Secular coming-of-age ceremony
Secular coming-of-age ceremonies, sometimes called civil confirmations, are ceremonies arranged by organizations that are
Czechoslovakia
During the communist era, young people were given identity cards at the age of 15 in a collective ceremony. At the age of nineteen, boys were required to perform military service.
Germany
Modern non-religious coming-of-age ceremonies originate in
Before the ceremony the youngsters attend specially arranged events or a course, in which they work on topics like
Nordic countries
Denmark
The first civil confirmation in the Nordic countries was arranged in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1915 by Foreningen mod Kirkelig Konfirmation ('Association Against Church Confirmation'). In 1924 the organisation changed its name to Foreningen Borgerlig Konfirmation ('The Association for Civil Confirmation').[4]
Civil confirmation declined in the 1970s as central organized ceremonies, but instead they became increasingly more common as private celebrations and the civil confirmations are still common today in atheist families. They are also known as "nonfirmations", but are now rarely linked to any associations.
Finland
Prometheus Camp
In
The camp is primarily aimed at youngsters who do not belong to any religious denomination, but approximately 20% of yearly Prometheus Camp participants are members of some religious community, usually the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and also participate in a Christian confirmation. The usual age of participants in a Prometheus Camp is 14–15 years, but there are also "senior camps" for older youngsters. In recent years the yearly number of participants has been around 1000, which is approximately 1.5% of the age group.
The themes in the Prometheus Camp are differences,
Iceland
In
Norway
Sweden
The association
United States and Canada
Edifices of the Ethical movement in the United States perform secular coming-of-age ceremonies for 14-year-old members, in which, after spending a year performing community service activities and attending workshops regarding various topics concerning adulthood, the honoree and one's parent(s) speak before the congregation about their growth over the year. Similar ceremonies are performed by congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association and Canadian Unitarian Council.
See also
References
- ^ Walker, Tamsin. "A Secular Rite of Passage". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ "Jugendweihe Heute" (in German). Jugendweihe Deutschland e.V. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ Krause, Klaus-Peter. "Geschichte der Jugendweihe" (in German). Jugendweihe Deutschland e.V. Archived from the original on 2008-05-26. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ Borgelig Konfirmation (in Danish)
- ^ "Kysymyksiä ja vastauksia: Mikä on Prometheus-leirien arvopohja?" (in Finnish). Prometheus Camp Association. Archived from the original on 2007-03-25. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ "About Prometheus Camps". Prometheus Camp Association. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ "Borgaraleg ferming Siðmenntar, Ævintýralegur vöxtur á örfáum árum!" (in Icelandic). Vísir. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- ^ "Konfirmasjon" (in Norwegian). Human-Etisk Forbund. 2004-01-28. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ "Humanist confirmation in Norway - a rite of passage has come of age". Human-Etisk Forbund. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ "Konfirmation: Livssynsläger för ungdomar i 15-årsåldern" (in Swedish). Humanisterna. Retrieved 2007-08-09.