This spring, 15 youth from four United Methodist congregations in Greater New Jersey’s Raritan Shore District completed a six-month joint confirmation class that brought together students, pastors, youth leaders, mentors, and families from across Middlesex County.
This joint confirmation ministry began four years ago with a creative and bold idea to help young people build friendships with peers and grow in faith. Rev. Sooah Na, Pastor at Centenary UMC in Metuchen and one of the ministry’s founders, reflects on how it all got started:
“Four years ago, our church had only two youth. I wanted to create more opportunities for them to have fun, build friendships with peers, and make meaningful memories as they grew in faith. With that hope, I shared the idea of a joint confirmation class with clergy friends from three nearby United Methodist churches, all within about 15-20 minutes of one another.”
That year, Na partnered with her colleagues Rev. YoungHak Lee, Rev. Rosie Pang, Rev. Chuck Coblentz, and Steven Wegrzyn to bring the idea to life. It was a wonderful experience and a total of nine youth were confirmed.
This year’s program continued that legacy while welcoming additional pastoral and youth leadership participation from across the participating churches.
Na shares, “When our church had seven youth ready for confirmation last year, I reached out again to the pastors of the churches that had participated before. The clergy, youth leaders, and congregations all remembered how meaningful the experience had been for the youth, and they gladly agreed to join together once more.”
Participating churches included Centenary United Methodist Church (Metuchen), New Dover United Methodist Church (Edison), Sayreville United Methodist Church, and Trinity United Methodist Church (South Amboy).
The program was led by Rev. Sooah Na (Centenary UMC), Rev. Chuck Coblentz and Associate Pastor Joshua Victor James (New Dover UMC), Rev. Vincent Frunzi (Trinity UMC and Sayreville UMC), along with Youth Leaders Steven Wegrzyn (Trinity UMC), Kyle Sanders (New Dover UMC) and Grace Manjourides (Centenary UMC).
YK Jun, Director of Worship (Music) at Wesley United Methodist Church in South Plainfield, also participated in the confirmation retreat, helping enrich the students’ experience.
Over the course of six months, the youth gathered for online and in person classes, fellowship, worship experiences, and a retreat designed to help them deepen their understanding of faith and prepare for confirmation.
Classes rotated among the participating churches, giving students the opportunity to experience each congregation firsthand. As they traveled from church to church, they met members of the congregations, learned about local mission and outreach ministries, toured the church facilities, and gained a broader understanding of how each congregation serves its community.
The rotating format helped students see that while each congregation has its own unique identity and ministries, they are all part of the larger connection of The United Methodist Church.
For many of the youth, it was a meaningful opportunity to build relationships beyond their home church and experience the diverse ways faith is lived out across Middlesex County.
At the end of the program, confirmations took place at the students’ home churches during worship services on May 31 and June 7.
At Centenary UMC, each confirmand shared a personal testimony during the worship service.
Jamie Ramac reflected, “Before confirmation, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of my faith and that I knew about God. But I realized that I still had a lot to learn. During confirmation, I began learning what my faith means personally to me. I learned that God is someone I can talk to and find comfort in. It was meaningful to learn alongside people my age. It also showed me how important community is—how we can support and encourage one another.”
Sheradin Cary shared, “Before confirmation, I was not exactly sure what church was. I saw it mainly as a place to build community, but I did not really see a connection with God. During confirmation, I learned more about what God means in my life. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I am happy to continue growing. I am very proud to be part of this church community.”
These testimonies are an important reminder that faith continues to grow in the lives of young people. Through shared learning, worship, fellowship, and mentorship, these students formed relationships and faith foundations that will continue long after confirmation Sunday.
For the churches involved, the success of the program has inspired conversations about the future. Leaders from the participating churches are exploring opportunities to continue gathering youth through a joint youth ministry program, with plans to meet regularly for fellowship, service projects, faith formation, and community-building throughout the year.
This Middlesex County joint confirmation class serves as a powerful example of how congregations can work together to strengthen youth ministry. While each church may have a relatively small confirmation class and face pressures or limitations on its own, combining resources, sharing responsibilities and leadership, and bringing students together creates a larger faith community. In this community, youth can build friendships, learn alongside peers, and experience the broader connection of The United Methodist Church.
Rev. Sooah Na welcomes churches who are interested in using a similar model or learning more about the joint confirmation experience to contact her at pastorsooah@gmail.com, adding, “I would be glad to share what we learned along the way.”