Confirmation: Bridge to the Future

As I moved around Great Hall during the breakfast celebration for our eighth-grade Confirmation Class, greeting youth and their families, I was glad to realize that I knew most of them. Because it’s been a while since I worked directly with children and youth, and especially because we offer five different worship services on Sunday mornings, I can’t expect to know everyone—though I would like to!

Watching the young people with their families, I noted that I’ve watched some of them grow up in our 9:00 Chapel service, while I see others in the Sanctuary. Some of the youth were born into this church. There is at least one whose mother joined here as a young single, and one whose parents have not yet joined the church.

Some of the youth belong to families that go way back with us. Jenae Flores’ mother, Kelly Ausley-Flores, daughter of Tom and Robbie Ausley, was a preschooler when I came back to First Church in 1970. Jenae represents the third generation of the Ausley family to join FUMC. But Hailey and Will Grote have roots that go back even further, to four generations of First Church members. Their mother is Debbie Voss Grote, whose parents are John and Loretta Voss. John’s parents were Herman “Rookie” Voss and Dorothy Voss. Rookie was business administrator of First Church back in the 1950’s, and Dorothy was superintendent of the Senior High Department. John, the middle of three sons, returned to Austin after retiring from a military career. Debbie and her brother grew up in this church, and now Debbie and Butch Grote’s children are growing up here.

That tapestry of membership made me think of the theme of our capital campagin, “Bridge to the Future.” The Vosses began a relationship that has spanned four generations. They have kept on giving to First Church, long after their time. But the great thing is that you don’t have to have four generations of history here to love this church and to join in building that bridge. Newcomers pitch in all the time, shoring up support, extending the pathway, making it sure and safe not just for those who are here now, but also for those who will come after us.

Note these names: Tyler Bumpass…Jenae Flores…Wyatt Garrett…Hailey Grote…Will Grote…Haley Mills…Rachel Nauert…Rachel Proctor…Jefferson Reese…Luke Russell.

Those are the names of all the confirmands who joined First Church officially, solemnly, and joyfully on April 27. They belong to us now, they are walking on the bridge that you are building, and they are building it with us. I invite you to pray for each of them by name. And more than that, I challenge you to add your gifts to your prayers, by making a pledge to our capital campaign. We are building a bridge to the future not just for ourselves, but for these young people…for their children…for children we do not know but who will surely come to us! I thank God for them, and for each of you.