Sunday, May 22, 2011
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Confirmands – Class of 2011
Last Sunday (May 15, 2011), seven of our youth were confirmed by Bishop Jeff Lee. These young women and men publicly reaffirmed the vows that were made on their behalf at their baptism. Today, these same young people are going to share with you their reflections on why they wanted to be confirmed and what their baptismal vows mean to them.
Articulating one’s faith isn’t always easy, and to speak about one’s faith publicly is not something that most of us have a lot of experience doing. I’m grateful to these youth for being willing to take the risk to do this.
To the congregation, I would ask that you listen to these words carefully, with, as St. Benedict said, the ‘ears of your heart’ and appreciate what the church’s next generation has to say.
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Hi, my name is Caroline, I’m 13 years old, I’m in 8th grade, I go to Glen Crest Middle School, and next year I am going to attend Glenbard South High School. I have been a part of Saint Mark’s ever since I was born. Actually, I was baptized here.
I really enjoy my time at St. Mark’s and all the activities I’ve participated in over the years. For example, I have been a part of Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, Christmas Pageants and Blythe. I have also given my time as an acolyte, children’s choir member and now I am participating as a reader. I have really enjoyed these activities because they are very important and make me feel connected to the church. I love being a reader because I really think it heightens my confidence and helps me understand what we learn in the sermon. I also enjoyed choir and serving as an acolyte because it really made me feel part of the service.
You know sometimes I had doubts that I was ready to be confirmed because I didn’t go to church every Sunday, and wasn’t as involved as others. But if you think about it, getting confirmed doesn’t only mean going to Sunday School every Sunday and serving the church, it also means that you continue your faith in God and become a better Christian. I think I was ready because I do have faith in God and I am trying to become a better Christian.
The question that most speaks to me in the baptismal covenant is “will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.” This question speaks to me because I sometimes have trouble repenting. I forget to ask for God’s forgiveness because it’s like breathing – you just know its going to happen. But that’s not a good attitude; we should always ask instead of just expecting. I’m not saying we have to get down on our knees and beg for forgiveness every time we do something bad. But maybe at the end of the day we could reflect on what we shouldn’t have done or said and ask, nicely, for forgiveness.
I am really proud to be an Episcopalian and I want to thank everyone who has supported me in my journey to be confirmed.
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Hello I’ m Connor. I am fourteen and I’ve been a member of St. Mark’s for five to six years. As many of you know I was confirmed last week. I worked for two years to get confirmed.
I volunteered at PADS, I acolyte, and sing in the choir. Being confirmed is more than just the bishop laying his hands your head; it is becoming a bigger part of the church community.
When I first started as an acolyte in the third grade and could barely carry the torch and was taking the advice of all the other acolytes. Now I carry the cross and I am a thurifer, and help out the newer acolytes.
I also was confirmed to feel like a bigger part of the community. I see everyone outside of church in the library, downtown, in school and it makes me feel like a part of something bigger. I will continue in being an acolyte and singing in the choir. I will continue to volunteer in mission and outreach in our community.
Being confirmed for me is becoming a large step to be an adult and bigger member of the church.
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My name is William. I am 14 and in 8th grade at Hadley. Next year I will be a freshman at Glenbard West. I have been a part of Saint Mark’s my whole life.
I believe that I was ready to be confirmed and reaffirm the promises that were made for me at my baptism because I am now old enough to better understand what the covenant means. I know that I believe in God and I am willing to make promises in my confirmation to follow God.
I believe that all the questions in the baptismal covenant are very important, but the question that means the most to me is: Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? This is important to me because this tells me how I want to live my life: showing by example the good news of God in Christ. To me, this means to follow and to be like Jesus. Jesus was kind and caring so I try to be the nicest person I can be. To follow Jesus means to stand up for injustice. That may mean to stop people I see who are bullying someone else. Jesus also was the one who would accept outcasts and always would show forgiveness. Jesus challenged people’s thinking, for example, when he flipped over the money changer’s tables at the temple.
I don’t yet know how some of these things will apply to me in my life now, but when they do, I will do my best to follow my confirmation promises so that I can follow God in Christ.
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My name is Spencer. I am in 8th grade at Hadley junior high; next year I will be a freshman at Glenbard West. I have been a part of St. Mark’s for my entire life.
The past few years I have been pretty involved at church. Last summer I attended junior mission camp with First Congregational and Faith Lutheran church. I also enjoyed the few times I went to laser tag and especially going to Portillo’s after for some beef. I have also been an acolyte for 3 years.
The one thing that has been most important to me is weekly Sunday school lessons because that has gotten me to where I am now. It has been the stepping-stones to confirmation. I feel I am ready to be confirmed now because I have worked really hard to get here and my time has come.
‘Will you continue in the apostles’ teachings and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?’ is most meaningful to me because I will stay involved in church even though I am now confirmed.
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Hi, I’m Elise and I‘ve been at St. Mark’s for 11 years. When first told that we’d be doing a reflection on why we chose to be confirmed, the first thing I thought of was that I wanted to have a bigger role in our church. But, going through all the preparation for Confirmation made me realize that this church is more than a church, it’s a community. Inside the church everyone helps out, whether it’s praying for those in need, or assisting with the service.
Through my mentor, May Anstee, I learned more about the role of The Daughters of the King. And through my own volunteering, I found out the different ways I can use my own talents to help others in our parish community. But then I started to see that our faith really goes beyond the constrictions of the actual building, and our real church is found wherever we carry out God’s work.
In these past 2 years, we’ve had many opportunities to do service work. This is where I see our community the most, helping spread God’s love by example. I feel fortunate to be part of such a dynamic community, and hope I can spread many of the blessings God has given me. So, when asked why I chose to be Confirmed, I can say that I wanted to renew my baptismal vows to become a part of something bigger, our community, and continue to do God’s work.
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Hi my name is Kenney. I am 13 years old in 8th grade and I go to Hadley Jr. High. Next year I will go to Glenbard West. I was baptized at St. Mark’s and I have been a part of St. Mark’s for as long as I can remember.
Sunday morning classes for the past two years with Mrs. Reed and Mr. Flynn were a lot of fun. I also really enjoyed the Junior Mission camps during the summer. I liked all of the service projects that we did, but my favorite was Feed My Starving Children because I was helping others AND having fun with my friends.
I know that I am ready to be confirmed because I am ready to be a part of the church, and also because I know that I will believe in God for the rest of my life.
My favorite line of the baptismal covenant is “will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” I like this because it reminds me to respect everyone no matter who they are. I want to live out my promises by always being kind to everyone and believing forever. I know that I will be a better person after I am confirmed.
Thank you.
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Hi, I am Robbie. I have been coming to St. Marks for 14 years. When I first started getting ready for confirmation I really didn’t understand what it truly meant to be confirmed. After all of the preparation I realized that it is really a rite of passage.
Leading up to confirmation we did a number of activities to strengthen our knowledge of St. Marks and our community, and I think that my favorite event was attending the Feed My Starving Children program and seeing what a big impact that has on so many needy children. I do also like the Basement Boys events, because the leaders are great and you can never go wrong with a good game of dodge ball!
It seems kind of funny to say, but on the day that I was confirmed I felt more confident and more connected to the church. Of course, I now feel I will have to face more responsibilities, but I am ready for them. I am thankful to Mrs. Reed, Mr. Flynn and Reverend Elizabeth for guiding us through the whole process. Thank you.
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