It was an immensely joyful occasion on Easter Sunday morning as five were confirmed by Bishop Saju during a celebratory service with Holy Communion at St Paul’s Church in Woodhouse Eaves.
Mark, Denis, Rachel, Verity and Ana, were supported by their church family, friends and relatives, as they took the next step on their faith journeys and made their commitment to God.
Please continue to pray for all those who have recently been confirmed in the diocese and pray for the whole church of God throughout the world that we may be faithful to our calling.
Read Mark, Denis, Rachel, Verity and Ana's faith stories and call to confirmation
MARK
"The reason I decided to be confirmed is because I feel it will make a stronger connection between me and God. I feel that God puts me on a good path and when I fall away from that path, He puts me back on it. Right now, I’m on a wooden wobbly bridge and when I get confirmed I’ll have a strong stone bridge and when I am confirmed on Easter Sunday and receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, I know that it will get even more stronger."
DENIS
"As far as I can remember, at the age of 4, my family moved to Leicester where my father ran a grocery shop. At that time my brother, Alan, joined Sunday school at the Trinity Methodist Church, which was near the shop. My brother started taking me to Sunday school. When I was 15, I moved north to attend Wray Castle Merchant Navy College, which had its own church. A few years later my father passed away which devastated me and made me lose faith. Years later, having lost my mum and brother and endured a bad marriage, I found myself lost and in a dark place. My friend Stephen invited me to come with him one Sunday morning to St Paul’s Church, Woodhouse Eaves, and I was amazed how lovely and welcoming everybody was to me which restored a lot of my faith.
I am loving every minute I am in the Lord’s House. And though I struggle with health issues I feel so blessed to be able to be there to share Holy Communion every Sunday."
RACHEL
"Being confirmed, to me, is being welcomed back into the Lords arms, finding peace and being one with God, starting again after all that I have been through. Coming to church gives me hope and positivity and has helped me to see the world differently and given me strength to start again, following the path of the Lord and new Beginnings. The church family at St Paul’s have been amazing and always welcoming, no one to judge, and it's a church where everyone is welcome. Being baptised gave me a sign of hope, that I am being welcomed to the Lord, and finding him again. When times are hard, I know the Lord is watching and is there to show me the right direction, so being confirmed will bring me closer to him. I also feel at peace and home when at church on Sundays, and I always leave full of hope."
VERITY
"I would like to be confirmed because I believe this is the right time and place in my relationship with God. He has made think in ways I could never have imagined that has changed my life forever for the good. I just can't imagine my life without God."
ANA
"I have chosen this time to be confirmed because I believe that not only was my next step in church, but it was a step towards following God’s footsteps and getting closer to him.
I have had times in my life where I was losing my faith and questioning it but then every time I felt like I was struggling and needed a shoulder, God was always there for me in more ways than one, showing me that I am loved and that he will always be there. I have gone to God in different stages of my life, but I believe it’s when I needed him the most that I felt my connection to him the strongest. I believe that being confirmed will help me lead my life the way God has planned for me as well as being on the right road towards showing my love and faith to him."