Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope you are all doing well! We had a great rehearsal last night with our Confirmation candidates and I'm confident they are ready!
I wanted to go over some of the details with you that I'll need for you to know (in case your child(ren) didn't tell you (or didn't remember).
Church Opening Time and Available Seating:
Your child's seat and their sponsor is reserved. They will be seated fairly close to where they were seated last night during rehearsal. All other seats in the church will become available starting at 6:15pm on Friday evening when the church doors open. There is plenty of room for everyone and no limitation on whom you may invite.
Arrival:
Your child must arrive by 6:30pm and must arrive in the chapel space (one level down from the auditorium.) They may enter the doors on Addison or Hermitage. This arrival is so that the bishop can meet with them and talk to them in small groups. I encourage them to be relaxed and open to sharing their thoughts and responses with the bishop.
Start of Mass:
The candidates will be brought over to the church (walking outside) and find their seats by 7:00pm. At their seats will be a name tag with the name of their Patron Saint for Confirmation. They should wear this on their outermost garment which they wear when approaching the bishop. Their hair should be back so that it doesn't get in the way of the name tag.
Information for Confirmation Sponsors:
The Confirmation sponsors sit with the candidates. The Confirmation Sponsors approach the bishop with the candidate and will say "Bishop Casey, I present to you ____[name of patron saint]____." They then stand behind the candidate with their right hand on the candidate's right shoulder.
Photography during Mass:
Photographs are allowed during the Mass. The limitation is that the photos be taken from the areas between the pews and the sanctuary and do not disturb the ceremony. Photographers can approach these areas through either of the side aisles.
Photos after Mass:
The bishop will be in the sanctuary after the Mass for photos with candidates. Candidates and families wishing for a photo should line up in the aisle on the side of Saint Joseph (by the piano) and will be ushered to the bishop one at a time. Please only take a brief time for your photos so that everyone may get through.
Confirmation Certificates:
At the end of the service, each candidate will have a Confirmation Certificate prepared for them. Please pick them up in the back of church.
Live Stream:
There will be a live stream of the service which you can find at https://vimeo.com/event/4036005
I will warn that this live stream will not be as active as our normal streams at Saint Andrew due to the complexity of the event and limitation of our team, but it will be a record for everyone and allow some friends and relatives who cannot attend in person to see the service.
Thank you for your attention to the points listed above. If there are questions about anything, do not hesitate to ask me!
Blessings,
David Heimann
Dress Code
The basic instruction that we have for the dress code is that it should be appropriate to your family for a significant even similar to receiving a major award from the governor. Every family is different and I do not put a lot of restrictions on people's dress, but I can tell you that even in the poorest parts of the world, I have witnessed candidates for Confirmation wearing their most dignified clothing available to them.
One note for individuals with long hair. The candidates will be wearing name tags on their upper left shoulder with their Saint Name on them. During the Rite of Confirmation, hair needs to be pulled back so that it doesn't cover the name tag. Also, nametags feel very uncomfortable and don't work well on skin. Therefor, for the Rite of Confirmation, shoulders must be covered for practical reasons.