Choosing a Confirmation Sponsor

A sponsor is someone who journeys with the candidate during his/her preparation for the sacrament.  In making this choice, the church recognizes that your sponsor is a partner in the your formation, and asks you to be conscious of their influence, trusting they will act in your best interests and in Jesus’ name.  The sponsor will be asked to formally present you to the Bishop at the time of the Confirmation ritual in April.  

What the Catholic Church Says about sponsors…

The role of a sponsor is to "see that the confirmed person acts a true witness to Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations connected with this sacrament."  The criteria the church asks for is that a sponsor…

• Must be at least 18 years of age; 
• Must be a confirmed Catholic and already have received the Sacrament of First Holy Communion and lead a life in harmony with the Faith and the role of a sponsor as mentioned above; 
• Must be in good standing with the Catholic Church;  
• One of the Candidate's godparents may be elected as the sponsor for the Sacrament of Confirmation. 

What St. Augustine Church requires in a sponsor... 

• The sponsor should be someone with whom the candidate feels comfortable talking about faith and religion. 
• The sponsor is not required to attend classes, but will be asked to interact with the Confirmation candidate on a regular basis in regard to their Confirmation preparation.  So they should be aware of the class and retreat schedule. 
• The Sponsor will receive instruction and ideas on how to proceed in communciations from the Director of Faith Formation. 
• The Sponsor will need to be present at the Ritual Practice and the Rite of Confirmation.    

How do I officially register someone as a Confirmation Sponsor?

In order to register someone as your Confirmation Sponsor, basic contact information and some background sacramental history needs to be submitted.  This can be done on-line using the following link On Line Sponsor Application.  Once this information is submitted the potential sponsor will be contacted by the Director of Faith Formation and asked to submit a letter from their home parish verifying their Catholic affiliation.

What Do Sponsors Do?

• Build a positive relationship with you. 
• Nurture and support the your faith life. 
• Invest quality time with the candidate.     

How do the sponsor and the candidate begin their work together?

Here are some activities to begin the process of crossing paths together.  Use these as starter ideas to learn to work together as Sponsor and Candidate.  

• Without telling each other, find ways to discover each other’s Baptism anniversaries.  Call parents, relatives, etc.  
• Take a road trip together to some different churches to experience what is the same and what is different in different churches. 
• Individually interview different people at St. Augustine who are active members and compare notes.  Why are they doing the ministry they’ve chosen?  How did they learn about that ministry? 
• Take a training class together (i.e. Conflict Resolution, CPR, Liturgical Ministry Training, etc.)  
• In preparation for any particular Sunday, read and study the Gospel reading ahead of time.  Each of you try to come up with three specific resources you might use (or assets you might be required) to take action on what you feel that Gospel is asking us to do.