It’s no secret that I love doing baptisms at Holy Trinity. It is a delightful experience to hold each baby (even the crying ones) and dunk them in the water of new life in Christ. As the water drips off of their naked bodies, we sing ♫“You have put on Christ” and I can’t help but beam with joy for the newly baptized.
On the day of your baptism, God said “yes” to you. You are wanted, loved, forgiven and chosen to live among God’s faithful people with grace and purpose. On each person’s baptism day, God’s people gather to add their “yes!” to God’s “yes!” for the newly baptized. As baptized Christians participating in another’s baptism during worship, we promise to receive them as wanted, loved, forgiven, and chosen people.
And we make promises to be in relationship together with God’s people as they develop in Christian faith and life.
Confirmation instruction is one of the many ways we live out that promise to help them grow in the Chrisitan faith and life. At the time of their confirmation those now grown babies will affirm their faith--the faith in which they were baptized. We’ll repeat the the marks of a Christian faith and life that were spoken at their baptism:
to live among God’s faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed
To care for others and the world God made
And to work for justice and peace in all the earth.
Promises made at baptism are nurtured in the life of the congregation. Confirmands need mentoring and nurturing from their community of faith to grow, question, appreciate, learn from and live into a baptismal way of life; a Christian way of life. In other words they need you; yes, you!
This year’s confirmation instruction will be guided by a curriculum called Chosen Together. I like the name because we are in this together. Confirmation is not just for the pastors, confirmands and their parents, but the whole congregation is encouraged to be part of their faith formation. Throughout Chosen Together confirmation, the students will be expected to talk with others in the congregation about their faith and they’ll ask you questions that help us to reflect on what we are learning in class. Typically this would happen in the pews after worship, but because of the pandemic, they’ll need to do phone calls or zoom. It would be helpful to have a long list of people who say “yes” to being contacted by our confirmands. If you're open to 10-15 minute conversations with our confirmands, please let me know.
Confirmation is a “team sport,” meaning that confirmation is only ever as strong as the surrounding community. Thank you for being part of the Holy Trinity “Confirmation Team” and committing to engage with others in the Christian faith and life through words and actions.