Image Confirmations 2023
On Saturday 23 November more than 120 people will be confirmed at Wells Cathedral. The group, made up of people of all different ages, from across the diocese, will come together to affirm their faith in Christ and receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit, giving them the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of their lives. Some of those who will be confirmed have shared their stories of faith.
Among those being confirmed is Charlie from Ilminster. Charlie is 17 and studying for his A ‘levels. He shared with us his excitement about being confirmed and how he sees confirmation as an important step on his journey of faith.
I'm excited, but I am also a little bit nervous, but I'm mostly excited.
I've had regular meetings with my Vicar Jo, all the way through this year. That has enabled me to delve deeper into my faith. Something I always do is try and challenge what I believe. I'm often having discussions with Jo and each week I’ve been having Zoom calls with my Grandpa, who is my sponsor for my confirmation, about Christianity. This definitely strengthens my faith.
A big thing that I get from my faith is confidence. Whenever I'm struggling or nervous or worrying, I can just talk to God about it. When I talk with God about it, I calm down a lot, which is extremely useful. But I try my best to not be one of those people that just makes God in their own image. I try not to manipulate Christianity for my own personal benefit, I try to follow God's law and do the right thing.
Ellen, Jack and Iain are from Cheddar, they too will be confirmed at Wells Cathedral on Saturday. They have given permission for Revd Ruth Motion to share their stories.
Ellen, who is 12, was due to be confirmed last year, but she postponed because her grandfather, who has been instrumental in coming to faith, was unable to join her as he was ill.
Ruth shares Ellen’s story:
Ellen didn't want to do it without Grandpa, because Grandpa in particular, has been a big part of her journey. Grandma and Grandpa are a big part of our church and are very active in all sorts of different areas and they've always encouraged her. So, I completely understood why last year when Roger, her grandpa was ill, she said she didn't want to do it without him. But straight away she was asking, ‘Can I be confirmed next year?’
Actually, she's better placed now than she was a year ago because her faith has grown. She's been going to Wildfire, which is a Community Church group, she comes to the Churches Together Youth Club and she's got more involved in other things with more young people across the different denominations in Cheddar, so her faith has definitely grown. It really has.
Her grandparents always brought her to church when she was little. She’s done Messy Church, the Holiday Club and they used to bring her to church on Sundays. Now she comes in her own right and brings others including her Mum.”
Ruth shares Jack’s story:
Jack’s Mum and Dad are not interested in church, but Jack, is and they support him with that. Not long ago Jack started meeting one to one with Revd Stuart. He was baptised in February, that was his decision, and he was very keen to be confirmed. He wanted to do it in the right order, to be baptised and then have a time of growing and then be confirmed. It’s all part of a journey as far as he's concerned.
Jack is really enthusiastic about his faith; he came on the pilgrimage to Taize and had an amazing time.
Ruth says, “It's been really interesting watching and listening to all the young people as they grow and develop in their faith, as they become more able to articulate what they think and what they believe. I think it is really important, particularly as a teenager nowadays, because having a faith is unusual, it's not unheard of, but it is unusual, particularly to have a faith and be actively trying to live it out. So, for them to make that public recognition is huge.”
Ruth shares Iain's story:
Iain is a young dad. He's full of questions. He just started coming to all the things the children were involved with, like the Nativity plays and then he started bringing the children to different services and his faith seems to have grown from there. He’s now quite keen for the children to make their First Communion so that the three of them can take communion together.”
We hold all those preparing for Confirmation in our prayers, we pray that they may be filled with the Holy Spirit, rooted in love and strengthened in faith. We pray also for those who have supported them on their journey; family, friends, and members of their church community.