EXPLORING THE CHURCH

The clergy and lay teaching team for the Exploring the Church program is committed to making the experience of our young people as meaningful, educational and challenging as possible. We hope to create an environment in which our Exploriers will learn about and experience the adventure of the Christian faith as they discover their own role in the life of the church and the world, local and global.

This is a two year program. We usually meet Sundays at 10:00 a.m. At the end of year 2, participants will be offered the opportunity to be presented to the Bishop for confirmation if they feel they are ready to make their adult profession of faith. Some young people, at the end of the course, may feel that they would prefer to wait to be confirmed. We at Redeemer strongly believe that the decision should be theirs. Most young people who complete the program do decide to be confirmed.

Goals
The goals of the Exploring the Church program are:

1. To help young people discover more about their own faith journey and about themselves and members of Christ's body
2. To create an environment in which they can freely raise issues and questions about the Episcopal chruch, the Bible, the interplay of faith and doubt, making moral decisions, how to share faith with others... and more!
3. To encourage our young people to get to know their church peers so that, as a group, they might claim their vital and important role in the Redeemer family

Family Involvement
Families may worship at either the 9:00 a.m. service before the 10:00 class or at the 11:00 a.m. service. We hope that parents will model the responsiblilities and the blessings that accompany an ever-deepening faith journey. Discussions from class should spill over into the home, knowing that we all learn the most right where we live.

Information
If you would like to learn more, please call the office or email Jan Schroeder.