Confirmation
For the past 7 weeks I have led our youth confirmation class. I love teaching confirmation. Confirmation is the class our teenagers take when they want to join the church. They learn about the foundations of our faith including the Trinity, the Bible, and the apostles creed. The history and structure of the United Methodist Church is also taught. We also discussed the vows they will take when they join the church. On Sunday Dec. 4th during the 9:45 service 21 youth (and several of their parents) will be affirming their faith as they join Wright’s Chapel. Several of them will be baptized as well.
One of the reasons I enjoy teaching confirmation is that they are so engaged. They ask good questions. They wrestle with their own faith and how it aligns, and sometimes doesn’t align, with the church. Our youth are often surprised to learn about how the UMC is structured and the process pastors go through to be ordained. Who knows maybe one of them will enter that process one day!
The service for confirmation is powerful as well. These young people will be publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ and to be loyal to The United Methodist Church and Wright’s Chapel and “To faithfully participate in its ministries by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service, and their witness”. But there are also vows the congregation will be taking on Sunday as well. Charles will ask the congregation “Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these persons now before you in your care?”. I explained this to the confirmation class that the congregation is vowing to care for them and to help nurture their faith. The church is surrounding them with a community of love and forgiveness. I told them the many ways the congregation does this. Their financial gifts help make the children’s and youth ministries possible, the many volunteers that help run the programs, and those that may not work directly with children or youth but provide the Christian example of what a faithful member looks like. Jim Womack, who co-taught confirmation with me, then explained to them that now they are becoming members of the church and now they need to do those things for the next generation. They have to be that example of a faithful Christian to others. That is how we spread God’s love to the world.
I’m excited for these young people as they join our church on Sunday. Not just because they are becoming members but because they are choosing to publicly confess their faith. I’m also excited to see how these young people will lead our church in reaching others for Christ.
