Dear Westwood Family,

I love getting ready for Confirmation Sunday, particularly the occasion to have more personal conversations with the students in our program. It reminds me of my own memories of confirmation – and of how affirming and empowering it felt to me as an 8th grader to feel like I was taken seriously as a part of the church community.

Our baptism vows are big promises. We affirm, for example, that we’ll resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. In being confirmed, our young people take on these promises. They claim their own place in the radical, beautiful work of church, knowing that they have something to offer in this ministry we share. I am so deeply grateful that they have been and will be a part of our church community.

God knows that there’s a lot of work to be done. Every day, we’re confronted by more of that “evil, injustice, and oppression.” Too often, it’s voices claiming to be Christian that offer the loudest judgment or most violent dehumanization of others. Still, this Confirmation Sunday, we’re invited to consider how we intend to live into these bold promises that we hold at the heart of our Christian faith.

During our final Confirmation class session, we asked each other some big questions: what’s important about church? What would you like to change about church? What gifts or abilities do you have, and how can you use them in the church? What is one way you want to help change the world? (How could the church help?)

As we prepare to receive some new members into our faith community, I invite you to ask yourself these questions, too. The call of the Gospel – and the courage of our young people – invite us all to take ourselves seriously enough to believe that we have a part to play in the life of our church, together.

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly