Confirmation in the Faith
Lutheran Christians believe that when God calls his people, the first thing he asks them to do is to study his word. Lutheran pastors are called to be scholars and teachers before they are allowed to preach.
And because most Lutherans are baptized as infants, before they can read and understand God's word, as they become teenagers they study the word of God in a special program called Confirmation Instruction. After a period of study, they confirm their faith (or affirm their baptism) by reading their own statements of faith in front of the congregation. At this time they are confirmed and become full adult voting members of the congregation.
Confirmands study the Bible and Martin Luther's Small Catechism. Luther wrote the catechism to explain the basics of Lutheran belief; his intent was that parents would use the Small Catechism in the home to teach their children about God.
The Small Catechism contains the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai; The Apostles' Creed, which was written by the early Christians after Jesus' death; the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples to pray at their request; and the two Sacraments, the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of Holy Communion, through which Christians physically experience the grace of God.
Throughout this time of instruction, confirmands explore their faith and their relationship with God, as they begin a lifetime of adult study of God's word.