Excerpts from a Confirmation midterm

The following are excerpts from the midterms of our 9th grade Confirmation students. They were required to write essays in 20 minutes on one of three topics. Every one of them happened to write on the question, "What does being Lutheran mean to me?"

I hope you find all of this a dose of hope for the future, wherever this finds you today.

Excerpts:
"That's what I think is special about the Lutheran faith: No matter how many times you ignore the sermon, or sin, or do anything bad, the church is there and lifts you up from your sins and your despair."

"To me I see the church as a family and not a building, a family that picks you up when you're down and cheers you up when you're sad. In my opinion being a Lutheran means you are part of one big, ginormous, loving and caring family. And I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I think I'm a Lutheran because of my mom when my great-grandma passed away, she said she's in a better place."

"Martin Luther, in my eyes, is a courageous, remarkable individual who saw a problem and fixed it. I believe he defines what we are as an individual, group, and ultimately a religion. Martin Luther was not perfect... I'm not perfect, nor are you or anyone else. But being a Lutheran makes me feel as if no one's perfect but we can strive toward the one who is. Jesus also saw a problem in humanity and fixed it by paying a debt he did not owe."

"I believe we as Lutherans are special and unique because we simply do not care what others think."

"This buzz of joyfulness, happiness, and just all around love is what being a Lutheran means to me."

"The music! Most churches nowadays are slowly turning into places of musical atrocity. Churches are slowly incorporating 21st century music into their services... while Lutherans remain faithful to the classic hymns."
Note: I added this one because I find hilarious, but I hope we can agree there is also some good, faithful 21st century music... or maybe not :-)

"Being a Lutheran means a lot to me because of our Scandinavian culture, the type of music we sing, and the fellowship we have."

"Lutherans can be literally anybody. You don't have to be a certain race or gender to be a Lutheran."

"I feel like this church is the place for me because it is okay to be different at our church. You can have your own beliefs or share the same beliefs as others."