FAQ

You can sign up any time. The dates of the confirmation training are usually announced in March one year before the camp. For signing up, you can use the sign-up form on our website. If you need more information, please call the office of LNK – The Finnish Association for Children and Youth. After you have signed up, we will confirm your enrolment by email as soon as possible. You can also use our online sign-up form to sign up for the waiting list.

Our confirmation training adheres to the same confirmation training curriculum as the local parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. We are a service organisation within the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In other words, our confirmation training is as official as that provided by the local parishes and follows the same curriculum. As our confirmation training is attended by people from all over the world, we use both Finnish and English in our teaching and other communication.

Our fees are intended to cover the expenses of the confirmation training. Unlike in local parishes, our international confirmation training is not financed by the church tax. It is possible to pay the confirmation training fee in three instalments.

You can attend confirmation training during the calendar year you turn 15 but not before that. Under certain circumstances, however, it is possible to attend confirmation training at a younger age. Please contact the vicar of your local parish to discuss the matter.

Yes. You are welcome to attend confirmation training even if you are not a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. However, if you wish to be confirmed, you have to get baptised and join or belong in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Every year, participants are baptised at the camp. For getting baptised and joining the church, we recommend that you visit your future home parish office before the confirmation training to collect the necessary forms and to fill them out in advance. You should discuss the arrangements of your baptism more specifically with the pastor of your confirmation camp.

If you have been baptised in a Christian church, we will not baptise you again. If your extract from the parish register does not show any record of your baptism, please send a copy of your baptism certificate to the office of LNK – The Finnish Association for Children and Youth before your confirmation training.

Every confirmand can take part in the activities of their home parish. Your home parish is responsible for the activities in this module. The scope of the module is around 20 hours. In the autumn before your confirmation training, you will receive a letter with instructions on how to complete this module. As a rule of thumb, you will have to discuss with your home parish on the completion and contents of this module. For this, you will need the Parish Contact Card enclosed in your confirmation training letter.

Your home parish is responsible for the activities of this module. However, if this does not work out, we have our own instructions on how to participate in the activities of your home parish.

If you are not a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, you should find out which local parish you will belong to after the Confirmation training. This is the local parish responsible for your module. Please contact this Lutheran parish (or another local Christian parish if you are an expatriate Finn).

You can attend worship services and other parish activities when visiting Finland. Several parishes also invite you to participate in their events online.

One source to study is the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, which contains information on the activities and faith of the Finnish church. You can also read the Finnish Catechism. Furthermore, you will get additional assignments on the Moodle learning platform.

Everyone has to arrange their own transportation to Partaharju. You can get to Pieksämäki by train or bus, and from there we recommend taking a taxi to Partaharju. The distance from Pieksämäki to the Partaharju Activity Centre is about seven (7) kilometres.

You can arrive in Partaharju between 11:30 am to 1 pm on the first day of the camp. Lunch will be served between 12 and 12:45 pm. For participants, the lunch is included in the price, but accompanying persons have to pay for their meals.

The accommodation is located at the Partaharju Activity Centre in the Harjuhovi building (3 persons/room) and in the Iivari and Eräkalle buildings (4–6 persons/room).

The confirmation camp serves Finnish home-style cooking. Please inform the office before the confirmation camp if you have food allergies or special diets.

Yes, there is a visiting day roughly halfway through the camp. The date of the visiting day will be included in the confirmation training letter. On this day, visitors are more than welcome to familiarise themselves with the confirmation training between 12:30 and 4:30 pm.

We warmly welcome friends and relatives to the closing ceremony, which takes place on the last day of the confirmation training before the Confirmation Mass at around 11 am. Visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy a meal (in return for payment) in Partaharju after the closing ceremony and before the Confirmation Mass. More detailed instructions will be included in the confirmation training letter.

The Confirmation Mass for both confirmation camps will be held at Veturitori in Pieksämäki at 2 pm on the last day of the confirmation training, and it will take about one and a half hours. Further details will be included in the confirmation training letter.

Yes, godparents are allowed to participate in the blessing at the altar. Please ask one of your godparents to bless you during the Mass already before your confirmation training. If your godparent is unable to attend the Confirmation Mass, you can ask another relative or good friend.

During the Confirmation Mass, you will wear a white alb that is borrowed from the parish. Otherwise, we recommend wearing smart dress in line with the idea of the occasion. You will need the dress in the morning already in the closing ceremony of the confirmation training in Partaharju.

You can book the Partaharju Activity Centre for your own confirmation party. Please contact Partaharju directly for information on reservations and catering. Pieksämäki has also other venues for events and for staying overnight. Read more on the Visit Pieksämäki website.

No, there is no shared transport. Everyone should take care of their transport themselves. You can get to Pieksämäki by train or bus, and from there we recommend taking a taxi to Partaharju. The distance from Pieksämäki to the Partaharju Activity Centre is about seven (7) kilometres.

The address of the Partaharju Activity Centre is Partaharjuntie 361, 76280 Partaharju.