Confirmation 2025
Over the course of twenty weeks and literally thousands of combined hours, 50 confirmands and eight adult cohort leaders dug into deep conversations about life and faith. All the way back in September, our wonderful 6th graders began their journey through the Confirmation program here at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth.
Our confirmands have had conversations about the beginnings of the Methodist movement and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, why we pray and how it shapes our relationship with God, the sacraments of baptism and communion, the role that money & stewardship plays in the life of the church, the importance of worship and fellowship have in the life of Christian community, all six categories of Healthy Plate Discipleship and the seven Vows of Confirmation. In addition, they participated in worship alongside three communities here in downtown Fort Worth, celebrated 150 years of ministry with everyone here First United Methodist Church, worked alongside the First Street Methodist Mission and gave away money to organizations they care about. They have laughed, played, stretched, learned and grown so much, and we are unbelievably proud of them.
That is a lot to cover in just a few months, and these 6th graders have been faithful and engaged every step along the way, and this Sunday, they will stand up in front of their friends, their families, their community and God and answer a very important question for themselves that has guided their whole Confirmation experience: “Is this the life you want?”
Well, not exactly that specific question – they will be asked to affirm the seven vows of confirmation and membership that they have spent our two retreats unpacking:
- Will you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of the world and repent of your sin?
- Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
- Do you confess Jesus Christ as savior, put your whole trust in His grace, and promise to serve Him as your LORD?
- Will you remain faithful members of Christ’s holy church and serve as God’s representatives in the world?
- Will you be loyal to Christ through the United Methodist Church and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?
- Will you faithfully participate in the ministry of the church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?
- Do you receive and profess the Christian faith as contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?
Those are BIG questions. Every single one of them is important, and we believe that it is important that they really understand what it is they’re saying yes to. So, our 6th graders tackled each one of these vows, putting it in their own words, talking about it as a group, and then, after our worship together during Winter Confirmation Retreat, took some time to reflect and pray and decide what their answer would be.
These vows are not something you simply say yes to once, and then you’ve done it and you’re done – they’re questions that each one of us are constantly called to answer. If you have chosen to be part of this community, if you’re choosing to be part of life here, will you resist evil, injustice and oppression in the world around you? Will you put your whole trust in Jesus, in the good work put before us as the church? Will you continue to participate in the life of the Christian community by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, your witness?
Pursuit of these vows, of this type of life, isn’t something that ends, it is a lifelong adventure. Confirmation Sunday is not the end of our 6th graders’ journeys, it is only a new beginning. They have gotten to spend these Sundays going through this work together. Our confirmands have lived life together and had an opportunity to experience just a taste of what this type of life has to offer – and now they get to decide if they want to keep pursuing it, keep showing up for each other and for this place, to keep saying yes to this life together.
We are incredibly proud of these students, and we are so excited to get to continue this journey of life and faith alongside them. We hope that you will join us for the Service of Confirmation on February 2nd during the 11:00am Traditional Worship service as we celebrate them and welcome them into full membership in this community.
Much love,
Matt Britt
Director of Youth Ministries
