2022 Pinnacle Confirmation Class

2022

Statements of Faith from our 2022 Confirmands

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:14

Confirmation at Pinnacle At Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, we believe that confirmation is saying “yes” to faith, to a Christian future, and to being part of the church. It is a public acknowledgment of baptismal vows made on one’s behalf by others or made earlier in one’s life. It is a statement that your child is willing, ready, and able to engage further in their faith, dive into service, learn the things not taught in Sunday School, and explore God’s call approaching adulthood.

Confirmation is not leaving the church. It is arriving.

Sydney Boyd I didn’t know how to exactly start this. I know what the statement itself consists of, but starting it off is hard. Starting off anything is really hard: a new school, a new job, new friendship. It’s all hard to start, so I’m going to start with a Bible verse: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:12 I like this verse because prayer is one of the main connections I have with God. I create a deep, meaningful relationship through it. Prayer has helped me with many struggles in my life, such as anxiety. I’ve prayed about a lot of things regarding anxiety: school, social life, health, etc. There is one issue I had when I was younger, and that was sleep. I had so much anxiety about sleeping. I couldn’t fall asleep without massive worry. I would pray to God each night asking him for help. I prayed for him to be with me, reduce my worry, and stay by my side throughout the night. Eventually, slowly but surely, my stress about sleeping went away. I don’t know if it was the fact I knew God was with me, or the prayer itself, maybe even a little bit of maturing. All I know is God was listening, and still is.

Prayer isn’t the only thing I’ve grown on. My faith is. It has grown and I’ve grasped a better understanding of what that is. Confirmation has helped me in that. It has opened my eyes to more possibilities and opened my brain to more deep conversations about faith. I haven’t talked this much about faith to my parents ever. I have confirmation to thank for that.

Faith is important to me because it’s comforting knowing there’s a higher power looking out for us. My statement of faith is hard to put into words because it’s more of a feeling. I believe there’s a higher power watching over us, listening to our prayers. I believe Jesus loves us and wants us to love each other as he did. I believe we should spread the word of God in an unharmful way to help those who have been knocked down. But most of all I believe God has given us a purpose, and that purpose is to be kind, faithful, and honest.

When we live a life like that the world can heal and become better.

That’s what I believe. I’m sure my beliefs will grow through time, but for now, I’m pretty settled with what I got. It turns out the ending is just as hard as starting.

Gracie Cranford Hi, my name is Gracie and this is my faith statement.

I know that I can go to God with my problems and he will hear me without judgment. He has gotten me through my rough times. He has brought me some of the best people in my life and I have many happy memories. His path for me isn’t always easy, but I know that he is guiding me in his way and I trust him.

I’ve grown up in this church since I was a baby. I was baptized here at six months of age and have been coming here ever since. I went to Sunday school every Sunday with my friends to learn about our faith. My parents were also really involved in the church, and my mom would volunteer to teach Sunday school. I’ve always enjoyed the people at this church. It is a very welcoming community.

I really started getting closer to God last October when I went through a spinal injury from soccer. It devastated me, but I know that God purposely put me on this path and that I had to trust his plan. I really looked up to God during my recovery and started talking to him about my feelings. Slowly I started getting better and was able to return to soccer and was just as good as I was before my injury, A miracle!

Isaiah 41:10 says: Fear not. For I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Recently I was diagnosed with a stress injury to my spine and I’m devastated once again. But I know that God has a purpose for my life, and I trust the process. Maybe this is another time for me to get closer to him. Who knows? But whatever the reason, I trust him.

As Psalm 57:2 says: I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Kyleigh Green O lord. You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from far away. You search my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139).

My name is Kyleigh, and I’ve been coming to Pinnacle Presbyterian ever since I was a mere seven years old. God has played such a huge role in my life, and I am ever grateful for it. When I was told I had to present my statement, I was a bit nervous, as I’ve always kept my beliefs and my religious experiences to myself, but I feel as if I’m ready to share them. This is my story: When I was very little, my parents used to argue at night when I was supposed to be sleeping. These arguments made me nervous and sad and kept me up at night. One night before I went to bed my mom came in and handed me a cross necklace and told me that I could wear it when I was nervous, so God would be with me. From then until we moved away from my first home, I would wear my cross necklace whenever I was nervous about my parents’ arguments. Soon enough, my dad moved away and the arguments stopped. Sadly, I don’t know where that necklace is now, but I know that God is still with me in times of need, and will comfort me whenever I’m anxious about anything.

Seven years after I moved, I started confirmation at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church. In confirmation, I learned so much about the history of the Presbyterian faith, The Holy Trinity, The Bible, and of course, my faith.

Confirmation has deepened my relationship with our Lord, God, and has helped me discover and figure out my beliefs. For instance, I’ve learned a lot about the Holy Trinity; I believe that God is the divine creator, and created each and every one of us to be different and unique. Jesus, I believe, is God in human form, and was put on the earth to spread the teachings of the Bible and to help and love those in need. The Holy Spirit, to me, isn’t a living being, but more of the faith in God that all Christians have.

Confirmation has really helped me grow as a person. I’d like to thank Brandon, Mike, and my mentor, Renee, for all the help they have provided me in discovering my faith, and how kind they’ve been in doing it. I hope future classes can learn as much as I did from this class, and I hope they can grow their faith just as much as well. Thus concludes my Statement of Faith.

Chloe Knutsen Hello, my name is Chloe and I’ve been attending confirmation at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church. While I’ve been here, I’ve been learning more about God and Jesus and constantly been rethinking my relationship with God. I feel my relationship has transformed into something more meaningful and present in my everyday life.

My relationship with God has become a comfort to me because I know that when I’m feeling down or feel like no one is there, I can turn to him and know that he loves me and forgives me. Whenever I feel alone I can pray and talk to him, and although he isn’t right there with me, I know he hears me. I never used to pray before, but while going to confirmation, I learned how to trust and listen to God. When I was a baby, my parents had me baptized. It was my parents’ decision to have me baptized and raise me in a Christian household, but now, being in my confirmation class, it’s my decision to grow as a person and grow as a child of God. I looked forward to going to confirmation class to see my friends and my mentor and just being in the church community. My mentor, Kaaren, has become a huge inspiration to me because she has shared the story of her faith and how it helped her in her life.

While the two of us talked about our experiences with God, I remembered that I had a very special thing happen to me. Before I was born, my Pop Pop was diagnosed with cancer, and before he died, my Nana asked for him to send her signs from Heaven. He died six weeks after I was born, so I never knew him. I was around one and half years old when I would visit Nana and often ask “where’s Pop Pop?”, and when my Aunt was around, I would always call her KK and nobody called her that except Pop Pop. One day, when I was at Nana’s house I found a sunflower toy, and it played the song “You Are My Sunshine” which was my Pop Pop’s favorite song. I brought it out and played the song for Nana and just said the words “Pop Pop!” The next day Nana brought the toy to me and asked me, “Who sings this?” and I said “Pop Pop.” My Nana started realizing that the signs Pop Pop promised to send from Heaven were being sent through me.

Looking back at the experiences I’ve had and the people who have helped me, I’ve come to realize that I’m growing every day in my faith. My journey of faith has a long way to go, but I’m ready to face it because I know that God has a plan for me.

In Jeremiah 29:11 it says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This verse carries a lot of meaning for me because it gives me reassurance that God is guiding me along my journey.

Rachel Pugh My family is Christian. I frequently went to church and Sunday school. Over the summers my friend and I attended VBS here at Pinnacle and some sleepaway camps. In these experiences, I learned about many stories of the Bible.

Although I often study God, I still had many questions that hadn’t been answered.

In 2020 my grandpa gifted me a Bible that I could use in my youth group. I quickly learned how to navigate the Bible. I learned a lot about Jesus, but not as much about God and who he was to me.

In the blink of an eye, a year and a half later, I started my confirmation class.

Right off the bat, we started talking about religion in general and how many of them relate to each other. We would dissect the Bible and translate Latin and Greek vocabulary. We learned about how Christianity was passed down for thousands of years and is still a very relevant subject in today’s world.

Previously, I had struggled with anger management at times, I could not admit when I was wrong and easily lashed out at people I love. My faith allowed me to understand that other people are not always responsible for my negative feelings and actions.

Proverbs 15:1 states, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”. Easier said than done! This helped me take a step back and sympathize with others.

Another big moment in my faith journey was when I went to an overnight camp in February. Everyone in my cabin sat down and were talking about God. One of the counselors really expressed how much God loves you and how he’s always there for you. She explained that no matter what you do, God will always forgive you.

To be honest, I’m not sure where my future will take me, but I know God will always be an important figure in my life. I will look to him for strength in guidance. Most importantly, I will make sure I share his love with all that surrounds me.

Mia Sandell When I heard I had to make a Faith Statement at the end of Confirmation, I was a little bit worried because I had so many thoughts in my head that I didn’t know how to put down on paper. But Confirmation has shown that I can be open to faith, and I am able to choose my own path through faith.

From a very young age, I have been taught about the Trinity as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It was confusing at first, seeing that God is in heaven, Jesus was here on earth, and the Holy Spirit is there for support, but is not really a person. I believe that they are all the same thing, just in different forms.

Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

Before Confirmation, I lost my relationship with God due to not going to church and not focusing on my faith. Now, I feel that my relationship has strengthened because I have been going to Confirmation and learning about God. Knowing my relationship with God has strengthened, I feel good knowing that I will always have someone to rely on.

Lately, I have been feeling a lot of pressure from school and my parents. I have trust in God that he will allow me to persevere through the tough times.

Isaiah 40:30-31 says, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I have had a lot of weight on my shoulders recently, but I know that God will always be there.

I have always loved science, and I love looking at life that way; so, the idea of science vs. faith has always troubled me. For instance, the Genesis story of how earth was made and the Big Bang Theory don’t add up with each other.

The Old Testament was written thousands of years ago; so, I think they wrote Genesis with the information they had back then. Science has evolved over the years, and they now have a better understanding of how the earth was made. In the end, though, the lessons of the Bible are all that really matter to me.

Since I was two, I had a very clear vision of my future, but over the past year, God decided that it wasn’t for me. Now, I have no idea what my future will be like. But I know that God has a plan and that I just have to trust him.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

Over the past year, I feel like I have grown significantly because of confirmation. There were times when I had been called a “pushover.” In some ways, confirmation helped me gain confidence, but also made me an even nicer person. The people that have helped me through this amazing journey of faith really had a huge impact on me. My mentor, Ruth, has been so kind and helpful over the past year. I’m so grateful she came into my life. Dr. Hegeman also made a huge impact on my confirmation journey. His teaching methods brought me a whole new understanding of what it means to be a Christian. I also want to thank Brandon. He has shown me so much love and support over the whole year. He does so much for us. I also want to thank my parents who have supported me through my confirmation journey. I’m so thankful God has put all these people in my life to support me. Amen.

Special Thanks to our 2022 Confirmation Mentors: Sunny Edwards, mentor to Gracie Cranford Kaaren Gotwals, mentor to Chole Knutsen Pamela Gustafson, mentor to Rachel Pugh Ruth O’Brien, mentor to Mia Sandell Renee Schenck, mentor to Kyleigh Green Jacque Olmert, mentor to Sydney Boyd

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