Confirmation of 2023

As a child, I always enjoyed PE, but was never very good at it. But come the summer term I enjoyed some of the athletics we did – not least imitating those heroes of the 1992 Olympics and racing in 4x100m team relay events.

The act of passing on the baton during a relay race is one of those moments of high drama. Do it too slowly and the team wastes effort that has been expended so far; delay and the short window for the changeover may pass.

In similar fashion, confirmation is in part an act of ‘passing on’ the Christian baton. That’s most visibly the case when children who have been baptised as an infant – often in this same parish – come as an adolescent to take on those vows that their parents and godparents made on their behalf all those years ago. But even when an adult presents themselves for confirmation, there is a long backstory that has brought them to this moment in their journey of faith. The baton has been offered to them by others; now they take it on for themselves.

On Sunday 23^rd April we are delighted to welcome numerous adolescents and adults for confirmation. We in the congregation will be part crowd, cheering them on; part fellow runners eager to be inspired in our own faith by these new athletes. Join us in worship, as together we ‘run the race’ of faith, united in love of God.

-Sam Hole