Confirmation classes will begin @ 11:45am in the Friendship Center and run for an hour and a half.
- April 7th: A Short History of the Episcopal Church
- April 14th: Understanding our Worship
- April 21st: Outreach – reaching out to those in need (offering Mercy and working for Social Justice within our community).
- April 28th: Evangelism – learning how to share our faith with words and actions to attract others to God.
Bishop Megan will be here May 5th, and will be confirming, receiving, and reaffirming those who attend these classes.
Confirmation
In the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop.
Those baptized adults, unless baptized with laying on of hands by a bishop, are also expected to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism in the presence of a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands.
The bishop will lay her hands on the person with this prayer:
Strengthen, O Lord, your servant (and the name is said) with your Holy Spirit; empower him, her, or them for your service; and sustain him, her, or them all the days of his, her, or their life. Amen.
or maybe
Defend, O Lord, your servant (and the name is said) with your heavenly grace, that he or she or they may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more, until he or she or they comes to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
Reception
If someone has been confirmed in a church that is within the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, then the person is received.
The meaning of “one holy catholic and apostolic Church: “One” because the Church is a single Body of Christ, including all followers of Christ; “holy” as in our practices intend to sanctify ourselves; “catholic”, because the Church is universal (=catholic), for all people, no exceptions; “apostolic”, as in we have a mission set down by the apostles to share the Good News, and furthermore for the Episcopal Church, our bishops come from a direct line of bishops whose ordination stretches back, through the Church of Scotland, through the Church of England, through the Church of Rome, to the original apostles. (From a Reddit post, ZLBurington).
“The person’s name”, we recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion. God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless, preserve, and keep you. Amen.
Reaffirmation
This is for people who have already been confirmed but want to study again with the class and also reaffirm their baptismal vows in a meaningful way and have the bishop recognize this.
“The name of the person”, may the Holy Spirit, who has begun a good work in you, direct and uphold you in the service of Christ and his kingdom. Amen.
