St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Parish

Sundays
 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Upper Room
St. Peter the Fisherman
(Mass from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM)

• Parent/Confirmand Meeting
• Involvement Hours 2023-2024
• Involvement Hour Submission
• 2022-2023 Confirmation Sponsor Information 
• Confirmation Sponsor Form (COMPLETE BY 12/4/2023)
• 2022 - 2023 Sponsor Calendar 
• Saint Name Submission Form (COMPLETE BY 1/14/2023)

Bishop Ricken will be joining us to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, May 8th, at 6:30 PM at St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church. We will be inviting four other local parishes to celebrate this Sacrament with us - so it will be a full celebration! Students and Sponsors are expected to arrive and be ready in their seats by 5:45 PM.

Confirmation is traditionally pursued when a student is ending their junior year of high school and they feel prepared to enter fully into the Catholic faith! Though the decision to be Confirmed is an exciting one, it is not a journey for the faint of heart! The Green Bay Diocese requires the following of students wishing to be Confirmed:

• SIX semesters of "regular" faith formation and catechesis
• Confirmation Retreat (minimum 6 hours)
• Confirmation Preparation (minimum of 12 hours - separate from regular class & retreat)
• Completion of Service Hours (10 per year)
• Letter to the Bishop

St. Peter the Fisherman is committed to helping both you/your student, not only accomplish these tasks, but to use them to establish a strong foundation of faith for you to build the rest of your life on. The first step towards this goal is for you to REGISTER for our program!

Once you are registered for the program, parents and students need to sign up for a one-on-one meeting with Dcn. Mark! During that meeting we will go over the Confirmation program requirements and expectations, elements of the program, and parent and sponsor involvement throughout this process. These meetings will be held at St. Peter the Fisherman in the Upper Room (meet in the Parish Office Lobby)! Please sign up for a time slot HERE!

n addition to this meeting, parents should also attend the parent meeting held on August 30th from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM - this meeting is for all high school parents/confirmation parents! After we have the chance to go over expectations, you/your student will be responsible to fulfill those expectations throughout the school year. 

From here you/your student is expected to attend weekly Confirmation sessions held on Sundays from 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM. From 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, students are expected to participate in the celebration of Mass, and afterwards, until 12:30 PM, they will receive their diocesan mandated formation. We will be using Acension Press's "Chosen: Your Journey to Confirmation" for the basis of this catechesis. 

In addition to the "regular" formation above, the Diocese of Green Bay requires Public School students  complete the Confirmation Preparation program in addition to having satisfactorily completed six (6) semesters of religious education. Catholic school students, on the otherhand,  will have taken religious education as part of their regular curriculum and are then required to satisfactorily complete the Confirmation Preparation program with their home parish. At St. Peter the Fisherman, this Confirmation Preparation consists of service projects and time spent one-on-one with their Sponsors during their final semester of preparation (described more below). 

As a Confirmation Candidate, it is important that you become emmersed in your parish community and beyond! When you CONFIRM your Catholic faith and are sealed by the Holy Spirit, you will fully be a member of our parish community; these service projects and your involvement hour opportunities are meant to help you build your own connections to your community. 

SERVICE PROJECTS - These are opportunities specifically designed for Confirmation students. There are SIX service projects scheduled throughout the year (all of which will need volunteers) - you are REQUIRED to participate in atleast THREE of these service projects in order to be Confirmed. Some of these projects are longer than others, so there will be shifts available for longer projects! This requirement is separate from your Involvement Hour requirement.

INVOLVEMENT HOURS  - Involvement Hours are for ALL high schoolers wishing to be Confirmed at St. Peter the Fisherman. Each high schooler is expected to participate in 15 hours of involvement in the church throughout each year of high school prior to Confirmation (9-11). Involvement hours are NOT service hours. Involvement hours are hours of your time spent intentionally serving and leading your church and community closer to Christ. PLEASE see the link "Involvement Hours" (to the left) for more information, an explanation, and a schedule of potential opportunities. 

When approaching the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Church asks you to chose a Sponsor to stand by your side as you prepare for the Sacrament of Initiation. A sponsor is someone in your life who inspires you to live out your faith and is constantly encouraging you to draw nearer to Christ. Their role, when you choose them as your sponsor and for the rest of their lives, is to walk with you on your journey with Christ as it unfolds in your lifetime. They should be someone you'd feel comfortable talking to about your faith, someone whose commitment to their faith has impressed you and someone in whom you can see the grace of Christ and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

In the months preparing for Confirmation, a Sponsor has an essential role. Once someone commits to being your sponsor, they will be invited to attend the Confirmation Retreat with their Confirmand on February 17th, 2024 (afternoon only) at School Forest. It is crucial for the Sponsor (or a parent) to be present for the afternoon of this retreat to become emmersed in the Confirmation experience. 

From there, sponsors are expected to meet with the candidate AT LEAST SEVEN times during the Confirmation process to discuss faith, pray together, and create a personal statement of faith. This can be as casual as grabbing coffee after school, having dinner together, going to a sporting event, or chatting on the phone intentionally to share your faith! The statement of faith that you will be talking about and crafting will be shown to both Fr. Dave and Bishop Ricken prior to you being Confirmed. 

Though there is a substanstial time committment that accompanies being a sponsor - it is crictical for each student to know that they are not on this journey alone. Building a strong Sponsor/Confirmand relationship can transform the lives of the young people and putting in the time to cultivate a Christ-filled relationship is what being a full member of the church is about.

The Green Bay Diocese require that a sponsor:

• You must choose your sponsor, and your sponsor must be willing to help you lead a Christian life in harmony with your baptism call and fulfill the obligations connected with it.
• Your sponsor must be at least sixteen years of age.
• Your sponsor must be Roman Catholic, baptized and confirmed, and have received first communion.  
• Your sponsor must be practicing his/her faith, that is, a faithful Catholic who attends Sunday Mass on a regular basis.
• If married, they must be married according to the regulations of the Catholic faith
• Your sponsor may NOT be your parents, step-parents, foster parents, or guardians - it CAN be your brother, sister, godfather, godmother, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, neighbour, etc. who meets these requirements. 

For more information about Sponsor qualifications and responsibilities, CLICK HERE!