Confirmation Class

Church activities were an important part of my high school years. During my freshman year I went through the usual confirmation procedure. This involved the Saturday confirmation class instruction which lasted for two hours (10 a.m. to noon). The class was conducted by the minister, D. Verner Swanson. Included in the instruction were Luther’s catechism, Bible study (probably one or more of the gospels and some of the various Pauline epistles) and church history.

Swanson was more or less of a fundamentalistic bent in his approach and this attitude on his part introduced some discordant notes in my mind. Generally though I accepted what I was being taught, learned by memory the required catechism material and in the spring of my freshman year went through the confirmation rite. This was preceded by a public examination of the confirmands as to their mastery of church teaching and history

In retrospect my impression of my participation in the instruction, the examination and the rite itself was simply one of going along with what was expected of me and quite customaru. I suppose I was suitable involved and impressed at the time but it seems to me now that there was never any really significant long-time effect of the whole matter. There never was, for example,any real discussion of the scientific, theological and historical problems associated with Christianity as a way of life. Had there been perhaps my thinking later on would have been different. This evasion of the crux of the problems with Christianity led eventually and inevitably to the erosion of all the teaching I received and any commitment that I voiced at the time.

When the weather was clement, transportation to the Saturday morning confirmation class might be by bicycle and on such occasions I might be accompanied by John Woodard who went through the process the same time as I did. John’s participation was largely the result of the influence of Annie Lines, John’s aunt. Annie and her husband Will remained drunkards, I guess to their dying days, but Annie attended church in Gowrie, either at the Methodist or the Lutheran churches and she chose the Lutheran church for her nephews. I think the younger Woodard boys, Harold and Lloyd, also followed the same path. Annie usually went to the Lutheran church but since in those days communion there was restricted to the members, she went to the Methodist for that. I suppose Will also attended; I really can’t remember.