Members of the confirmation class of Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, are using Zoom technology to gather together. Teacher Doug Hammer of Meridian said attendance should boom with no activities to compete for class time.

Age-old values combined with 21st century technology are keeping one church's youths on the path to confirmation

The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 Sunset Drive, have restarted their confirmation lessons on computer via Zoom.

Their teacher, Doug Hammer of Meridian, said the class members got together through their computers April 19 to reconnect and reaffirm their faith.

“Last week was the first one to see how everybody was doing and to reconnect. The students wanted to do it again so we are meeting again at 10 a.m. Sunday,” said Hammer before the second Zoom session this past Sunday.

Hammer, who has been teaching confirmation classes for 15 years and who has been a member of Trinity Lutheran for 30 years, said he and his students are figuring it out as they go.

“We're just learning how to interact. It is a kind of fun way to interact. They are changing their virtual backgrounds,” said Hammer, adding his students have also been watching Trinity's church services online so they can stay connected to the church and keep practicing their faith.

Hammer said he sent emails to his students to gauge interest in a virtual class and to set up a time.

Technical issues and scheduling conflicts kept the first class to five students. But everybody in virtual attendance was enthusiastic to keep the classes going at least through the end of May.

There wasn't much of a lesson plan for the first session. Usually in a confirmation class, Hammer said, students learn about the Lutheran Church, Martin Luther and the church catechism so they are able to be confirmed by the time they are in eighth grade.

Class by Zoom proved to take more getting used to than a class in reality.

“The challenge is who's doing the talking when; you have to coordinate the conversation,” Hammer said. “You have to direct the question to a specific person.”

Still, the first class met with an enthusiastic response from the students, their parents and Trinity's pastor, the Rev. Joel Benson, who plans to take part in future classes.

Benson said he plans to participate.

“I'll stick my two cents in,” Benson said.

Classes will last 45 minutes to an hour because of Zoom's limitations.

While the stay-at-home order has created a need for the virtual confirmation classes, it's also going to boost attendance.

Hammer said before the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of students couldn't attend classes because of trips or events such as cheerleading camps. Now, with the stay at home restrictions, they don't have many conflicts.

“It's important that through both good and tough times, we all stay connected in case anybody needs anything and to keep practicing our faith,” Hammer said.

Benson noted the church will have only one eighth-grader to be confirmed this spring.

“We're going to wait until we are physically back together to have her confirmation,” he said.

Trinity Lutheran has been videotaping its church services on Wednesday nights, editing them and placing them on the church's YouTube channel for viewing beginning at noon Saturday since the stay-at-home order went into effect.