Learning from Each Other: Confirmation Work in Europe and in the United States

This article is based on the European project on confirmation work. It provides a brief description of the theological and ecclesiological background of this project as well as of the empirical studies carried out in this project in nine European countries and summarizes some of the main results. The example of Germany is used for presenting more detailed insights into the practice of confirmation work there as well as the religious attitudes of the confirmands. Given the high participation rates (more than 90% of Protestant youth in the respective age group in Europe versus 59% in the United States), the emphasis on reaching as many young people as possible is seen as a core characteristic of confirmation work in Germany and Europe. In a second step, the author considers confirmation in Europe and in the United States comparatively by identifying and discussing commonalities and differences on the basis of the empirical results from the research on confirmation work in the European and in the American project. One main difference is identified in the emphasis on mentorship (United States) and young volunteers (Europe). The final part of the article has its focus on the question of what confirmation work in the United States and in Europe could possibly learn from each other.