IN OUR CONGREGATIONS
O
Confirmation in the time of COVID
n Palm Sunday, March 28, a most unusual confirmation service was held at New Philadelphia Moravian Church. In the culmination of a journey that began almost two years ago, six young people, through confirmation and baptism, became members of New Philadelphia and two young people were confirmed as members of Fries Memorial Moravian, all in a service that was officiated by the interim pastor of Unity Moravian. As with so many things in these unusual times, this unique service came about, at least in part, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The class began in the Fall of 2019. It was already a bit different than most confirmation classes in that it consisted of young people from two different congregations. Since Fries Memorial has been without a full-time called pastor for a number of years, there had not been the opportunity for their young people to experience confirmation. With Rev. Joe Moore having previously served as pastor of Fries Memorial and
was serving at New Philadelphia, it made sense to invite the youth from Fries to join with the confirmation class that was just beginning at New Philadelphia. This invitation was made with the clear understanding that when the time for confirmation arrived, the young people from Fries Memorial would be confirmed as members of Fries Memorial, and the young people from New Philadelphia would be confirmed as members of New Philadelphia. In the fall of 2019, the class began to meet. Together they learned the meaning of confirmation, the connection between baptism and confirmation, and the basics of Christian faith as lived in the Moravian Church. They discussed the essentials of how God creates, redeems and sustains, and how we are called to respond with faith, love and hope. The class learned the history of the Moravian Church-from Hus to Comenius to Zinzendorf; from Moravia to Germany to America. They shared the joys and challenges (Continued on next page)
Cora Hawfield receives a blessing from the Rev. Joe Moore during confirmation.
May 2021
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