Confirmation Weekend packs out Castlewellan Castle
The 12th Down and Dromore Confirmation residential has just finished with 165 young people and leaders gathered in Castlewellan Castle over St. Patrick’s weekend. The participants, from 15 parishes, spent the weekend looking at what it means to follow Jesus and how to pray and study the Bible. They did this helped by our speaker, Jonny Harper (from Saintfield Parish) and by over 30 leaders who ran small groups for the young people.
There were also plenty of activities to keep people occupied such as laser quest, climbing wall, archery, laser clay pigeon shooting, crafts, cakes and a maze to get lost in! The evenings involved scary walks, movies, ‘Saturday Night Live’ (the girls won –again!) and the traditional disco! Feedback from the weekend has been overwhelmingly positive and much of this is due to the hard work of many leaders who helped out over the weekend in worship, facilitating groups and organising the 101 things that needed to be done.
While the Confirmation weekend is now over it is not a stand–alone event. It is all part of a programme of support for and partnership with parishes to encourage the preparation and celebration of candidates going forward for Confirmation. And this year in Down and Dromore that could be anything from celebratory dessert suppers to ‘goody bags’, profile sheets and chocolate fountains. Please pray for those getting confirmed in the coming months.