Coming to faith
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
“The most important decision any person can ever make is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. It’s the best thing anyone can do.”
C.S. Lewis, author
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Becoming a Christian
Different people become Christians at different times in different ways. Some people never remember not believing in God, others had a startling moment of realization, for others it may have been a slow process of understanding.
There is no one way of knowing God. But one of the best ways is to go to church: that’s where the distance between the Divine and the Human is at its closest; that’s where you can meet other people on their journey to God.
If you were christened or baptized before, perhaps as a baby, you might want to consider getting confirmed. If you weren’t, then you might want to consider being both baptized and confirmed at the same time!
Confirmation
Confirmation is a special service in which you confirm the promises that were made when you were baptized. (If you were christened when you were a child, your parents and godparents made these promises on your behalf.) As a young person or adult, you may be ready to affirm these promises for yourself and publicly declare your faith and membership of the Church of England.
We tend to hold at least two confirmation services a year, where the Bishop comes and baptizes those who need to be baptized and confirms those who need to be confirmed. She lays her hands on your head and asks God’s Holy Spirit to give you the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of your life.
Before you are confirmed you will want to explore some of the big questions about God and faith and the church. We do these in small groups, usually held in the Cloister. If you’re interested in this, please get in touch with Fr Marcus Walker, the Rector, who will let you know when there’s another confirmation class on the horizon.
Here’s one of the big questions we all need to ask: who, or what, is God.