For teenagers

Confirmation school is very popular in Finland.  A person must become at least fifteen years old during the calendar year in which he or she is confirmed – a parson (leading pastor of a congregation) may grant special permission to a teenager who is just a little younger.  Most Finnish young people attend confirmation school and become confirmed at this minimum age, so that most are 14 or 15 years old and attending eighth grade in school when confirmation school begins.  In Vantaa most confirmation school groups for teenagers start in January or February, but there can be exceptions.  The whole process usually takes about six months.

Teaching that leads to confirmation is called rippikoulu in Finnish and skriftskola in Swedish.  Literally the Finnish word means ”penance school” (learning to confess sins!) but it's mostly something else, and in English we usually speak of ”confirmation school” or ”confirmation classes.”  Sometimes we even say ”confirmation camp” when the studies take place in a camp setting (that is rippikoululeiri in Finnish).  Most young people in Finland go to confirmation camps, although the camp does not include the whole confirmation school (some things are done before the camp, sometimes even after the camp).  A few confirmation schools do not include a camp, so that students come for studies during the day or evening classes.

Don't let the word ”school” mislead you, though!  Although a few things must be memorized or written in a notebook, a confirmation school is more than just studying – sometimes it's just plain fun!  In a confirmation school we study the Christian faith and what it means in life, but we also take time to quiet down together and worship and pray.

There are usually 20 to 25 students in one confirmation school group.  During the schoolyear the group meets on some evenings and weekends, but most of the teaching is given when ”ordinary” schools are on vacation so that it is possible to attend.  Congregations may arrange confirmation school during a long Christmas holiday or the winter break from school, but summer is always the busiest season for confirmation schools.  A camp lasts about a week.  The Lutheran congregations of Vantaa also annually arrange special confirmation classes for intellectually disabled teenagers and/or those who are unable to study in a normal setting.

How to get into confirmation school in Vantaa:  In the autumn church workers visit eighth graders in schools to inform them about confirmation schools that will be held during the following calendar year.  If you miss this visit you can still come to sign up for confirmation school.  The time to sign up for confirmation school and the way in which it is done varies in our congregations, but it is in late September or October or November.  For details, you can ask from a parish office or call the pastor that is responsible for coordinating confirmation school in the congregation; the names and phone numbers of these pastors are listed on the page Rippikoulut on our Finnish website.

Lutheran congregations in Vantaa are quite large, so that most of them have hundreds of confirmation school students (confirmands) each year.  This means that there are many groups, and camps are held at different times in different places.  When you sign up for confirmation school you can express your wish as to which group you would like to join, but it is impossible to fulfill everyone's wishes.  If you missed the time to sign up for confirmation school in the autumn, you can still ask after Christmas if there is room for another student in some group.

Congregations charge a fee for confirmation school; it is higher for camps than day school.

Every year many young people join the church through confirmation school.  Some of them have been baptized as infants but they have left the church with their parents, and some of them have not been baptized before at all.  It is possible to sign up for confirmation school and attend without being a church member, but one must join the church before confirmation.  To do so, a young person between the age of 12 and 17 years must have the consent of both parents (if both are legal guardians) so that they all sign an official form.  Those who have not been baptized before are then baptized in the same manner as adults, which actually means that they become confirmed members of the church at baptism, but they are still allowed to join their classmates in the confirmation ceremony.

A church member who has completed confirmation school can participate in a confirmation (be confirmed, that is).  A confirmation for a group of young people takes place in a communion service in church.  In a confirmation ceremony those who are confirmed confess the Christian faith together with the congregation, and they are blessed with a laying on of hands.

One must have completed confirmation school to get married in a church wedding, and a church member must be a confirmed one in order to become a godparent or to be a candidate in church elections.  Confirmation is also required for attending Holy Communion without the company of one's parent or godparent.  After confirmation you can be trained as a ”biggie” (a group leader for confirmation schools of younger teenagers), and there are also other things to do in your congregation.  (See Youth activities.)

If you missed confirmation school when you were fifteen, it's still not too late.  You can contact the local congregation and discuss with a pastor whether it would be better to join a group of young people for confirmation school or study as an adult (see For Adults).  Every year we have teenagers in confirmation school who are a bit older than their classmates.