Back in the day, and I'm talking w-a-y back, when I attended the Roman Catholic Church, I made my First Communion at age 7 and my Confirmation at age 13. It was a major occasion! We had studied for months memorizing responses that would be forgotten by the next day. There was a large class of confirmees with all their immediate and extended families in attendance. It was filled with pomp & circumstance as any grand occasion/sacrament. We all lined up and went forward toward the altar to be confirmed by the Monsignor as "Soldiers of Christ," we vowed never to smoke or drink or indulge in inappropriate behavior before marriage (the word 'sex' hadn't been invented yet.) You can imagine how long that lasted - the smoking & drinking part that is; in the 50's 'petting' was a mortal sin. We were all presented with a certificate and a scapula to show we had accomplished this great step in our growth in our faith.
Since then, I have left the Romans and have joined the Anglican church. My husband, who was also a former Roman Catholic was confirmed in the Episcopal/Anglican church a few years before his death. Yesterday, I attended another Anglican Confirmation Service.
The son of friends of mine was confirmed with a handful of others as part of a special Sunday service. The procedure was a little different, a little less pomp & circumstance with the attention being placed on the confirmees rather than the ritual. They are no longer referred to as "soldiers" of God, rather they are children and representatives. They've committed themselves to serving God in their daily life. It's not unlike the Jewish tradition of Bar Mitzvah ... yesterday, he achieved manhood.
It was a beautiful service. I'm so glad the weather held and I was able to drive down to the city to attend. We had a nice reception for all the confirmees and those attending the service and then a small group of us went to lunch together. This is always special because I get to visit with people I haven't seen in, usually, a long while. I did leave early as I wanted to beat the incoming storm coming home; made it by minutes.
Thank you Wes, and your family, for inviting me to share in this special event. I'm proud of you and I was very pleased to have been a part of your special day!
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