Pentecost is Confirmation Day this Year!
"Confirmation - in the Lutheran Church [this is] the rite by which baptized persons publicly and by their own lips renew and confirm the vow given by their sponsors at Baptism and so confess their adherence to the teachings of the Lutheran Church." Thus reads the opening section on this topic in the Concordia Cyclopedia edited by Dr. L. Fuerbringer and Dr. P.E. Kretzmann. In our church body, confirmation is not a sacrament, but it is that most important event standing between Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Although not commanded, or even mentioned in the Bible, junior confirmation has long been practiced in the Lutheran Church as another step in the process of young peoples' progress toward a mature understanding of the Christian faith and life through ongoing instruction in Scriptural truths. It is a part of the nurturing of the faith which was begun by the Holy Spirit through Baptism, and it helps people prepare for a joyful, meaningful, and reverent participation in the Lord's Supper.
Although it is Baptism that marks the beginning of one's membership in the Church, confirmation provides the opportunity to profess personally faith in our Triune God and pledge a lifelong commitment to the faith delivered to the saints of old. In confirmation the congregation also recognizes the special gifts of the young Christian which can rightly be shared with the entire Church as he or she is now called on to be more involved and serve in new and greater ways. These are the implications of the two elements in the rite of confirmation: 1) the catechumen's vow of faithfulness to Almighty God and public profession of the Christian faith; 2) the words of blessing accompanied by the laying on of hands and the receiving of a personal confirmation verse. As implied earlier, this is by no means a "graduation" from the study of God's Word, but rather a recognition of time well-spent and an invitation to move even deeper into Scripture through Sunday morning Bible classes and weekday devotion and study groups.
All of this is meant to encourage everyone to join our six confirmands in the 11:00 service on May 23, which is Pentecost Sunday, as we gather for this third great festival of the church year and celebrate with these young people this special day in their lives!
Pastor Hildebrandt
