Confirmation
Confirmation is the ceremony at which the vows taken on behalf of a child or baby are 'confirmed' by that person when they are old enough to appreciate and understand the purpose of the service.
The vows which are taken on behalf of the child by it's parents and godparents at Baptism are that they will bring the child up as a christian and teach them Jesus' ways and lessons. The ceremony is considered to be especially important by the church and this importance is demonstrated by the fact that the service is conducted by a Bishop and not by the local priest or vicar.
It is usual in the case of adults seeking to be baptised, to have their Baptism ceremony immediately preceding the annual Confirmation service. The ceremony is also attended by other churches who each bring their own candidates to be confirmed by the bishop.
Preparation for Confirmation
The Confirmation Service for 2008, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday the 5th October at our church.
Before going forward for confirmation, both adults and children need to attend Confirmation Classes. Mr Gray holds classes for adults to prepare them for confirmation and for children, lessons are held on Friday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., either in the Church Hall or the church itself.
The purpose of the children's lessons is to ensure they have a good understanding of our christian faith, which they will be vowing to follow. The children will also spend an hour with Mr Gray on the Friday preceding the confirmation ceremony.
The children's classes for 2008 will cover the story of Jesus each week, and the following subjects.
| DATE | SUBJECT |
| 04/07/08 | Does God Exist? & The Lord's Prayer |
| 11/07/08 | The Bible & The 10 Commandments |
| 05/09/08 | Holy Spirit; Praying & Holy Communion |
| 12/09/08 | Easter & The Creed |
| 19/09/08 | Baptism & Confirmation |
| 26/09/08 | Lesson Review & Team Quiz |
It would be helpful if parents could contact Geoff Arrowsmith (0161 626 6808) with details of their children, in advance of the first class being held.
It is not always possible for children to attend all the classes for a variety of reasons. To enable parents help their children fill any such gaps, the subjects covered in each of the weeks sessions are in the process of being summarised, so that parents have the opportunity of running through the material with their child. Where this exercise has been completed, the subjects in the table above will appear in bold indicating a link to a separate page providing this resource. At present this is a work in progress, so not all the lessons are covered yet.
This resource has only been available from the Summer of 2008 and I would therefore be grateful for any comments regarding on these pages, from anyone for either of the purposes mentioned - or any other in fact.
