Confirmation and Youth Sunday
Is there a moment you remember when you confirmed with God that you loved Jesus and wanted to walk with him? Coming soon on
May 19th at Salem First at the 8:45 service then a confirmation recognition at the 11:15 service and then
June 16th at 10:30 a.m. at Morningside will be one of those times for several of our youth. These two dates are both Youth Sunday and Confirmation Sunday when our youth make their first profession of faith. This will be a special time in the lives of our confirmands (those making their profession) and it is our blessing to be a part of their day as we renew professions of our own.
In our community, most youth confirm their faith in either the 8th or 9th grades. Offered every other year, the youth who wish to do so take part in the confirmation program where they are mentored for a year by an adult member of the church and take classes with the other confirmands to explore their faith and learn about Methodist history and theology. This in-depth study helps form their faith and their spiritual walk for a lifetime. Just this last weekend the confirming youth went on a retreat together to Suttle Lake Camp - a time that was rich and meaningful for all.
Another part of our confirmation process is "Ask the Pastor" when the youth sit down with some of our Open Door Churches pastors and ask them whatever questions they want. Held next week on May 8th, this is a special discussion around the issues on the youth's hearts and the questions they've started to ask themselves as they prepare for the ceremony.
The confirmation ceremony itself, the culmination of their study, is closely linked with baptism in that the youth confirms their desire to walk this spiritual path in their first public declaration of faith made before their church community. According to the Book of Discipline, the vows confirmands make include:
- To renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of the world, and repent of their sin
- To accept the freedom and power God gives them to resist evil, injustice, and oppression;
- To confess Jesus Christ as Savior, put their whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as their Lord
- To remain faithful members of Christ's holy church and serve as Christ's representatives in the world
- To be loyal to Christ through The United Methodist Church and do all in their power to strengthen its ministries
- To faithfully participate in its ministries by their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service, and their witness
- To receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
According to
This Is Your Baptismal Liturgy, confirmation includes three aspects
- God confirms the divine promise to those who were too young to grasp what God was doing in their baptism
- The youth respond by professing their own acceptance of the grace they have received and their own faith in Christ
- The Church, as represented by the congregation, confirms the commitments they make
While confirmation is focused on the youth professing their faith, this special service is also a time for us to profess faith of our own and to respond to their growth by confirming our support of the youth. Throughout the ceremony, there will be places for us to renew our own spiritual vows and our community, rededicating ourselves to the work and love of God.
The youth in this year's confirmation ceremony are:
- Austin Gienger - FUMC
- Erika Bateman - FUMC
- Elisabeth Rich - FUMC
- Sophia Miller - FUMC
- Lauren LeRoy - FUMC
- Aeson Pargas - Morningside
Let's celebrate our youth and support them in whatever ways we can as they take these important next steps in their lives of faith!
Sarah Katreen Hoggatt
|