It all started last Christmas, Bishop...

Last night was an evening of celebration and Confirmation at Holy Trinity. 

Eight candidates from Holy Trinity were joined by others from All Saints, Merstham and St Margaret's, Chipstead as they were confirmed by the Bishop of Southwark.

For a number of reasons I believe this service will stick in my mind for some time to come:

The first was the care that Bishop Christopher took to sit down and spend 30+ minutes with the candidates before Confirming them. He invited them to talk together, then talk in the group, about how the Lord had worked in their lives to bring them to this point of publicly confirming their faith in Jesus. It led to some very honest and powerful testimonies about how God had worked through life experiences - including tragedy / loss, and the arrival of children - and through friends and family members to bring them to church. In each case they spoke about how the church had welcomed them into the community and how they had found courses, sermons, conversations with others the means by which God had spoken to them and drawn them to himself. 

Christmas was a critical moment for at least 5 of the candidates. Coming to church for children's Christingle services, or to a candlelit Carol Service was the entry point for them - and they had continued to come and to grow in faith to the point of wanting to be confirmed. What was so good about this was the way in which each of the candidates was able to articulate what God had done in their lives in the course of less than a year. It's also a great encouragement as we plan and prepare our Advent and Christmas services for this year!

Last, and not least, it was a great joy to see Gary and Katie Pullam (above) confirmed together. Gary was baptised at Timperley Church two years ago - you can see his story here - their 5 children were also baptised a couple of weeks ago, and last night both were confirmed. God is good!

A prayer from the service of Confirmation:

Defend, O Lord, these your servants with your heavenly grace, that they may continue yours forever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more until they come to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.