This was adapted for a Confirmation service, but is appropriate for any gathering:
Greetings in the name of God our Father, the maker of heaven and earth, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God with us, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born miraculously of a virgin mother, Mary.
To us, the child Christ was given, and our young people are entrusted to our care and nurture. Jesus suffered under the power of an unjust empire, was crucified, died, and was buried. He knows our deepest places of suffering, and he died to free us from the burden of perfection and from sin. He descended to the grave, knowing separation from God. He descended to the grave, and set death’s captives free.
On Sunday morning, he rose again. He appeared to many, and ate and taught and shared with them. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who he sent to lead and guide us. He will come again; he calls us to be ready, to live justly, to love our God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. Against these there is no law. We believe in the holy universal church, the fellowship of Christians worldwide here and now, imperfect and called to greater faithfulness, and in the communion of saints, the fellowship of God’s children across all time and space.
We believe in the forgiveness of sins. We believe in the resurrection not only
of the spirit but also of the body, of Christ’s and ours, and we believe that
Christ, the Risen Lord, has the power to bring the dead to life in this world
and the next. Amen.
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