Forty people were confirmed at Winchester Cathedral last weekend in front of family, friends and supporting clergy from their local churches. Find all the photos from the service on our Flickr page.
It was the first confirmation service for Bishop Rhiannon who led proceedings along with Bishop Philip. In her sermon she said, “These 40 people are about to announce to a watching world that they turn to Christ and submit to Christ as Lord. To hear them publicly say yes to Jesus, to affirm their faith in Jesus Christ that makes my heart sing. It’s courageous and inspiring and hopefully contagious too. Saying yes to Jesus is the best decision I ever made. I remember those promises myself. They aren’t just for making today but to share and keep for the long haul.”
Four of the confirmation candidates were also baptised, with the congregation making promises to support them in their faith journey. Each candidate was then presented to the Bishops in turn to be confirmed and received into the communion of the Church of England. The candidates and congregation later shared communion together. The service included music from the Winchester Cathedral girls’ choir, the gospel reading, hymns and ended with the presentation of a lighted candle and the blessing.
The service follows several weeks of confirmation preparation with a church leader where the candidates have an opportunity to explore more about the Christian faith, details of the confirmation service and the promises they are about to make.
Here are some of the stories of those who took the next step on their journey with Christ.
William Harwood is a serving soldier in the Adjutant General Corps at Worthy Down. He said, “I guess I’ve always struggled with alcohol since I was young and back in the summer, I was drinking so much alcohol, nearly three litres of vodka in a week. I was a chronic alcoholic with elements of depression too and I finally broke down and said to God that I surrendered and I needed help. From that day, I stopped drinking, changed my routines and let God into my life. I felt coming here, getting baptised and confirmed was a way of me giving thanks on this journey which of course doesn’t stop after tonight. It carries on and every day is hard, but when you have God on your side, it helps a lot.”
Susan Garrett worships at St Mary’s Chapel in Kings Worthy. She lost her husband in April and has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. “My husband was confirmed and I thought it would be a nice thing that I could do too but never thought I’d do it. Then I spoke to Reverend Dave Mapes and he helped me see things in a different light and my faith has grown so much stronger. I kept questioning why Jesus was sent to the cross, but he told me about the bigger picture and it was marvellous and I understood. I don’t think I would have got through the dark days if I hadn’t had the church by my side and to have my confirmation now means I can leave this world and know that I’ve done something right and my faith will go with me.”
Anthony Smith worships at the Cathedral. He married his husband in April this year and retired as an academic at University College London in August. “There have been lots of changes in my life. I’ve recently retired and I’ve recently married and I’ve recently moved to Winchester. Those three things came together and I felt like I wanted to be confirmed and I wanted to be confirmed here in Winchester Cathedral and for it to be an affirmation of my faith. We talked about my faith in the confirmation classes with Canon Tess and I think how I put it is that there’s the sense that someone is always by your side and helping you think through things, so that sense of never being alone.”
Husband and wife Ross and Charlotte Darter were getting confirmed together. They married three years ago and Ross is an ordinand and training to become a vicar. They worship at St Paul’s Church in Winchester.
They said, “It’s a beautiful opportunity to be confirmed together and taking our next step on our journey with God, and our family has come to support us as well. Our faith has been the defining trait of our marriage. We always say that a rope made of three cords is much harder to break. So you’re one, two and three with God. Faith is not just on a Sunday, it’s not when you’re at church, it’s every second of every day. In every moment, God is with you and you’re being guided. Confirmation is something you choose as an adult to do; you pray about it for a long time and it’s very much a decision that we made together. We took our wedding vows with God and we thought this was another step we could also do together with God. We feel very blessed.”
Some people came in groups to be confirmed including nine young people from All Saints Church in Odiham and the Sear family who attend St Denys Church in Southampton. Guy Sear said his promises alongside son Henry and daughters Ellen and Sally. They got baptised in 2022.
Henry said, “Today has been about affirming the relationship between me and Jesus and growing closer to him. It’s been special to be confirmed together as it creates another sense of family and love, really. It was a beautiful service. All the songs were lovely and standing there with everyone just felt a big sense of family.”
