First of all, I want to start by saying that I found the whole process of Confirmtion, from the first “taster” session in the local church, right up to the day, very challenging, difficult and at times stressful!

My sessions were led by a priest of the church where we were taking the sessions and a deacon (now a priest) of the same parish. The sessions were challenging and made you think about where you stood in relation to your own beliefs, something I’d never had to do before. They were not lectures on the bible, or lessons on Christian tradition; but more open discussion about morals, opinions and ideas on how to not just be a better Christian but a better person. The priest, Mike, an ex naval officer and scientist had a rather logical if not scientific point of view, that was interesting if not occasionally difficult to follow (and who says science and religion can’t get on!). Gary the Deacon, about 6 foot 6 and a handshake that made the knees buckle, had a much more simple way of explaining things and would simplify it for the “common man”! It was great to have two, so different blokes explaining some very complicated ideas and it gave you two different points of view to consider. Considering and thinking was something I would do a lot over the weeks of the lessons and I often found myself havingamoralbattlewithmyselfatschool, oblivious to everything else, although apparently I was not alone in this as a very good mate who I did the confirmation sessions with said he experienced similar thoughts.Ithinkit’shealthyforladsmyage to be thinking about their faith and beliefs.