Third-graders sign a covenant with their parents and a member of the confirmation committee. Meyer visits each fourth-grader at home during that year. I see their room and pets, meet them with their family, and we pray together. Fifth-graders attend four weeks of communion instruction. Sixth-graders meet to focus on baptism and produce a music video.
Lessons center on the Bible, and there's always time for marking Scripture passages.
The next 45 minutes the youth break into small discussion groups of the same grade and same sex, with an adult guide. The small groups remain the same all year, also gathering to socialize and for service projects. On small-group night, we might eat supper at Subway and rent a movie. Another week we'll have a small-group service project. We've talked with elderly residents at a nursing home, helped clean the church and served at soup suppers.