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Hello families!
Last Sunday's Confirmation service was a beautiful witness of the Holy Spirit at work in our community. As I watched the line of candidates and their families and sponsors for confirmation, reaffirmation, and reception snake around the side of the church and all the way back up the center aisle, I was moved.
1) having 20 teens get confirmed is a symbol of the Spirit at work in our young people's lives.
2) having adults make a decision and time to get confirmed, received, and reaffirmed points us to the never ending journey of our faith formation.
3) to hear the stories of why folks make this decision and what it means to them, brings me back to my own story and why am I on this journey. It is a refocusing for me of my own commitment to this faith and this community.
And the community part - for baptism and confirmation are done WITH the community - was a sight to see. Older parishioners that have no obvious link to the confirmands were here because we are called to be here and witness these folks commitment and to say that we will do all that we can to support these folks on their journey, with God's help. Folks my age, (or maybe they were a bit younger!) were here to step into the role of sponsor/adult-on-the-journey-too! with a young person. As we know, when teens have relationships with 5 or more adults (not related) in their church community, they are much more likely to stay in the church as adults. And there were other teens to witness their friends making this commitment.
And then today, we had over a hundred Free to Be Saints (parishioners 60 and older) gather for a lunch, fellowship and speaker. No one was in a hurry to leave. Community matters for all ages.
Let's give thanks for this community of saints that we sometimes take for granted if we are honest. And come be together this Sunday for our children and about 60 kids from our Refugee Ministries as we Trunk or Treat and enjoy a Boo!-charist, singing, and dinner.
Peace,
Kathy
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