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Yvonne Medley/umconnection
More than 1,600 confirmands from across the Baltimore-Washington Conference gathered at the Baltimore Convention Center to celebrate their confirmation into the United Methodist Church and share in Holy Communion on their spiritual walk with Christ. | Confirmands celebrate new style of living BY YVONNE MEDLEY
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT As a gift to welcome them into the United Methodist Church, more than 1,600 confirmands were presented with a day of celebration and insight. The gift was presented to the young people by Bishop Felton Edwin May and the Baltimore-Washington Conference Council on Youth Ministries, which hosted the Confirmation 2002 Celebration on March 2 at the Baltimore Convention Center. We are so happy that you have decided to give your lives to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, said Bishop May as he reminded the confirmands that they now had a new attitude in their faith and as United Methodists. One of the highlights of the celebration was a speec h by the Rev. Duffy Robbins, a youth director from Philadelphia. Robbins warned the youth about the double-mindedness of wanting to commit to God while still clinging to worldly obstacles. Being confirmed doesnt mean that life wont get tough, it means that they wont go it alone, Robbins said. When you think about this walk with Jesus, when you think about what God is doing in your life, I want you to think of this word single-mindedness because thats the key. Thats the key to make this celebration more than just an event, to actually make it a style of life, Robbins said. The Choir Boyz provided praise and worship music throughout the afternoon and district superintendents, assisted by clergy and young volunteers, served Holy Communion. Youth leaders were taken aside by Tim Warner, associate council director for community and economic development, to learn about the conferences summer saving stations. We introduced them to a saving station ministry that happened in Baltimore last summer, to let them know how they and their youth groups can participate in that effort this summer, both in Washington, D.C., and in Baltimore City, Warner said. The Conference Council on Youth Ministries officers, Kia Reid, Caitlin Dorer and Lauren Manning, moved the celebration along with videos and a skit. The audience cheered when they asked Bishop May to play the role of Jesus in a skit about walking with Jesus. Chris Cradle, 14, from Beechfield UMC, Baltimore, volunteered to wear a blindfold and venture pass the obstacles on a path. He was cast as a young man walking without Jesus until Bishop May, in his pivotal role, demonstrated how Jesus could protect his journey. Prior to this worship celebration, during the morning, tours were offered to the confirmation candidates at 10 United Methodist historic sites and churches throughout the city. The young people had an opportunity to learn of their United Methodist heritage by a visit to the Board of Child Care, a stop at Mt. Vernon Place UMC and seeing at firsthand the Susanna Wesley House, which serves single women and women with children who are transitioning from homelessness to independence. Also on the tour were Lovely Lane UMC, the mother church of American Methodism, and Sharp Street Memorial UMC, not only known as the mother of African-American Methodism, but also the birthplace of Morgan State University. |
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