The Joy of Confirmation
This past Sunday, our church had the honor and blessing to welcome into the life and service of our congregation our 12 Confirmands. The class of 2021 should have been the class of 2020, but as we all know, life changed last year. These teens have been through a lot, but they are resilient, strong, and steadfast in their faith. They have had the benefit of excellent leadership and guidance by their Confirmation teacher, Ms. Pam Beard. Pam has done an incredible job of serving our community by teaching Catechism and the Reformed tradition to our young people for the last several decades. She has helped to mold and guide their faith journeys. Despite having not had Confirmation Sunday school classes in over a year, Ms. Pam’s teachings stuck with them – I was incredibly blessed and proud to hear how profound and genuine their faith statements were in the session meeting on Tuesday night. God’s grace abounds.
On Thursday night, I had a couple teens ask me “Am I going to be a member of the church now once I get Confirmed?” I said what a great question. The truth is that we are all welcomed into God’s family in our baptism – God extends a free gift of grace to us as babies before we even can profess faith and trust in God, and certainly before we can understand it. It takes a lifetime to truly come to know and understand God’s grace. So all of our Confirmands have been members of God’s family and our church family since that moment. However, in Confirmation, this is your opportunity to make your own choice that you want to dedicate your life to God’s service. And specifically that you want to serve God by choosing this congregation – being a full member in service and worship through Mallard Creek Presbyterian. We rejoice in the gift of God’s grace and we fear not, for you will never have to serve God alone.
A blessing for our Confirmands and our new community:
Gracious God, we thank you for the blessing of each of these Confirmands. Thank you for the incredible love that you have poured out on each of them. Thank you for the many people who have nurtured their faith throughout their growing years. We ask for a special blessing over them on this day, O Lord. Guide them and teach them. May they know your love each day and know that they are never alone. Help them to find your will for their lives and seek it earnestly and without abandon. Let us, the congregation, be reminded of the joy and newness that life in Christ brings, and let us seek out your face steadfastly and with an unbroken spirit, as the Holy Spirit brings a new life and new community into our congregation today. In your holy name we pray, Amen.