Celebration of Confirmation Eucharist on St. Matthias Day

Twenty confirmands representing 7 of the Diocese of New Westminster’s 66 parishes and worshipping communities gathered with their sponsors, families, and parish supporters at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, May 14, 2022, to... (as was printed on the inside front cover of the service bulletin) “celebrate and renew our commitment to Jesus Christ through the Apostolic Rite of the Laying on of Hands, commonly called Confirmation.”

This was the second diocesan confirmation liturgy during Bishop John Stephens’s episcopacy. The first was celebrated on October 30, 2021. At that liturgy there were 50 confirmands, 3 were received into the Anglican Church and one person reaffirmed their faith, receiving the bishop’s blessing. Thirteen parishes were represented with most of the confirmands coming from two parishes, St. Cuthbert, Delta and St. Mary the Virgin, Sapperton. Those two parishes have a large cohort of younger parishioners and they had been waiting since the pre-COVID days of 2019 to be confirmed. October 30, 2021, was just a couple of weeks prior to the onset of the Omicron variant which somewhat curtailed onsite gathering at diocesan churches through the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, so it was fortunate that the many confirmands last fall were spared the wait through another wave of COVID-19. 

During Bishop John’s episcopal visits to the parishes of the diocese it is not unusual for him to preside at confirmations, receptions and reaffirmations for those who have prepared and do not wish to wait until the diocesan liturgy which is usually celebrated in May during the final weeks of Easter Season. 

On April 30, Missioner for Christian Formation, Diocese of New Westminster, the Reverend Jessica Schaap was joined by Bishop John and parish sponsors to welcome the candidates to a confirmation preparation day at Christ Church Cathedral. Questions were answered and the space became more familiar to the confirmands, many of whom had not visited the diocesan cathedral.

Those participating in the liturgy on May 14 included confirmands, Sophia Robbie of St. Laurence, Coquitlam and Florian Burfeind of Christ Church Cathedral who offered the First and Second Readings. The intercessor was Oivette Missick from St. Laurence who graciously agreed to take on the role during the pre-liturgy rehearsal. The Reverend Peggy Trendell-Jensen of St. Clement’s, Lynn Valley was Deacon of the Word and Table. The Reverend Trendell-Jensen has been appointed Archdeacon for Deacons by Bishop John. Her incumbency begins at the end of May, she will be collated during the Ordination Eucharist, June 11, 2022, and will then use the honorific, "The Venerable". Three of the twenty confirmands were from St. Clement’s. Three cathedral liturgical assistants, Vincent Carey, Andrea Gailus, and Kevin de la Mare took the roles of Subdeacon, Crucifer and Bishop’s Chaplain. It was announced on May 16, that Kevin has been made postulant to the diaconate by Bishop John Stephens. Music in worship was led by Members of the Cathedral Choir, Rupert Lang, Organist and Director of Music. The music in worship consisted of well-known hymns and Communion music to encourage congregational participation. There was also a beautiful setting of Psalm 15 with the Antiphon, “Lord who may dwell in the tabernacle of God who may abide upon your holy hill.” The Psalm with music composed by Rupert Lang was led by the choir. Bishop John was preacher and presider and the Dean of the diocese and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Reverend Chris Pappas, welcomed the congregation onsite and online and assisted the bishop during the liturgy. The Reverend Jessica Schaap is the Synod Staff person with responsibility for the diocesan Confirmation Eucharist, overseeing the design of the liturgy, the assembling of the service bulletin and a host of duties too numerous to mention.

In his sermon, Bishop John made reference to the First Reading, Acts 1: 15-17; 20-26, one of the readings chosen for the Feast of St Matthias, which is the only time that Matthias is mentioned in the Bible and is the story of the choosing of Matthias to be the 12th apostle, replacing Judas. Two were nominated, the other, Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) lost out to Matthias as the 11 “cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias.” In his sermon he said:

While the reading from the book of Acts makes it sound that the eleven disciples felt that they must keep to the number twelve now that Judas was no longer with them. The number twelve was important to align with the twelve tribes of Israel. And if you are one for whom numbers are very important you can really run with this. And perhaps it was extremely vital that the number twelve was central to all this. But personally, I am not really in that camp.

We know without a doubt that there were plenty of other people surrounding Jesus who were clearly not listed as one of his disciples but were at least incredibly influential on his life. We know this; it is very clear in the Bible that there were many others who were extremely devout followers of Jesus but not necessarily counted among the twelve. Like Nicodemus or Lazarus or Joseph of Arimathea. But perhaps much more importantly were the women: Martha and Mary and Mary Magdalene and Joanna and a woman at a well to name but a few. Women who were anointers and debaters and weepers and grievers and first witnesses to the resurrection.  

And this, for me is where Matthias comes in. For apart from being elected to be the twelfth, we never hear from him again. He suddenly becomes completely obscure, never to be mentioned again in our holy book. On one level this seems rather strange.

And to be honest I like this. Because it reminds us that Matthias is us… and we are Matthias. What I mean by that is that we are now the disciples of this age. By our baptism, with the water splashed upon us in the name of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have become Matthias. The next ones.  

(Follow this link to Bishop John’s sermon posted on the diocesan website)

It was a joy-filled, prayerful gathering at Christ Church Cathedral, an experience that those involved will remember all their lives. And after the Dismissal, Bishop John stayed behind on the chancel platform to pose for many photographs in many different combinations of confirmand(s), sponsors, parents and full parish groups that included: Christ Church Cathedral; St. Clement’s, Lynn Valley; St. John’s, Shaughnessy; St. Laurence’s, Coquitlam; St. Martin’s, North Vancouver; St. Michael’s Multicultural, Vancouver and St. Timothy’s Brentwood. 

Please keep the confirmands in your prayers:

God of mercy and love, 

Grant that your servant may grow

Into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

Fill them with the joy of your presence.

Increase in them the fruit of your Spirit:

the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of love, patience and gentleness,

the spirit of wonder and true holiness,

Amen 

IMAGES

• Helen of St. Laurence, Coquitlam is confirmed
• Dean of the diocese and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Reverend Chris Pappas welcomes the congregation, onsite and online.
• Sophia of St. Laurence, Coquitlam presents the First Reading, Acts 1:15-17, 20-26.
• Florian of Christ Church Cathedral and the first confirmand of the day, reads the Epistle, Philippians 3:13b-22
• A view from the nave during the sermon.
• Confirmation candidates are presented to the bishop by their sponsors.
• Intercessor, Oivette Missick with the Prayers of the People
• Carson of St. Clement, Lynn Valley is confirmed.
• Danavio of St. Laurence, Coquitlam is confirmed.
• Charlotte of St. John's, Shaughnessy was the 20th of the 20 candidates. \
• The St Michael’s Group Shot
• The St. Clement’s Group Shot