By Abby VanderBrug
On May 23rd, the Bishop in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, Ian Douglas, came to visit us at Christ Church Greenwich and confirmed 20 of our 8th/9th grade students and confirmed or received 6 adults. It seemed like a good idea to hold the service outside when we planned this in March, but on the day, the temperature hovered in the high 80s in the noon time sun. But, with a learned Pandemic spirit, we made the best of it and went on with it.
This was my first year teaching Confirmation, and like everything else, it was executed differently than it was in the past. We couldn’t go on a retreat away from all the hustle and bustle that comes with teenagers’ daily lives, we couldn’t require them to go to in-person indoor worship, or do a group service project together. But we knew that it was important to offer something for these 8th grade students who were at such a critical point in their faith journey.
The Youth Minister, Lauren Johnson, and I started meeting our group of students outside – on the steps of the church and at the park for hikes. At the beginning of our class, we asked the kids to write down why they were here, why get confirmed? A great majority of the answers said something like “my parents made me do this class, but I am really interested in my faith and I have a lot of questions about what God thinks about things going on in the world.” It was the reminder we needed that teenagers have spiritual lives, deep questions about the divine and daily life, and although might be pushed by their parents, they are not always forced to engage in these conversations.
When the weather really dipped in December, we had to resort to the Zoom screen. We worried about how teaching Confirmation on a Zoom screen would go. Perhaps you have noticed that turning off your camera and muting yourself is an easy way to make it look like you’re participating in something, but in reality you’re doing something else entirely? We wondered if our classes would be filled with eye rolls, turned off cameras, and unanswered questions.
To our great surprise, our kids did wonderfully. If anyone is looking for resilience throughout this pandemic, might I point you toward a teenager? In our Zoom sessions, they showed up, they asked honest questions about their faith, they engaged in our weekly prayer practice and talked about what types of prayer they felt most connected to. They opened up about what was going on in their lives. They said “thank you” at the end of each session.
As I watched each teen walk up to the Bishop on that sweltering hot day, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with a deep sense of purpose for this sacrament, which we define as an “outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” The Bishop gently laid his hands on each of their heads, said their name, and asked the Holy Spirit to come to strengthen them for God’s service and sustain them all the days of their life. Grace upon grace indeed. While being confirmed each person looked so much at peace, I almost cried.
As disciples, lay and ordained, oftentimes we don’t get to see the fruit from the seeds we plant. We plan classes, we show up, we pour into people’s lives and who knows if any of this is doing anything for anyone. But on this Confirmation day, watching these teens step forward and commit to this faith, I was strengthened in my own faith and hope for the future of the Church. It’s not the last step they will take in their faith journey, but it’s an important one.
There is a blessing from the 1928 version of the Confirmation service that says, “Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no man evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted ; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour all men; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen.”
For these 20 teenagers, I can think of no better blessing. Where their faith will take our church, I do not know, but I am full of hope. Onwards.
