Last week, 20 pupils took part in a three-day Confirmation Residential at Viney Hill Christian Adventure Centre, followed by a joyful Confirmation Service at St Mary’s Church Calne celebrated with family and friends.
Here, Honor C (LV) reflects on the experience:
‘The past few days have been packed with exciting activities, time for reflection and lots of fun. During the residential, we embraced new challenges we had never imagined trying, including mountain biking, tunnelling, high ropes and even crate stacking.
Each day was balanced with activities in the day followed by group prayers and quieter moments of reflection in the evenings. The evenings allowed us to think more deeply about our upcoming Confirmation and how best to prepare for it.
As well as being great fun, this trip allowed us all to have a great time but also helped us really understand what it means to be Confirmed. On our final day, as we travelled back to school, we stopped at Gloucester Cathedral, where we met Father Huxley Jones, who spoke to us about Holy Communion and the story behind it. We also had the opportunity to explore the cathedral and admire its amazing architecture.
I’m sure I can speak for everyone in saying how much we enjoyed the trip, and we are very grateful to Father J for making it possible.’
The following day, Saturday 28 February, the Confirmation service saw 20 girls from LV take this important step on their journey of faith. The day began with a special breakfast attended by Bishop Andrew, who was presiding at the service. His warmth and positivity were apparent throughout and helped make the occasion one of joy and celebration.
The service began with a haunting solo from Katie H, who sang the beautiful ancient plainsong invocation of the Holy Spirit, ‘Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire‘. This set the tone for the rest of the rite – holy, joyful and truly inspiring.
One of the girls who will be confirmed at the Roman Catholic service in May commented: ‘Watching the confirmation was an exciting experience for me because I was happy to see my friends get confirmed and their families gathered together on this happy day, singing joyful hymns as they stepped into this new chapter of their Christian lives.’
The day concluded with a celebratory afternoon tea back at school.
Father Jonathan Beach
School Chaplain
