparation for the sacrament and is open to all high school students.

What is Confirmation?

“Committing your life to Christ and His Church” sums up the Sacrament of Confirmation which is a step that many times is overlooked for its importance. Make no mistake the sacrament is an important step for the individual teen. The commitment to Christ and his church needs to be made willingly. The two year preparation is a series of classes, community service help, retreats and other activities created to aid them in seeing the truths that will lead to this commitment. We have very serious events and very fun events. Our goal in this program is to challenge our youth in their faith while having fun. Teaching our youth that there is no duality in life regarding Christian life and social life is a major goal. We will therefore endeavor to share that our one life is a life that we live for God.

CONFIRMATION YEAR I REQUIREMENTS

Classes Conf-1 Preparation (first year):
Classes will be held on Mondays (Wednesdays of that same wk. are make-up classes) twice a month from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. These meetings will incorporate Catechesis, Bible Study and fellowship. The meetings will take place in the Parish Hall.
See the above list of class dates.

Wednesdays are ONLY for making up the Monday (class of the same week) missed. Once the week is over, the opportunity to make up the Monday class is over too. The Wednesday make-up class is from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please be prompt. Check in at the Parish Office. They will tell you where the meeting room is.

Conf-1 Events:
There will be several events scheduled specifically for Confirmation students and/or parents. We will announce those here in this website as well as in the bulletin.

Parents / Candidate Gatherings:
There will be Parents and Candidate gatherings scheduled throughout the year including an orientation, Stations of the Cross, etc. Notices regarding these events will be announced here on this website and in the church Bulletin.

CONFIRMATION YEAR II REQUIREMENTS

In-Home Faith Sharing:
These meetings for the Conf-2 students will take place in a home (the teacher’s home or a volunteer family home). Meetings will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday nights from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Thursday meetings will take place in one of the classrooms on the parish campus.

Weekend Retreat:
One of the highlights of the second year is the weekend retreat that each Conf-2 student will attend. There will be 2 weekends to choose from.

Sponsor/Candidate Gatherings:
There will be Sponsor and Candidate gatherings scheduled throughout the year including the Stations of the Cross, etc. One of them will be for the Rite of Acceptance celebrated (usually one month prior to Confirmation) during the 5 PM Sunday Mass.

Confirmation Rehearsal : (TBA)
The candidate and sponsor (or a parent stand-in) must attend the rehearsal in order to participate at the ceremony.

Confirmation Ceremony (TBA)

Announcement:

Safe Environment Training

ALL CONFIRMATION STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO ATTEND.
Please download the following:
Protecting Our Youth Brochure
Letter Flyer On Breaking the Silence Presentation
Opt-Out Form Safe Environment Training Ed

September 13th :
Confirmation I Orientation / 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. / Hall
September 20th :
Confirmation II Orientation / 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. / Hall
September 26th :
Rite of Enrollment Mass for Confirmation I / 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. /Church

October 3rd :
Kick Off Mass for Confirmation II / 5:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. / Church
October 18th :
1st Class for Confirmation I / 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. / Hall
October 25th :
This week the 1st Class for Confirmation II begins /
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. / Home Faith Sharing
Exact days & location of Host Homes disclosed at a later date.

Community Service

Each student will select an area of parish ministry to be involved in regularly throughout the year. Another option is to choose a city sponsored volunteer program. The Confirmation office needs to approve the projects chosen and parents need to monitor their students’ participation whether the program is within the parish or outside the parish community. Students are responsible for reporting their community service involvement back the Confirmation office along with the project contact name and phone number for reference (during class or directly to the Parish Office addressed to Confirmation).

Service Requirements
-Students are expected to serve 4 times (4 visits to serve) throughout the year.
-Each project may require different hours of service with each visit. The student and project leader should decide how long the student will stay to volunteer each visit.
Example: Bread of Angels may require more hours each visit than the Sunday School help.
-The training for Bread of Angels counts as 1 service visit. 3 more would be expected in a community service project of the student's choice.
-Get verification of that service from the supervisor/leader of the project using the form provided here in this site.

*If Confirmation students collect a bag (trash bag size) of DONATED CLOTHES or items from the list below for the Bread of Angels (from family and friends) you will earn credit for your Community Service project. Every time you bring a bag full of donated items you will get the same credit as one volunteer visit.
It will take time to organize donations from people you know. That is why it
will be considered a Community Service Volunteer project.
Remember to take your verification sheet with you to get signed when you drop off your donation bag.

1. toiletry items - toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, razors, mouth wash, wash cloths, chap stick, sunscreen, bath towels

2. Snacks - individual sizes easy to take home (Costco, Sam's Club are great for these)..
.crackers
.breakfast bars
.fruit cups
. fruit snacks
. pretzels
Cup of soup - they love these
Bottled water

3. USED CLOTHING FOR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
4. Used Shoes (tennis shoes are always needed for the men)
5. NEW SOCKS for adults or children
6. Back packs

BREAD OF ANGELS
Email Phil or Dena to sign up
Breadofangels1@aol.com (Phil)
dlordi@dbhsib.org (Dena)

CHILDREN'S FAITH FORMATION
Sunday School
9:30 Mass – Until 11 a.m.
Ask for Lynn or Andrea
714/5291821 x132

MUSIC MINISTRY
Nancy Peralta nancyp@stangelabreachurch.org
714/529-1821 x162

Resources:

Service Project Verification Form
( There should be 4 of these turned in throughout the year, 1 for each service visit. As long as each visit is at least 1 hour long you'll be ok. However keep in mind that many visits will be longer than that (from a little longer to a lot longer). You and your project leader should decide how long you can stay each time. )

Volunteer Opportunities for Youth and Young Adults
Some options for Community Service projects will be given at the Orientation meeting.

If you're still looking for ideas on where to serve check out the city of Brea website. Type "volunteers" in the search field on the home page to see a variety of opportunities.

You may also log on to the La Habra city website as well to get volunteer info the same way.