Confirmation Sponsor Crash Course LITE

You've been asked to be a Confirmation Sponsor and that's an incredible honor… but it's also a tremendous responsibility. Your Candidate is on a journey of self-discovery and, in order for you to be a helpful guide, you'll need to embark on a bit of a journey yourself. In this course, you'll learn what it means to be a Sponsor, including not only what the Church requires of you but also the importance of being a good spiritual guide and mentor to your Candidate!

Years ago - long before I had received extensive ministry training and earned my Masters in Pastoral Studies - a young friend of the family asked me to be her sponsor for Confirmation. I was so honored! Out of all the Catholics that she knew, she had selected me for this role! Full disclosure though - it took about 30 seconds before I thought to myself, "What does a sponsor do? What if I screw this up?!"

If you're reading this, I'm guessing that you might be experiencing something very similar right now. If so, then you've come to the right place.

The first time I was asked to be a sponsor, I really had no clue what I was doing. Of course, the wonderful folks handling my candidate's Confirmation preparation had an answer: They gave me a couple handouts (that looked like they were 20 years out of date), an order form I could use to buy a handbook for Confirmation sponsors (yes, this was pre-Amazon), and they invited me to a 1-day retreat (that took place when the Confirmation preparation was almost complete).

Not good. Not good at all. Unfortunately, even though this happened in the mid-1990's, your experience may have felt similar today. Perhaps you were lucky enough to have actually been given a sponsor handbook - or you can easily order your own online - but other than that, you're probably on your own.

Well, I'm here to help! Over the past 25 years, I've sponsored many young people for Confirmation, so I have lots of hands-on experience. I've also planned and led high school Confirmation preparation programs, which includes helping countless Catholic adults figure out how to be excellent sponsors. During that time, I've read every Catholic Confirmation Sponsor handbook I've been able to get my hands on, and there are some really good ones out there. If you prefer to simply read a book and figure it out on your own, then I certainly encourage you to go that route. But if you want a little bit more guidance in a format that's much easier to digest, then you should definitely consider signing up for the Confirmation Sponsor Crash Course!

There are two versions of the course and the difference is rather simple:

The LITE version contains two modules - Introduction & Background; and Being a Confirmation Sponsor. The second module begins by explaining the "official" definition of the role of sponsor and then provides a more "practical" description. You'll learn to effectively communicate with your teenage candidate, and then get specific guidance on sharing the life of the parish community, the core teachings of the Church, and your own personal understanding of faith. This module will also explain how to pray with your candidate - and yes, many Catholics are uncomfortable with that. Finally, it will give you a 6-meeting plan that makes it very easy to create a foundation of trust with your candidate. With that foundation, you'll really be able to positively impact your candidate's Confirmation preparation. The LITE version also contains four "bonus" meetings for you and your candidate.