Confirmation Services

Northern Advocate, 12 October 1949, Page 5

Confirmation Services

The Bishop of Auckland, (the Rt. Rev. W. J. Simpkbri visited Whangarei this week for the purpose of administering the sacrament of confirmation in the parish church. On Monday evening 18 adults were presented by the vicar (Archdeacon Johnston) at a service which was very well attended by members of the parish,. Last evening in a crowded church 115 boys and girls were confirmed by the Bishop. After explaining the intention of Jesus Christ that the gift of His Holy Spirit should be made possible for all men to receive, and showing that in confirmation, after the example of the Apostles, the Church was bringing to fulfilment this promise of Christ, the Bishop went on to show two results of confirmation in men’s lives. AVENUE OF HEROISM

"Rather than being just a gift for our own private salvation, the. Holy Spirit was given to us for the purpose of service..” he said. No greater avenue of heroism was open to boys and girls than that of Christian service. In this connection, the Bishop made an appeal to those being confirmed to consider whether or not God was calling them to serve in the sacred ministry of the Church. A further lesson of confirmation lay in the fact that it admitted the candidates to full membership of the Holy Catholic Church and so brought them into fellowship with the whole universal Church of God. This was illustrated by the fact that the prayer used in the service for gifts o f the spirit was the same as had been used in many languages wherever confirmation has been administered throughout the world down the centuries. HOME LIFE In addition to his address to the candidates, the bishop appealed to parents to leave nothing undone in their efforts to provide a proper spiritual background to home and family life. The bishop left today for Kaikohe. He will conduct further services of confirmation at Kaikohe, Rawene and Kaeo before returning to Auckland on Saturday.