by Beth Paz
Confirmation – isn’t that catholic?! Well, yes and no! Confirmation in the EPC is when one who is baptized, affirms their Christian beliefs publically and becomes a full member of the church.
The Christian Education department just recently re-vamped our youth church membership process to offer a 6 week Confirmation Class and celebrated 12 new youth members who joined our congregation.
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The class really challenged students to view this as a step in the journey of life-long discipleship. Several activities like publically sharing their testimony, taking a spiritual gifts inventory, meeting with a Pastor, their Youth Ministry Director, and an intentional faith conversation with parents helped students grow. They explored topics like Reformed Theology, the church’s mission and our participation, Sacraments and our local church history. In doing so, they learned about themselves and decided to take the next steps of baptism and membership. What a delight to share this significant day with our youth and their families! Our prayer is for them to grow in the grace of God and mobilize the Church to flourish as the body of Christ in the years ahead.
The following is a brief testimony from Senior Megan Trang:
Growing up, I have been raised as a Christian and have gone to church for as long as remember. But as a child, I was just going through the motions and not truly believing. I remember standing at the pews on Sunday mornings and seeing how my mom didn’t sing the hymns, and there was this dissonance as I wondered if she believed in God. Yet over the years, I’ve witnessed God’s miraculous work through my mom who has grown in faith and served the Lord with all her heart. And this has really inspired me to make my faith my own and build a stronger relationship with Christ. As a senior in high school this year, I didn’t think much at first of doing confirmation class because it didn’t seem right to become a member of this church when I was soon to be leaving for college. But I asked God what He wanted me to do and He made me realize that I needed to be closer to Him—membership is a part of this journey for me, more than what is tangible. It is my commitment to God…a reminder for me when I go off to UCLA to always put God first and never stray. And I am so blessed to have you as a church in my life—my parents, Beth, Meagan, the Nunez’s, and so many more who have shaped my faith and have shown me God’s true love.