Confirmation is a time when a person declares publicly that the declaration of faith and promises of following Christ which were made on their behalf at their baptism are accepted and will be followed by that person. It is also the time when one becomes a full member of the Church of England. If you would like to take this step and be confirmed, please contact the vicar.
What about all those promises that were made at our baptism? When we are baptised (as children), promises are made for us by our parents and godparents. These are that God will be our god, that we will turn from evil, that is repentance and that we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Master.
As we get older we need to state that we personally hold to these promises and that they were not just a part of a traditional service repeated by our parents and godparents because that is the culture. When we can honestly state that we will follow God as our god, we repent of our sins and we will follow Jesus as our Saviour and our Master we become true children of God, that is true Christians. Jesus says in the Bible, that this commitment to God, repentance for our sins and acceptance of Jesus as our Saviour and Lord needs to be repeated in public and for us Anglicans this is what confirmation is. It is as we make this commitment that the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and helps us to lead a life pleasing to God.
The bishops are concerned that many people who are baptised never take this step of affirming these promises for themselves, and there are many baptised but unconfirmed adults in our churches.
They are encouraging such adults to take the step of affirming their baptismal vows in public at confirmation. This is particularly important in our secular age and at a time where the majority of practising Christians in the UK are not members of our Anglican church.
Feel free to reach out using the contact form or get in touch via the details provided below.
Vicar
Eric Lomax
07805 879537
Church warden
Laurie Hurn
01234 364251