From Pastor Kristin

On Sunday, June 3rd, we’ll gather with St. Paul’s Congregational Church and Franklin Reformed Church to celebrate as our teenagers affirm their Christian faith through the rite of confirmation.

Since January, teenagers from all three congregations - including Catherine Rubens and her mentor Chad Esparolini from Holy Trinity - have been participating in confirmation ministry. Together we’ve explored who God is in the world and in our lives. We’ve depicted Jesus’ life and death through artwork that was hung in the Holy Trinity sanctuary on Good Friday. And, we engaged the Holy Spirit by walking a labyrinth and meditating.

Each time we met, we also practiced putting our beliefs into action – by caring for creation in the church building, supporting clean water ministries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and interrupting bullying by caring for one another at school and home.

Our final and most-dramatic project was working with the Nutley Clergy Association on the Umbrellas for Peace Memorial Day Parade float. On May 20th, we gathered with others in the community to paint an Umbrella for Peace. Let me tell you, our youth are amazingly creative artists! Check out the pictures of their umbrellas on our facebook page! (facebook.com/htlcnutley - you don’t have to be on facebook to see the pics)

Then last Monday, we all walked with our Umbrellas for Peace in the Nutley Memorial Day parade. Not once did the confirmands complain or become bashful that they were proclaiming their faith with a bunch of clergy people or that they were advocating for peace in a world run by violence.

I am so proud of our teenagers. They are courageous, curious, and caring. They give me hope and remind me that they are not the church of tomorrow – they are already being the church today. Amen to that.