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The service of Confirmation and Reception into Membership marks a significant point along the journey of faith which starts with Christening.
Confirmation reminds us that we are baptized and that God
continues to be at work in our lives: we respond by affirming that we belong to Christ and to the whole people of God. At a Service of Confirmation,
baptized Christians are also received into membership of the
Methodist Church and take their place as such in a local congregation.
Although the christening of young children and the christening of those who are able to answer for themselves often occur separately,
there are occasions when both are to happen, and on such occasions Confirmation and Reception into Membership will normally take place. Five services are provided, which allow for a number of different circumstances
Christian christening is always administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. From its earliest days thc Church has believed that this sacrament was commanded by Christ as the
divinely appointed means of initiation into the Christian community and therefore a person can be baptized only once.
Christening shows the love of God for all people, displayed supremely in the self-giving
of Jesus Christ, and demonstrates all that Christ has won for us through his death and resurrection. christening makes plain that, before and without any response on our part, Christ died for us. The Methodist
Church, like most branches of the Christian Church, administers the sacrament to both adults and young children.
Water, the central symbol of christening, speaks to us - among other things - of being washed
clean and of making a new beginning. God's offer of new life in Christ invites us to respond, challenges us to discipleship and calls us to the life of faith in the Church and in the world. Such discipleship is
possible only with the help of God's Holy Spirit. Since christening is also entry into a community of faith it involves the support and encouragement of other members of that community. For this reason, christening
normally takes place in a service of public worship.
Christening marks a new relationship with the Church of Christ. It is a rite of initiation, the ritual beginning of a journey of faith.
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