Theotokos Connections Confirmation Curriculum

The conference has partnered with Hinton Rural Life Center to offer their Theotokos Connections curriculum for FREE for United Methodist Churches in the Western NC Conference!

The Theotokos Connections curriculum is designed to prepare confirmands for participating in the Christian community as a member of The United Methodist Church. The focus of the curriculum as a whole is more on the process than the content, in that it seeks to build community with participants and help them understand, appreciate, and live into the greater Connection--to Self, to God, to the Church, to Neighbor, to Creation, and to Heritage.

Theotokos Connections seeks to help confirmands prepare for and develop a basic understanding of the history, polity, and doctrine of The United Methodist Church; explore their story, faith, identity, and place of belonging and participating in the United Methodist Connection; and be able to share their story with others, through word and action.

Theotokos Connections is a digital resource consisting of 6 sessions. With the exception of the first session, the sessions can be used in any order. There are multiple options offered for openings, learning activities, and closings, and it includes an appendix full of ideas and resource links. The introduction gives a much fuller description of the resource, its components, and the session topics.

We suggest using this curriculum with middle school students, but it can be adapted to your group’s context and needs. The sessions are created to be fully adaptable to your setting. They’re designed in such a way that you can cover a session over a one-hour time period OR spread out the activities provided to extend sessions over longer time periods and/or multiple weeks.

This curriculum was written by Dr. Jonathan LeMaster-Smith and Rev. Shannon LeMaster-Smith, in partnership with Hinton Rural Life Center, as part of Hinton’s Confirmation retreat ministry, which seeks to be especially accessible to and relevant for smaller and more rural churches, but still helpful and meaningful for all UM churches and ministry settings.

Click here to order your free copy of Theotokos Connections! 

Use the code WNCC at check out to receive this special discount.

Want to preview the curriculum before placing your order? Click here to download a sample.

This resource shares the Theotokos name with the Theotokos Confirmation Retreats ministry, but it is not used at the retreats nor is it required to be used by groups that attend the retreats. It does share a focus on and highlights the connectional aspect of our Methodist polity and experience.

Hinton is a retreat and mission outreach agency of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and is located in western NC.