Confirmation Preparation at St. Thomas - Transition Year.  

Beginning with the 2026–2027 school year, the Confirmation Preparation Program at St. Thomas will transition to an 8th-grade Confirmation.  This is still a two-year process with a sacramental focus on the 8th-grade year.  If you have already been involved with religious education through the 7th-grade year or are a St. Thomas Catholic student, you are good to go to register. If your student has not been involved in any further preparation, aside from going to Mass, since receiving their 1st communion/Reconciliation, please reach out to the youth ministry office, and we can help discern the best process moving forward.  If your student is in high school, please reach out, and we can accommodate their preparation for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Sessions will run from September through March.

Because of this transition, our 2026–2027 Confirmation Program will consist of two groups of students preparing for the Sacrament. Students registering for Confirmation preparation for the first time, as well as students who participated in the program during the previous year, will all celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation in the spring of 2027.  The confirmation date has not been assigned yet.

Students who were part of the program last year (2025-26) or graduated from 8th grade at St. Thomas School in 2026 are part of the Year 2 cohort. Students entering the program for the first time are part of the Year 1 cohort. To ensure that all candidates are adequately prepared, Year 1 students will attend additional sessions and complete several additional assignments beyond the Year 2 requirements.

We will meet approximately twice each month. Some sessions will include parents or sponsors, while others will be for the confirmandi only.

As part of their preparation, candidates are asked to attend two youth ministry sessions each semester, for a total of four sessions during the year. Beginning this year, both Junior High and High School Youth Ministry will meet on Thursdays from 7:00–8:30 p.m.

Confirmation candidates are also asked to participate in four service opportunities throughout the year as a way of living out their faith and growing as disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are currently seeking Confirmation small group leaders. Parents who serve as small group leaders will have their child's Confirmation tuition waived. Training, materials, and ongoing support will be provided.

Preparing young people to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation is a parish-wide effort, and we are grateful for the generosity of our adult volunteers who help guide our students on their faith journey.