What is Confirmation?
Let’s recall how John Wesley uses God’s House to describe the ways that grace works in our lives. The porch, the doorway and the house… God’s grace that goes before us is like the front porch of a house, we call this prevenient Grace which “wakes us up” to God. Once we have “woken up to God” , God’s grace works to get us in the front door. Through this justifying grace, we are enabled to have Faith in Jesus Christ…this is the point at which we leave the porch and walk through the door of God’s House. We celebrate Confirmation as the point at which a young person “walks through the door”.
By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism” describes Confirmation this way:
When persons who were baptized as infants are ready to profess their Christian faith, they participate in the service, which United Methodism now calls Confirmation. This occasion is not an entrance into Church membership, for this was accomplished through baptism. It is the first public affirmation of the grace of God in one’s baptism and the acknowledgment of one’s acceptance of that grace by faith.”
Where do you find yourself in God’s House lately? Are you on the porch? Are you ready to walk through the front door and take a next step in your faith? Maybe you have lived in God’s house long enough to begin a tour through different rooms? We are always ready to hear what your next step is so that we can support your walk of faith.
One Comment
Sara Zeigler
Thinking of rooms in God’s house, I recall a booklet by Bob Mumford, “My Heart Christ’s Home” in which rooms of a house are metephors for our spiritual journey. These last few years I’ve found myself in a smaller room looking more interspectively… seeking God’s presence in all I’m doing, speaking & thinking…as Paul says, “Less of me & more of Christ” … this I pray.