Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla and I am sitting
down here with Rob and with Jen and we're going
to chat a little bit about this thing that we
do in the Anglican Church called confirmation
or reception and what that is and why it matters.
And actually, I think it's going to be a good
conversation. I think there's lots of cool things
to think about here. But Rob, to get us started,
what is confirmation and reception? Well, you're
actually forgetting there's three. There's confirmation,
reception, and reaffirmation. And so here's the
deal. There are certain kind of rites of passage
in the life of the church that... are led and
specifically led by a bishop. So I'm a priest
in the church. I can do things like baptism and
funerals and weddings and stuff like that. But
bishops have a role to... to do these three other
things. And so we can only do those three things
when the bishop comes to visit. And the bishop
is coming to visit on November 17th. So you're
asking, what are they? One, confirmation. Confirmation
is for people who've been baptized, usually as
infants or as young people. But they've come
to a point in their life where they would like
to kind of now stand up and make their own profession
of faith as someone who's grown up a bit and
someone who can kind of grasp these truths for
themselves. So it's kind of like you're, A grown
up way of saying yes to God, whereas maybe your
parents said yes to God for you when you're baptized
as a little one. So that's kind of maybe that's
I think that's what confirmation is. And actually,
I wrote down a few things. When the bishop lays
his hands on your head during confirmation, this
is what he says. He says, strengthen, O Lord,
your servant with your Holy Spirit. empower them
for your service and sustain them all the days
of their life. Okay. Pretty powerful. Yeah. Holy
spirit stuff. Yeah. Big stuff. Yeah. Reception,
I think probably this is the one that the fewest
people would probably be interested in, but reception
is when you've already been confirmed in some
other tradition, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, United.
What other churches do confirmations? Do Baptists
do confirmations? They don't, but if someone
was baptized as an adult, like if they were 20
-something when they got baptized, then would
they be confirmed or would they be received?
Reaffirmation, maybe? I don't know. That's a
really good question. I think if you were from
a tradition, you were baptized as an adult, the
bishop would probably lay his hands on your head.
And it might be some kind of an amalgam. between
the two. To say like, now I'm choosing the Anglican
church as my sort of church home. Yes. And I've
also never been confirmed. So this is still a
legit confirmation. I'm going to get a confirmation
certificate and all that jazz. So yeah, I would
say that kind of two things would happen. But
the point is, if you have already been confirmed
in another tradition, but you're like, you know,
I want to make my spiritual home in the Anglican
church now, then reception is something the bishop
will do. And I think actually when he receives
someone, he doesn't lay hands on their head.
He actually just kind of. gives them like a kind
of like a handshake of some sort. And he says
this, we recognize you as a member of the one
Holy Catholic and apostolic church. And we receive
you into the fellowship of the Anglican communion.
Okay. Okay. So. The third one that you mentioned,
this is the one actually I'm more excited about
lately. And I think it's partly because I think
this is where maybe Jen's at these days. And
that's reaffirmation. So reaffirmation, let's
say you've been baptized. Let's say you've been
confirmed. But yet something has changed in your
life. God has done something new in your life.
There's a new moment, a new movement. You've,
I don't know, you just, maybe you are away from
church and now you're coming back to church or
you're growing. Something's happened and you
want to, you're like, God, I want to mark this
moment in my life by reaffirming my commitment
to you and to this church. That is what a reaffirmation
is all about. And that might apply actually to
most of the people out there because most of
them have already been baptized and maybe many
of them have been confirmed. So, but reaffirmation
is, hey, at any moment. That God is like stirring
something up in you and say, then let's reaffirm
all that stuff. And when that happens, the bishop
just says, may the Holy Spirit who has begun
a good work in you direct and uphold you in the
service of Christ and his kingdom. Okay. There
you go. Very cool. So where. did these practices
come from? Like, the Anglican Church has a long
history, so these aren't things that we just
made up yesterday. But, yeah, like, what's the
sort of history, the meaning behind them? You
know, I'm not a huge history major, but one thing
I do think is true is that at one point in the
life of the Church, all these things happen together
at once. So if you were going to join the church
and be baptized and then it would all look, it
would all happen at the same time. You would,
you would be baptized and the bishop would lay
his hands on you and you know, you would make
these vows and you would make these commitments
and the church, like it was almost like it was
all one big event. It wasn't broken up like this
before. Sure. But then I think what happened
was, um, We only have three bishops. So bishops
can't be around all the time to do all this stuff
as it pops up in the life of the church. So then
clergy, priests, began to be able to do baptisms,
right? So now we can do baptisms. So anytime
somebody wants to get baptized, boom, boom, boom,
we do it here, just like we baptized Alexis just
last week, right? Um, but that means that now
we've kind of separated these things. So baptism
happens with the priest, but confirmation remained
something that only the bishop could do. So,
so yeah, I think, but I, I just want to read
one piece of scripture and I just want to, cause
I dug this up. So in the book of Acts, this is
very interesting book of Acts. The apostles saw
something happening. They saw that in Samaria,
a lot of people were coming to believe in Jesus.
Right. And they had heard the word of God and
they wanted to follow Jesus. And this was fantastic.
But one thing they said was they hadn't yet.
receive the Holy Spirit. So, for some reason,
they were saying, look, there's this group of
people in Samaria, they want to follow Jesus,
they love Jesus, but there's this, the Holy Spirit
hasn't yet kind of come upon them in a powerful
way. So, what the apostles do is they go up to
Samaria, and then it tells us that then Peter
and John laid their hands on them, and they received
the Holy Spirit. And so I think there is a biblical
idea that the laying on of hands is connected
to the receiving of the Holy Spirit. They had
heard the word. They had already heard that.
They knew how to pray. They had maybe even started
a church. But it wasn't until one of these apostles
came up and laid hands on that the spirit moved.
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, very cool. Yeah. So. Jen, you're
sort of here because you're interested in this
process and you've been on a little bit of a
faith journey with your family. So maybe can
you just tell us a little bit about what that
journey has looked like for you so far? Yeah,
thank you for the invitation to come and share.
And yeah, Rob alluded that last week, my daughter,
Alexis, who's nine, she'll be 10 the end of this
year, chose to be baptized and actually just
asked me. well when do i get confirmed so this
was a really good opportunity to learn a little
bit because yeah here's this this scenario but
wow what an inspiration she's been and her story
connects to my story i guess my story goes a
little further back though because um i was baptized
as a baby in the united church and then i was
confirmed and i i remember so is rob speaking
about the words sustain you for all the days
of your life. It almost came back with a, like
an embodied feeling of when the hands were laid
on me and this, this piece, I kind of remember
the feeling of like being at the, the eye at
the center of a storm, a peaceful experience
when I was confirmed. And yet then shortly thereafter,
that kind of paused my journey. My family pulled
away from the church. I was now a teenager. And
Saturday nights were really exciting and there
was no getting up early Sunday mornings for many
years. And I was committed to my studies and
life just kept going. And then I was in Asia
and being exposed to other faiths and seeking.
And enter life back in Canada and as a parent
in the community here in Streetsville. And Camp
Trinity spoke to our family. There were lots
of kids from my children's school. that just
raved about Camp Trinity. And so we decided to
enroll our children. I want to say three or four
summers ago. I've kind of lost track of the time.
And Alexis came home and she said, Mom, Dad,
there's a family day. We're going to Trinity.
And so as a family, it was a first that we stepped
through the doors into Trinity and were received
where. it felt similar to that embodied experience
back in the past. But yet Alexis led our family
very much through her requests towards wanting
to eventually be baptized. And through that process,
it made me reflect on my own journey and where
we as a family were at, where I was at, and we
were at such very different places. And so...
I decided then to enroll in Alpha and attend
church. And I remember originally speaking to
Rob, and he invited us to consider an earlier
baptism. And I almost said, I remember saying
to Rob, well, I'll go through Alpha. We'll have
Alexis go through and explore Camp Trinity again
and just take this at pace. Yeah, take it slow,
one step at a time. And that gave us a chance
as a family to... to explore and experience,
and just not rush into this, but really just
steward her and explore for us. And so we came
upon then Alexis being baptized, and I remember
meeting with Rob and saying to him, this is about
her, it's her day, but there's something here,
Rob, for me too. In this point in life, and it
is, I'm mid -age, I'm transforming, I'm changing
careers. You talk about big moments, my father
passed, you know, lots of things that have just
kind of cracked open where I'm at to recenter
on my faith and choose faith over fear in many
ways. And so this is where Rob said, well, there's
an opportunity coming up. And that was such a
gift to hear that I could look at being received
and reaffirmed. Received first because now my
daughter has joined the Anglican faith, and I
would like to join the same family and be in
the same family as her. And second, reaffirmed
because it's at a point in time, as Rob said,
where I'm ready. I'm ready to rededicate. I reread
what discipleship meant. Especially here at Trinity,
I remember receiving kind of a certificate that
says, what does it mean to you? And the words,
I've kind of kept them very alive in terms of,
do I commit to practice? Do I commit to my own
spirituality and my own? Right. And I keep coming
back to, yes, I do. So now's the time. Yeah.
And so I'm really grateful. And it's almost,
well, I will say divine timing that here was
my daughter being baptized in September. And
then the opportunity, which I hear is quite a
rarity. We don't have many. Yeah. They come to,
to offer these experiences. So, um, yeah, I'm
looking forward, I believe November 17th is the
day to be received and reaffirmed. Yeah. Yeah.
No, that's so cool. Like I think about like,
there's a lot of examples in scripture of like
the importance that Jesus places on children.
Um, and, and there's even this verse in Isaiah
that talks about, you know, in the future, a
little child will lead them, you know? And so
there's, there's that very real sense in your
life right now that, that a child is, is leading
you back to your faith, leading you back to Christ.
And that's, that's. And inviting my husband and
my son and our in -laws and others around her
and her neighborhood friend who came and witnessed
her. But she's just is leading. And I can't I'm
so inspired by. Yeah. By her path. Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you for naming that. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's
awesome. So what do you think makes this particular
moment the right moment for you to to step into
this next? Well, as I was sharing, I think the
opportunity of having this at the time when Alexis
was coming on this journey, being able to then
also be received and join her and have her baptism
be her celebration, but this be my receiving
and reaffirmation. So I think timing's everything
as to why now. But a little bit more personal
would be I'm in a lot of transitions in my life.
Choosing faith, choosing faith over fear as I
walk my path and hold myself. And I think now
is the particular time where receiving and coming
back to my faith and giving and receiving into
community, into my relationship with Jesus, my
relationship with God, my relationship with my
family. It's just all so important. And one thing
I will say is when we came after, The Camp Trinity
experience, one of the sermons that Rob delivered
was on a study, a longitudinal study on human
development out of Harvard University. Robert,
Robert, anyway, the whole premise of the book,
he was speaking and I said over to my husband,
I just read this book. I just read about this
book. And the bottom line, the basis of the book,
after 80 years of studying human development
and. What made people thrive and hunt in their
lives was relationships. Right. And so here I
was at a place looking for my relationship to
Jesus, my relationship to God, my relationships,
my family, my relationships and career, so on
and so forth, and really taking hold. Been my
ancestral lineages. We're exploring right now
and having relationships in other ways. Yeah.
Thank you. You know, as we're talking, I'm struck
by the fact that it's at moments like this in.
the life of our church that we, we actually start
talking about our denomination, right? Like most
Sundays you would come to Trinity. You would
never hear the word Anglican, right? You would,
there would be, I mean, I think Trinity is probably
part of the Anglican family and, and for sure.
But it's, it's just, it's only when. we talk
about bishops and confirmation and stuff like
that, that we have to start talking about Anglican
identity. Right. Because, and so I actually kind
of curious about that with you, Jen, like, like,
cause on the one hand you started the journey
with like alpha and alpha isn't about being an
Anglican. It's about following Jesus. And actually
that's what Trinity is so much about too. Like
we don't wave our Anglican denominational flag
very hard here at all. So I'm just curious, like
where is there a real strong pull to the to the
Anglican style or or is it really just about
I want to mark this moment and this is a way
to do it? I don't know. That's such a good question,
Robin. I have so many different places coming
up where I could speak to. So maybe I'll just
name a few. And first and foremost, I think Trinity.
Trinity as a church, as a congregation, was an
experience that my children, my family had. So
I start with this community, this congregation
specifically. But I mentioned we'd been on some
pilgrimages. I was speaking with Kyla around
my own ancestral lines, and my husband and father
are on a little bit of a pilgrimage right now
with their grandmother. And both sides have come
where we actually have started to unravel and
learn. a lot about our lineages that we didn't
know. We both come from the Church of England,
all of our ancestors do, on both sides. And so
that felt right as well, as we're looking at
Alexis in terms of receiving from her ancestral
lineages. And so much so that even on my family's
side, on my maternal lineage side, my mother
pulled out her great -grandmother's Bible 1880,
I want to say, and gifted that to Alexis last
weekend. And on the front of the Bible was the
British International Society. And as the story
goes, it's quite a sad story. But that woman,
my great -great -grandmother, Alexis's great
-great -great -grandmother, died after giving
childbirth. But in that Bible was a lock of her
hair and also a little note about seeding her
lambs. And so here's this woman who had the will
to. to pay forward her spiritual path. And so
here's Alexis now. Yeah. After a lot of receiving
a piece of that and a lot of, you know, time
removed coming back to Anglican. So it has, so
this, this moment has line. It has, you've found
some connections historically with this, this
church. It's not how it started, but that's just
kind of this happy, you know, God coincidence
thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's really interesting
to hear. Like, cause I think about, like my own
journey into some form of Anglicanism anyway,
right? Because I grew up in Baptist churches.
My family just is Baptist. There's a history
of that. And so one of the things that that has
been instilled in me is actually a value. like
that I value the local church really highly.
And so when I was looking for a church in Mississauga,
I wasn't looking for a church based on any denomination.
I was looking for a local church where I felt
like I could fit. And Trinity became that. But
I think the longer that I've been here and the
more I've sort of reflected on Anglicanism, the
more I can see like that I really value. liturgical
systems that I value a church year that even
though Trinity doesn't follow it perfectly like
it exists we do have a church calendar a set
of seasons there are particular services that
just instill in me this rhythm and also yeah
just a sense of Not everything about being connected
to a history and to an ancient path is always
good, but I think that there are good things
about it. I think having a system of bishops
and priests who all learn together and hold each
other accountable and lean into the way of Jesus
together, I think, is valuable. There's one other
offering I'll give that came up. This also had
me look into, well, what is the United Church?
That's where I was baptized. That's where I was
confirmed. It's the history. It's a Canadian
story. It's a Canadian -born church. So the history
there is 100 years old. 1925, I believe, was
the... um start of the united church in canada
as far as i know sure yeah but if we think of
the globalized world and anglicanism across the
span of yeah the world it's a really large global
community as well so as we join within trinity
which speaks to our family and our experience
here and then you expand out there's a sense
of connectedness yeah And in a larger sense,
too, that really that's appealing to you. That's
appealing to to me, too. Yeah. Alexis doesn't
see that lens, but I do. Yeah. And, you know,
her grandmother was even mentioning last week
that she was considering getting her dual citizenship
back in the UK. OK. In Britain. So in that case.
It just, it meant. Yeah, there's that global
connection. Yeah, for sure. So, Jen, as you are
preparing for this next step, what are you hoping
for as you take this step into reaffirmation?
Well, I come back to this, you know, what am
I hoping for? I think I'm hoping for maybe the.
The word sustain, when I was confirmed, it was
sustained on the days of my life. But as I look
to be reaffirmed and I understand, receive the
hands and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit through
the transmission, that's where I believe faith
will prevail. Sure. If you hold faith and fear
as this polarity, we walk within choosing faith
in an embodied way that's witnessed, that's held
not just something that's... internal or personal
which probably would have been more less my last
white that's a a hope would probably be to have
a similar embodied experience that i had when
i was confirmed yeah yeah because that has sustained
me in many ways yeah yeah and sustained me all
the days of my life is yeah there's something
real that happens whether it's in these big sort
of public moments or even just sometimes in quieter
moments like when you have that visceral experience
of God, it does become a nourishing, sustaining
thing that when I'm then later in those moments
of like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't
know what I'm feeling. I can go back and be like,
no, I know God is real because I felt God then.
Maybe I don't feel God today, but I felt God
then. Yeah. And it does. It becomes a sustaining
moment for sure. Yeah. So as you're thinking
about this, obviously we're really excited that
you are stepping into reaffirmation and we're
hopeful that there will be other folks who will
do that as well. So if there's other folks who
are thinking about this, who are thinking, I
don't know, maybe confirmation, maybe reception
or reaffirmation, like what would be your advice
or your wisdom to them? Well, one piece to say
is that we heard that these opportunities don't
necessarily come available to us locally in our
own community here at Trinity very often. So
if you're sensing that these experiences may
be possible for you, now's a good time because
it's available and Rob's created the opportunity
for us to receive these gifts now. I would say
on a more personal level, is to consider where
the dedication, the discipleship that you're
at, where you're at in your own journey, and
what receiving the Holy Spirit could do for you
and to you and through you and as you and by
you as you continue having the... Yeah, the impact
through relationships in your lives. I would
say that's what comes up when asked, maybe a
little wordy. No, no, no, no, that's great. Yeah,
it's really, it's a very personal moment that
happens in a very public setting. So that there's
a bit of attention there sometimes, I think.
But it is, yeah, something that I think Christ
could be calling lots of folks to in some moment,
just to take another step. Yeah, I mean, those
are the moments we remember in life, right? Moments
where we stood up, where we did something that
maybe pushed us out of our comfort zone a little
bit, to be in front of all these people, to make
a statement of faith, to declare something. Like,
yeah, that's going to stick with you for a long
time and maybe forever. It'll be one of those
memories that you always carry with you about
a turning point in your own faith. Yeah. It's,
it's, it's worth thinking long and hard. Like,
Hey, is this an opportunity for me to have that
moment? Yeah. Right. Yeah, totally. And so Rob,
if someone is thinking that maybe this is their
moment, they want to maybe talk more about it
or they're, they're ready to say, let's do this.
What should they do next? Yeah. Well, I think.
Maybe that first step is just discernment to
do some of the work that Jen has been doing just
to think, yeah, is God calling me to this step
right now? And to prayerfully think about that.
I think I want to say right with that again,
that there is certainly no pressure and no expectation
that you. that anyone participate in this. Uh,
and it's not like by participating in it, somehow
you enter an inner circle here at the church
and now you're, you're more included or you belong
more or something like that. Like that's not
what it's about. Trinity. We are a group of ordinary
people just learning to follow Jesus in our own
day. Full stop. That's who we are. Um, so, so
yes, this decision to, to do something that's
a bit more formal and a bit more connected to
our Anglican identity. Yeah. Pray about that.
Think about that is yeah. Um, So certainly I
would want to let me know that that's something
that you're thinking about. And there's a number
of ways they can do that. They can actually go
to our events page and they can just click on
the link that says confirmation, reception, reaffirmation.
You can choose which one you're interested in.
We'll follow up with you. And then following
that, there will be some form of preparation
that is going to be offered for each of these
things. We haven't kind of got that all laid
out just yet. I know some churches would have
like months of catechesis before confirmation.
That's not going to be what it's going to look
like at least this time around. But we do want
to make sure that people have a chance to think
about what's going to happen, to get a little
bit of... Yeah, just a little bit of training
and teaching so that the moment can be all that
it can be. Sure. Then, yeah, I would circle November
19th on your calendar. Continue to participate
in the life of this church because that's how
we continue to grow. Yeah, I think it's as simple
as that. It's as easy as that. Yeah. Okay. Great.
Thank you so much. Enjoying me. Yeah. Yes, please.
I welcome all to Jordan. Yeah. And I should say,
too, like I'm there is somehow a bit of a thinking
that, oh, confirmation is for kids who when they're
turning 12 or 13, like it's like this thing that
happens to that age group at that time. Right.
And that certainly is not the case right there.
Like, I'm so glad, actually, that Jen is stepping
forward in this moment because this is for everyone.
It's an opportunity for everyone, depending on
where they're at. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well,
thank you both so much. This has been a really
helpful conversation to sort of clarify some
things about what it is that we're talking about
here, but then also a really hopeful conversation,
I think, to sort of see what is God doing in
the life of this church? What is God doing in
your life, Jen? Yeah, and how we all get to...
participate in that as a church family and as
individuals who are also being called by Christ.
Yeah. So thank you for tuning in to this week's
episode of Trinity Talks, and we will see you
next week.