Happy New Year! Oh no, the curate is already losing the plot and it’s only the start of December. You would think I would make it at least till the first Carol service before getting hit by the Christmas overload. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost the plot, for it is the first day of the church year.

The first Sunday in Advent is the first day of the church year. We mark a time of new beginnings as we approach Christmas. It therefore feels very fitting to have a confirmation service on this Sunday, the first Sunday of the new church year.

In confirmation, people come to affirm (or confirm) the promises made at their baptism. For those baptised as an infant, confirmation is a time for making these promises for themselves with their own mouths. For those baptised as adults, like I was, confirmation is a time to celebrate with the wider church God’s presence in our lives. Confirmation is also the point for a lot of Christians where they start receiving communion. I know this Sunday that a number of the candidates will start receiving communion for the first time. This is a special moment to share with them as we receive the gift of bread and wine as the Church of Christ.

I had my confirmation when I was 22, just before I went for my selection panel which determined whether I was sent to vicar school or not. For me, confirmation by the bishop felt like an affirmation and celebration of my call from God to worship and serve within the Church of England. I think it is special that the bishop, who is the spiritual father or mother of a diocese, comes as a representative of the global church to say the church celebrates how God has come into the lives of these people. Additionally, I find it moving that as part of the confirmation service, we pray for the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the confirmed. It is a prayer not just of the bishop but the whole church, asking God to feel these people with his Holy Spirit and to be with them in their lives lifelong. 

This Sunday is a special moment for our sisters and brothers being confirmed. I ask that if you are able, please come to support them at the service this Sunday at 3pm. If you cannot be at the service, that is okay. I hope that all of us can pray for our confirmation candidates that God would greatly pour his Holy Spirit on them as they confirm what God is doing in their lives.

Every blessing,

Shakeel

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