At the end of November, on the feast of Christ the King, 15 candidates were confirmed at the Cathedral from parishes throughout the Diocese. Richard Smith was one of those confirmed from St Thomas' Church in Stourbridge. He said:
"I have been going to church at St Thomas's foralmost a year now, and when our vicar, Andrew, announced one week that they would berunning a confirmation course I thought that this would be a good wayof exploring my faith further and gaining a greater depth of understanding. Iwas enjoying the messages from the service each Sunday so thought thatconfirmation would be a logical and positive next step.
"The course was really good and I enjoyed each ofthe sessions led by our curate, Adam. There were only three of us including Adam but wecovered a wide variety of subjects within those few weeks using the "FaithConfirmed Book" as a basis for this. We had many quite livelyand thought provoking discussions and It was very interesting togain different perspectives and explore different interpretations of the Bibletexts that we read as well as the subjects covered in thebook. I think we all enjoyed these sessions and we're going to pickup again in the new year to meet as a group to carry them on. Adamdid a great job of facilitating these and encouraging the discussion and I'mvery grateful for his encouragement and support throughout.
The service itself was very memorable. I'veonly been to a handful of Cathedral services before and neverone where I've been directly involved but it was really excellent. BishopJohn very kindly took some time before the service to have a talk with us allwhich I thought was a very nice touch and helped to break the ice andallay some nerves. The staff I met at the cathedral were all very kind andhelpful and the service went very well and for me was a very positiveexperience and one that I'm proud to have been a part of. The fact that itwas in the cathedral with all it's gravity and history I think was the icing onthe cake. I'd like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone involvedin the service and for ensuring it all ran so smoothly."
See photos from the service of baptism and confirmation in the Cathedral.
If you are interested in confirmation, please speak to your vicar in the first instance.
