Today we have the distinct honor and privilege of welcoming 6 people into the full life and ministry of our church, 5 by confirmation, 1 by profession of faith. They are to be commended for making this decision and taking this bold step. There was a time when it was customary for young people to attend confirmation classes, learn about the rich heritage and traditions of both the Christian faith and their particular denomination. At the end of that process ~ and for me it was 4 hours every Saturday morning for 3 years ~ they are asked to decide if they are ready to make the commitment to claim Jesus Christ as Lord ~ of the church, yes, but more importantly, for them personally. Are they prepared to live their lives according to the teaching and example of Christ? Are they prepared to claim as their Lord and give their highest allegiance and loyalty to him? The people who will stand before us in a couple of minutes have said yes to both those questions. 

And they are doing so at a time when being an active part of a church, or any faith community, has become optional, when there are many activities that vie for our attention and energies on Sunday mornings, taking us away from communal worship and fellowship. This is especially true for young people with their very active lives and full schedules. Yet, these young people CHOSE to be here virtually every Sunday morning. 

We are also receiving two adults into full membership today. At a time when many adults are stepping out of churches across the country and across the theological spectrum, when church participation is no longer a cultural expectation, David and Jenny have chosen to step into the church. 

We also want to thank Tom Miller who taught and shepherded them through this process. 

One of the areas they covered in their study and discussion were the historic creeds of the church. How they developed and got longer over the course of history, as the church worked hard to determine what you had to believe in order to be admitted entrance into this sacred community.

But the earliest creed of the newly emerging church was the simple sentence: Jesus Christ is Lord. While that sentence may be simple, especially in light of the much more complicated creeds of the church they studied, it was far from a simple commitment. Saying Jesus Christ is Lord was then a very radical and dangerous profession to make. It meant saying that Jesus was Lord of your life and that you were giving him your highest allegiance and loyalty, that serving him along with the church was now your highest priority. That living as one of his disciples is now your highest aim.

In a little while, they will be taking the traditional membership vows. These vows were designed to underline the commitment that they are making to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in this time and place, what it means to claim him as Lord, and what that profession will mean for the way we live and order our lives. 

One of those vows, one that has long been one of my favorite questions to ask: Do you promise to use the power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms ~ and I always add in whatever places ~ they present themselves.

I add that whatever places, because we need to be very clear that evil, injustice, and oppression are not things that just happen out there in the world. They occur every day in the church, denominationally and congregationally. 

Today, I am very proud, overjoyed, and honored to say that these persons will be joining a UMC that is MUCH MORE inclusive, open, just, loving, accepting, and welcoming than it was only a week ago. Over the past two weeks the GC passed several petitions that radically change the way we minister to and with our LGBTQIA+ persons. Most significantly,  ALL language in the BOD and the Social Disciplines that prohibited the ordination or marriage of our queer siblings has been removed.  I have spent my entire ministry, 38 years, working for this day. 

I am so proud and grateful that today I can say to the confirmands and new members that a new day is dawning in the UMC. This is a day of new beginnings, our God is making all things new. Praise be to God. 

But there is much work yet to be done. Questions regarding the huge pay discrepancy that exists within the UMC, especially in regards to women and POCs, were raised last year at our Annual Conference. They were raised this week at GC but were not fully debated or voted on. In both cases, the discussion centered on the need for greater pay equity, how to achieve that, and what the impact would have on smaller membership churches. If that is to happen, the way that clergy are paid will have to be fundamentally changed. All that will have to wait for another Annual Conference and GC.

I share all that with you, and there is much more to share, because the work that was done, the transformative legislation that was passed, did not happen overnight or easily. There were bitter fights. People left. Churches left. Pastors had their credentials removed, and, tragically, there were way too many for whom this all proved to be just too painful and ended their lives. That was the case for one of my friends in seminary. 

And yet folks persevered and worked hard to open the church fully to all God’s beloved children. The work that is ahead of us in so many areas will also demand a huge amount of dedication, commitment, and perseverance. This is true for changes we want to make in the world as well as in the church. Yes, the arc of history does ultimately bend toward justice, but it bends slowly and requires that we be the ones to bend it.

Emma, Ean, Kaitlyn, Molly, David, and Jenny, with your reception into the life of UMC you willingly commit to carrying on that work. In many congregations, confirmation services often mimic graduation ceremonies. We confer upon you a new status, in this case, full membership in the church, and then you go out, get on with your life, and we never see you again. But there is another name for graduation ceremonies that has been gaining in popularity and which I much prefer. Instead of graduation they are seen as a commencement ceremony. Commencement = a new beginning. You are beginning something new. You are beginning a new stage in your life and in your faith journey. Confirmation is, or should be, much more about a beginning than an ending. 

In the United Methodist Church we say that our mission, our purpose, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and, again, I would add for the transformation of the church. As of today, that mission becomes  your mission as well. We are all called, commissioned, and empowered to be about the work of transforming the church and the world  in keeping with Jesus’ teaching and example and the will of God.

So now it is your turn. 

Claiming the name and the power of Jesus: What will you do to reshape the world and the church, transforming them to be more in keeping with God’s will?