On October 29th, Reformation Sunday, three teenagers stood before the congregation for a milestone moment of faith called Confirmation. After more than a year of weekly Catechism and Bible study classes, Lyon Schulz, Prism Schulz, and Svend Mathieson confirmed their faith before God and the church, claiming the Christian faith as their own.
As an introduction to the confirmation ceremony, Pastor Wade shared selections from the students’ personal statements of faith, which they based on the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who listens from my soul and my heart, give me what I need to transform my way of thinking so that I may love you above everything else. Teach me to pray, help me to repent, let me rejoice in the grace you have given me so that my life on earth and in heaven may reflect Your Holy Word.”
The confirmands then faced the congregation and joined Pastor Wade in thanking Cynthia Spindler, who organized and delivered their Catechism and Biblical studies. After this the congregation rose together and read the service along with the confirmands. The congregation also pledged to support the confirmands in their faith.
As part of the ceremony, the teens committed to, “live out the promises that were made years ago in their baptisms: to live among God’s faithful people; hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper; proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; serve all people following the example of Jesus; and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”
After the confirmation ceremony, Pastor Jason related to the congregation how he challenged the teens to memorize all 77 books of the Bible in order. Svend announced, “It only took me ten minutes.” Pastor Jason confirmed that all three teens completed the memorization challenge and, indeed, Svend knows all the books, in order. Each of the confirmands received a small trophy for this achievement in addition to confirmation gifts from the congregation.
Pastor Wade then related that when the students were asked to select a personal Bible verse to reflect their faith, Lyon knew his verse immediately. Svend and Prism both wanted more than one verse. Each of the students had their verse(s) embroidered on their confirmation stoles.
