What is Confirmation School?

• Confirmation of Baptism: Confirmation is a public declaration of the faith that was proclaimed on your behalf at baptism. It provides an opportunity to embrace and take personal responsibility for your faith.
• Education in Faith: It focuses on learning the teachings of Jesus Christ, learning to read the Bible, prayer, and familiarizing with the Christian faith.
• Preparation for Communion: If not already practiced, it prepares students to fully participate in the Holy Communion.

• Christian Beliefs: Topics often include grace, faith, salvation and the sacraments.
• Scripture Knowledge: Students study the Bible and learn how its teachings apply to daily life.
• Understanding the Faith: Understanding the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and teachings on Baptism and Communion.
• Service and Worship: Emphasis on participating in the life of the church through worship, prayer, and service.
• Humanity, Ethics, and Moral Choices: Students reflect on humanity, ethical dilemmas, moral decision-making, and the implications of their choices in life.

• Attendance: Regular attendance at classes and worship services is usually required.
• Participation: Active engagement in discussions, projects, and church-related activities is vital.
• Well-being: A young person participating in the camp should have the following abilities:
  • To work in a group.
  • To commit to the camp rules and participate in the common activities.
  • To take care of themselves (e.g., personal hygiene, medications, special diets, bathroom visits).
  • To stay and eat together with others.

• After completing the program, there is a celebrational Confirmation Service where students together affirm their faith and are blessed by the congregation and their families. 
• Young people can invite their godparents to the service for the blessing.

• You can become a mentor (“isonen”): After the confirmation youth are welcome to the leader training (isoskoulutus): In the training, young people learn group skills, leadership skills, and self-confidence. The young leaders will serve as peer mentors in future confirmation camps.
• You can become a godparent.
• You can have a church wedding.
• You can vote in church elections and impact the direction that your parish takes.

• Parents and godparents often play a supportive role, encouraging attendance, discussing faith topics at home, and praying for their child.
• The church encourages open communication between the church, youth and family. The goal is to support the young person’s well-being, spiritual growth and help them grow as a member of the church.

• If you want to attend a Finnish-speaking Confimation School, please do so by contacting your local parish. You can check your local parish through this link..
• Registration for the International Confirmation School through this link.
• If the youth opts for a Finnish confirmation school, read the following instructions carefully:
  Discuss suitable confirmation school options at home. Try to choose camps at different times of the year (winter break, Easter, early summer, mid-summer, late summer).
  When registering, choose at least five camps that have suitable schedules. You may select more than five camps, but at least five must be chosen to proceed with the registration. We cannot guarantee that the youth will be placed in the first choice, but everyone will get a spot from one of their choices.

If there are special reasons for choosing a particular confirmation group (e.g., international-level competitive sports), please provide the information in the additional information section or contact the parish confirmation school workers.

NOTE: We can only consider very strong reasons and justifications, as there are over a thousand participants attending confirmation camps annually in Church in Vantaa.

If there are any challenges in the young person’s life (e.g., illness, learning challenges, bullying, etc.), the confirmation leaders should be aware of these. The camp aims to ensure the well-being of the youth. Answer ”yes” to the relevant question on the registration form, and we will contact the guardian before finalizing the group members. This way, the young person’s situation can be taken into account when assigning them to a group. All confirmation camps aim to consider the needs of the young person whenever possible. Support for attending confirmation camp is available. In the city camp or Vantaa parishes’ special support camp, the young person’s needs can be considered more individually.

• Many of the youth wish to attend confirmation camp with a friend. In this case, the friend code is used during registration. Here are the instructions for using the friend code:
• The friend code can be used by a maximum of three people. Agree with the group of friends and guardians on five confirmation camp options that suit everyone’s schedules.
• Choose who among the friends (maximum three people) will register first. Their guardian will complete the registration normally.
• After the registration, the guardian will receive a confirmation email containing the friend code. This code is passed to one or two other friends.
• The remaining friends in the group will register for the camp using the friend code. The guardian selects the ”register with friend code” option during the registration. A field will appear where the friend code is entered.
• Once the friend code is entered, the registration system will automatically select the same camp options as the first registrant. Do not change the selections!
• The system will automatically place the friend-coded individuals into the same camp group when assigning groups.

NOTE: If the young person and their friend live in different Vantaa parishes (e.g., Vantaankoski, Hämeenkylä, Tikkurila, Korso, Rekola, Hakunila, Vanda Svenska), they need to register in both parishes separately. The registration must be done for each parish, and each will have its own friend code. The young person and their friend will receive a confirmation camp spot from one of the parishes.

The confirmation groups will be assigned after the registration period ends. Therefore, the order or speed of registration does not matter.
Confirmation group information will be announced at the end of November. The information about the assigned group will be sent to the guardian’s email. We will also email the guardians about other confirmation-related matters. Please ensure that the guardian’s email is correct during the registration.

Billing is done electronically through the same system as the registration. The guardian will receive an email with the confirmation camp fee information, so it is especially important during registration that the guardian provides an up-to-date email address and phone number.

Financial assistance for the camp fee is available!

Financial difficulties should not prevent participation in the camp. The parish’s diaconal work supports families in difficult situations.

Forms can be obtained from the parish office, confirmation workers, or deacons, along with instructions on how to provide information of the family’s financial situation.