31 May Confirm Their Hope

Dear Westwood Church family,

“Do all in your power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.”

These words are spoken to the gathered community as a part of the baptism liturgy in our United Methodist Church. Last Sunday, they were spoken in The Loft, as Dr. Carter welcomed our Confirmation class into membership in our church.

These words place a big, beautiful expectation on us all. What a powerful and wonderful responsibility–to be a community that increases the faith of its members, that confirms the hope we claim, and that practices love in a way that makes us more perfectly loving.

It was a great joy to get to celebrate Confirmation this past Sunday; our congregation is blessed by the 11 young people who are professing their faith in Confirmation this year, and by their mentors and families who shared in the meaningful work of helping raise them in our community. As is so often the case with our rituals, I found the weighty words of the Confirmation liturgy an inspiring reminder of important things:

We are changed by the people who are a part of our community. Each person who participates in the life of our congregation brings unique gifts, perspectives, and embodiment of the divine image.

We are richer for the diversity we include. While it may not get easier when we include more people, and people whose stories and lives are different from our own, it does get more wonderful.

We are called to practice the faith that we claim. Each of us has a part to play, as we live lives that confirm the righteousness of bold hope, that increase and liberate the faith of others, that are changed–made more perfect–by love.

May it be so!

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly