The First Presbyterian Church Confirmation Class of 2020 was formally received by the Session into the membership of the church during a Zoom conference on Tuesday September 29. The class is (alphabetical order): Ms. Edra Clements, Ms. Emerson Domnick, Ms. Brie Doppler, Mr. Adam Gyura, Mr. Sam Hruska and Ms. Katie Keller. This was a special class because in addition to the 8th graders who normally enroll each year, two 9th graders waited a year to join this class (Adam & Sam), and one 7th grader (Emerson) didn’t want to wait. This class is also special because of the sudden disruption of the process caused by the COVID19 Pandemic. What would have normally happened in April did not happen until the end of September. We look forward to being able to receive and pray for this class during worship whenever we can return to in-person worship.
The objective of Confirmation here at FPC is to help our students begin to recognize and understand the meaning and the importance of faith and belonging to a faith community. Over the course of the 2019-20 school year, the class explored different aspects of faith and church, including the Presbyterian denomination—its history, worship, traditions, sacraments, organization and system of governing. There was also discussion of the important stories, people and events in the Bible. Each confirmation student participated in worship as acolyte and also through analyzing sermons through the completion of a handful of Sermon Notes worksheets which help students break down and analyze a particular sermon. The class also attended two Session meetings, the Congregational Meeting for the Election of Officers in November 2019, and the Annual Meeting of the Congregation in January 2020.
Every confirmation class is given the assignment of composing a faith statement as a sort of “final project.” Their statements are presented to the Session as part of the formal process of receiving the class during a stated meeting of the Session. Excerpts from their statements appear in the January 2021 GoodNewsletter which members received in the mail sometime in early January. Please pray for these newest members of our church as they join this congregation in the midst of a very difficult chapter in our nation’s and church’s history. Consider sending a card to welcome them. On behalf of Dan Wentz, I praise God for each of them and for their families wherein their faith was born and nurtured. Our faith community is blessed by their presence and their interest.
(Rev. Jay Rowland)
