Head to the Heart: Classes vs. Community
The Philosophy: Teach the Content, Keep the Kid, and Equip the Family
If a business ran a one- to three-year training program and, afterward, most participants walked away and never returned, leaders wouldn’t shrug and say, “Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it.” They’d overhaul the system—or risk going out of business.
And yet, many churches continue confirmation and junior high programs that result in just 15% of youth remaining active in worship, service, and fellowship after the program ends.
Is your confirmation program growing lifelong disciples—or simply graduating kids?
Traditional confirmation programs fail not because they have bad pastors, bad parents, or bad kids. The problem is the system. Flashier materials or bigger budgets won't fix a flawed structure. Systemic problems require systemic solutions.
At Faith Inkubators, we have been advocating for years about a serious systems overhaul of traditional confirmation and junior high youth ministry. If the church is going to retain both information and the teen, as well as equip parents to be the main faith mentors in the lives of their kids, we must shift from a focus on information to a focus on faith formation. We need to shift from simply instruction to ministry. This is not simply theory to us. We at Faith Inkubators are knee-deep in ministry ourselves, not only creating and developing the resource materials, but using them ourselves in our own ministry settings.
The Theology Behind Head to the Heart Confirmation
At the heart of Head to the Heart is the Bible—our only true source book for Christian education. Each Head to the Heart theme is centered on one core scripture verse. That verse is brought to life during the theme event at church, reflected on in small groups, and taken home where the real faith incubation happens nightly.
We move from text to context—because faith is best formed through relationships, conversation, and shared experience.
The System: Learning, Serving, Playing, Growing
Head to the Heart builds a network of care around each student through the power of small groups—groups that learn, serve, and play together as part of the body of Christ.
Our system includes:
Theme Events – for learning together
Servant Events – for living out faith in service
Fellowship Events – for building relationships through fun
Huddles – monthly gatherings for your small group Guides and leaders
A monthly rhythm of two Theme Events, one Servant or Fellowship Event (alternating months), and one Huddle creates a comprehensive ministry—not just a curriculum.
The Resources
Your annual Head to the Heart membership gives you access to over 100 customizable lessons—complete with PowerPoints, skits, stories, art, and cartoons—all grounded in current brain research and 25+ years of hands-on ministry experience.
These aren’t just resources. They’re a toolkit for transformation, developed and tested by real churches, for real youth.
The Bottom Line
Head to the Heart is more than a program—it’s a ministry system designed to:
Teach biblical content effectively
Keep kids connected to the church beyond confirmation
Equip families with simple nightly faith conversations
Remember: we at Faith Inkubators are not just developers. We are knee-deep in ministry, just like you. We actually use these same materials in our own congregations.
Have questions? Need support? We’re here to help.
Let’s grow faith that lasts—from head to the heart.