And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.

~1 Timothy 4:12 (MSG)

Claiming a Faith That Is Our Own

This Sunday, we celebrate something deeply meaningful in the life of our church: Confirmation. Five of our students will stand before the congregation and publicly claim their faith.

In the United Methodist Church, confirmation is not about having all the answers. It is not about reaching a certain level of understanding or checking a box. Instead, it is a moment in a longer journey of faith, a moment where students begin to take ownership of what they believe.

Over the past months, our confirmands have been doing important work, not just learning about faith, but exploring what they believe for themselves. In our time together, we’ve said that confirmation is about confirming, not conforming. It is not about simply repeating what someone else has told you to believe, but about asking honest questions, wrestling with big ideas, and discovering how God is at work in your own life. Each of these students has engaged that process with thoughtfulness, curiosity, and courage, reminding us that faith grows strongest when it is lived and claimed, not just inherited.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy, “And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.”

Our confirmands are not just the future of the church; they are part of the church right now. Their voices matter. Their questions matter. The way they are learning to live out their faith matters.

Confirmation is also a moment for all of us. Each time someone stands to profess their faith, we are invited to reflect on our own. We, too, can consider what we believe, how our faith has grown and changed, and how we continue to live it out in our daily lives.

This Sunday, we celebrate these five students. We give thanks for the ways God has been at work in them, and we commit ourselves to continue walking alongside them as a community of faith.

We do this because faith is not something we figure out once and for all. It is something we grow into, together.

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