UMC Confirmation & Membership COMPLETE DOWNLOADABLE PROGRAM

One of the most widely used resources in United Methodism, An Adventure in United Methodist Confirmation and Membership was first published in 1976, completely rewritten and redesigned in 1998, and revised after the 2004 and 2008 General Conferences. Now, it has been redesigned to be completely downloadable so that you can purchase it, download the files, and economically print all of the items on your local inkjet or laser printer in whatever quantity you wish and as often as you wish. And if you should lose or damage any of the files, they can be downloaded again up to three times without further cost to you.

It reflects recent General Conference rulings, current church structures, modern Biblical and church history scholarship, and current theological thinking and language use. And, because of its flexibility and traditional catechetical style, it is being used regularly in hundreds of United Methodist congregations.

CONFIRMATION AND ADULT MEMBERSHIP TRAINING IN ONE SET OF RESOURCES

The downloadable PowerPoint Show and Leader’s Guide for An Adventure in United Methodist Confirmation and Membership have been designed to be used with either adults or youth. Two special Confirmation Workbooks, aimed at sixth and seventh grade youth, turn the PowerPoint Show and Leader’s Guide into a highly usable confirmation teaching resource. And, the two Adult Membership Student Books, aimed at adults and older youth, are perfect for regular membership training of transfers and converts or for an excellent adult course on United Methodism.

ORGANIZED FOR FLEXIBILITY

The complete downloadable program for An Adventure in United Methodist Confirmation and Membership contains the 66-frame animated PowerPoint Show in both an editible version and a playable version for use without PowerPoint software. Accompanying the PowerPoint show is a downloadable 184-page Leader's Guide with color pictures and substantial commentary on each PowerPoint frame. Also included in the download are the two 40-page, 7 x 8.5" Confirmation Workbooks (My Confirmation Into the Body of Christ and My Confirmation into the United Methodist Church), with color covers and four Adult Membership Student Books in two sizes (two traditional 5.5 x 8.5" booklets and two 8.5 x 11" larger print documents}, with color covers.

The FIRST HALF of the course focuses on the basic doctrines and Christian history common to virtually all Christians. It features the Doctrines of God, Christ, Salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and Biblical authority plus the historical beginnings of Christianity, Paul, the early church, the medieval church and the Protestant Reformation. This first half of the study uses the My Confirmation Into the Body of Christ workbook (for confirmaton) and the Membership in the Body of Christ book (for adult membership) in conjunction with the first half of the PowerPoint Show and Leader's Guide.

The SECOND HALF of the studyfocuses on a detailed history of the Methodist movement, specific Wesleyan theology such as the four poles of authority, Christian perfection, sanctification, and the balance between Scriptural Holiness and social confrontation. Then, all of this is capped with an introduction to the structure and polity of the national, regional, and local United Methodist Church, with a final focus on the meaning of confirmation and membership. This second half of the study uses the My Confirmation Into The United Methodist Church workbook (for confirmaton) and the Membership in The United Methodist Church book (for adult membership) in conjunction with the second half of the PowerPoint Show and Leader's Guide.

Because of the way the course is structured, some pastors use the entire program while others use specific segments. Som ae stretch the thirteen weeks into a full half year while others build a successful six week program around the same basic set of resources.

THE POWERPOINT SHOW

The downloadable PowerPoint Show is the basic teaching resource with animated "bullet points" and colorful illustrations of each section for easy teaching and fuller understanding of the material. The 66-frame, multi-color show comes as both a ppt file that can be edited in your own PowerPoint software and as a pps file that can be shown without software using the Powerpoint Viewer which is also included in the download.

THE LEADER’S GUIDE

The downloadable Leader’s Guide for An Adventure in United Methodist Confirmation and Membership can be printed as often as necessary from the pdf file in the download. It is designed to provide the leader with everything necessary to teach the course without additional resources. It is designed to be printed as a 184-page 8.5 x 11” looseleaf document for easy notebook filing and distribution of sections to additional teachers. Every color PowerPoint frame is clearly illustrated in the Leader’s Guide and substantive back-up information is provided for every line of text in the PowerPoint Show. Additional helps for encouraging discussion and supplementing the basic material are provided for every section.

THE CONFIRMATION WORKBOOKS

There are two downloadable confirmation workbooks -- My Confirmation Into the Body of Christ and My Confirmation Into The United Methodist Church. Each book has forty 7 x 8.5" pages with color covers, critical textual material, illustrations, photographs, and workbook exercises. Aimed at sixth and seventh grade youth, they are easy to understand and provide a take-home learning tool for continuity. The first book, My Confirmation Into the Body of Christ, focuses on the doctrines and Christian history common to all Christians and the second book, My Confirmation Into The United Methodist Church, focuses on the history, doctrines, and structure of Methodism with special emphasis on the meaning of confirmation and church membership.

THE ADULT MEMBERSHIP STUDENT BOOKS

The downloadable adult student booksbooks, Membership in The Body of Christ and Membership in The United Methodist Church follow the same divisions as the confirmation workbooks but are aimed at adults and older youth with more text, fewer pictures, and no workbook exercises. They come in two sizes -- a traditional 36-page 5.5 x 8.5" booklet and a 48-page 8.5 x 11" larger print document -- both with color covers. In addition to membership classes, these student books are great for a general study of United Methodism for youth groups and adult classes.

Click here to purchase and download the complete An Adventure in United Methodist Confirmation and Membership. .