Sunday is Confirmation Sunday and we’re excited for Ava, Evan, Ryan, Jack, and Elliot to become adult members of Colchester Federated Church.  Our Discipleship Class was progressing along as we normally do until the middle of March when everything changed.  We had to adapt, finishing our last few classes over Zoom.  One blessing of that technology was Victoria being able to participate from Florida after the Stevens family moved!  Though the adaptions continued.  Once we finished our classes, we had a Closing Retreat here at church instead of at Camp Wightman.  We’re having safe (and as socially distant as possible!) Baptisms in the Salmon River on Saturday.  Finally, the Confirmation Service on Sunday will be attended by our five youth and their families in-person and the rest of the congregation can celebrate the big day by watching via Facebook Live at 9 AM (or later on Facebook and our church website if you can’t tune in right then.)  

The picture above (taken while on the Closing Retreat at church) is one that will probably be seared in my memory.  Though this is the 8th Confirmation/Discipleship Class I’ve led in my ministry, this is the only one where masks needed to be worn while posing with the stoles that class members made while on retreat!  What strange times in which we are living.

I continue to be thankful for Nicole and her ability to partner with me as we think through all of the ways we can continue with our programs at CFC in these unprecedented times.  We’re thankful for Kurt and Sue who served as our Class Mentors this year and did a fabulous job walking beside these young people on their journeys of faith.  We’re thankful for all the Discipleship families who hung in there with us as we scrambled to move our program online and then figure out how to conclude our time together to keep some of our traditions and stay safe and healthy at the same time.  And most of all, we’re thankful for Ryan, Elliot, Evan, Jack, and Ava who handled the end of their Discipleship year with grace and their characteristic good humor.  Adaptions happen.  Traditions continue.  And we look forward to celebrating this milestone with this year’s Discipleship Class on Sunday.  Onward!

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

(This Week’s Thoughts 8.20.20)

Photo by Nicole Hosford.