Confirmation: Here at First Sibley Presbyterian we are so excited to be part of ECO. We are passionate as a denomination and as a local church to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our Essential Tenants it says –“We are elect in Christ to become members of the community of the new covenant. This covenant, which God Himself guarantees, unites us to God and to one another. Already in the creation, we discover that we are made to live in relationships to others, male and female, created together in God’s image. In Christ, we are adopted into the family of God and find our new identity as brothers and sisters of one another, since we now share one Father. Our faith requires our active participation in that covenant community.

Jesus prays that His followers will all be one, and so we both pray and work for the union of the church throughout the world. Even where institutional unity does not seem possible, we are bound to other Christians as our brothers and sisters. In Christ the dividing wall of hostility created by nationality, ethnicity, gender, race, and language differences is brought down. God created people so that the rich variety of His wisdom might be reflected in the rich variety of human beings, and the church must already now begin to reflect the eschatological reality of people from every tribe, and tongue, and nation bringing the treasures of their kingdoms into the new city of God. Within the covenant community of the church, God’s grace is extended through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the Sacraments, and the faithful practice of mutual discipline. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the word proclaimed may indeed become God’s address to us. The Spirit’s illuminating work is necessary both for the one who preaches and for those who listen.  The community of the Church practices discipline in order to help one another along the path to new life, speaking the truth in love to one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and offering to one another the grace of Christ.”

In Confirmation the confirmand is stating that they are becoming part of the Covenant Community here at First Sibley Presbyterian. We do not take this covenant lightly and we are thrilled when this covenant is made. Not only is the confirmand making a covenant with this local body of believers but the local body is also making a convent with the confirmand. This local body rallies around the confirmand and helps him or her to grow in his or her faith. We are excited for confirmation and the covenants that are made.