Confirmation Banquet at Good Shepherd

Last night (Sunday, 4 May), the second year confirmation class of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, along with their parents and teachers, enjoyed a delightful dinner to celebrate their upcoming participation in the Rite of Confirmation on 18 May 2008. The event was hosted, per the tradition at GSLC, by the first year confirmands and their parents. (Bravo! Well done!)

In accordance with the custom, we invited a member of the congregation to address the confirmands on matters of faith and life. This year, Mr. Ed Bochtler, who recently returned from a tour in Iraq, spoke to the youth about listening to the Holy Spirit's leading and how His decisions are better than they may even seem. His talk was organized biographically, with points of emphasis including his marriage to Beth, the twists and turns surrounding their first deployment to Germany, and his recent return to active duty and service in Iraq.

After Mr. Bochtler's presentation, Mr. Don Kidwell represented the elders and distributed their gift to the confirmations - a Life Applications Study Bible. After asking the first year students to distribute the Bibles, Mr. Kidwell urged the confirmands to open them up, highlight their confirmation verse, and then write the names of their confirmation teachers and small group leaders in the front of the book. (Several of the confirmands asked me to write a short note and sign inside the front flap of their book afterwards, which I was happy to do.)

Throughout, I was privileged to serve as the "guy with the mic" and Pastor Flammann opened and closed our event with prayer.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to take my camera and take pictures. Several of the confirmands' parents brought cameras, though; so I'll try to get ahold of a picture or two to include in this posting soon.