Confirmation

“Not every cry can be answered
and not every call is from God.
So it is a blessing when we can thank God
for the joy of purpose in our lives
and for times when the call to a certain task seems clear.
Yet even when our callings seem hard to sort out
or beyond our ability to fulfill,
even in the day of failure and betrayal,
We pray to remember again the calling that comes first and last.
The tasks and duties do matter,
but what abides –
our identity, our belonging, our hope –
is heard here by these waters”

The minister works with confirmand to select among the readings to reflect the individual’s journey and present new church faith stance. The chief consideration that the confirmand desires to find uses in the church and continue growing spiritually through continuous, life long study and application of new church teachings as is appropriate to their life.

Traditional Rite of Confirmation -

As you now stand in this holy place with loved ones and friends who support you, and since you have come before the LORD to make manifest your intentions of renewed commitment to follow the path that Christ has taught in his doctrines for a new church, and as you understand Christ’s path in the light of your own conscience…Hear now the WORD of the LORD from the Sacred Scriptures and the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 6:4-2; Lu 13:30; John 1:43-51

¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. De 6:4

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. ¶ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (RSV) John 15:7-10

Now Reading from the teachings for a new church. (Doctrine of Life 18 & DLW 13)

“So far as anyone is in the love of use, then so far is s/he in the LORD, so far does s/he love the LORD and love the neighbor, and so far is s/he a human being. Let it also be known that “All religion is of Life, and the life of religion is to do good. So far as anyone shuns selfishness as a sin against God, s/he does good, not from herself or himself, but from the LORD.” This is true wisdom.

Also that since wisdom is a matter of life and consequently of reason, people have free choice in spiritual things, otherwise, we would have no freedom of choice in civil, moral, or natural things. This freedom is given everyone by the LORD.

Therefore, exploration of the Doctrines of Faith is to be made as to whether they are true for they are not true just because the leaders of the church have said so and their followers confirm it. When this exploration is done from an affection of truth, then one is enlightened by the Lord and confirmed in it according to the good in which his heart is. AC 6047:2,3

All people as Long as they live in this world, walk midway between heaven and hell. This gives them a balance so that they have the free choice to look upward to God or downward to hell. If they look upward to God, they acknowledge that all wisdom comes from Him, and in their sprits, they are actually in Heaven among angels TCR 69

We are taught that the angels said, “Let the interchange in our discussion be by questions and answers, because although a perception of something does indeed flow in when gained solely from listening, still it does not remain unless the listener also thinks about it for himself and asks questions regarding it.” CL 183

___(Confirmand Name)_________,The life of all in Heaven is founded on the acknowledgement and confession of one God and the Wisdom of the Angels is, that he is the Lord who is at once God and Man. The LORD’S teachings for a new church involves our willingness to be led by HIM and growing in our understanding of truth and our desire to walk in Love upon this path of re-generation and Wisdom.

Affirmation of Faith – Join me now in reciting what our church teaches concerning our faith (see tab “Affirmation of Faith” under “Beliefs”)

“Into this faith are you now to be received and confirmed. Therefore, let us duly confirm this man/woman of God.”

Question: “While it is understood that the New Church is not confined to sect or denomination, and that it extends to and embraces all sects, all tribes, all religions and men and women not affiliated with any religious organization, and in that the Lord’s New Church is strewn throughout the globe and is universal, and all who live a good life according to GOD and the best of what each knows to be good and true. Do you upon your confession of faith, now desire to be received into the fullness and the fellowship of this church, the Lord’s new church?”
Answer: I do.

Question: Do you intend to be of useful service to the Lord and His people with your whole life, Heart, Mind and Soul?
Answer: I do with the help of the Lord

Question: Do you intend to Love your neighbor as your self?
Answer: I do with the help of the Lord.

Question: Do you intend to share in the joy and fellowship, and in the giving and receiving of this extended community?
Answer: I do with the help of the LORD

Speaking now to those present:

Question: Do you desire to bring ___Name___ into the fellowship and Joy, of the Lord’s New Church?

Answer: We do!

Question: Will you support _____ Name____ with your prayers and loving kindness?

Answer: We will.

ANOINTING:
I anoint your hands with oil and water, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwells the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forevermore. Amen.

[ CLASPING HANDS of The CONFIRMAND]
I Bless your hands for useful service to your Lord and also for creating beauty, and help and healing to your neighbor! Amen

THE BLESSING OF WELCOME: “I welcome you and receive you into this Church, even as the Lord Himself receives and welcomes you! Go forth in His name, whose meaning is in essence: Mercy, Love, Wisdom, Freedom, and Healing Wholeness thus sharing in the Blessings and the abundance of the Lord and His people!” AMEN