Konfirmasjon

Første Konfimasjon!

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to join the Svalheim family to a confirmation of a family member. This was the first confirmation I have experienced, and what an experience it was! Once again the Bunads and suits were pulled out for the formal event which started off at the church. This of course makes sense seeing as though the meaning of being confirmed is to confirm your baptism, to confirm that you believe in God and want to follow his ways. I have to however apologize for the lack of pictures on this occasion as I didn't manage to take so many of the actual confirmation so I shall add in ones of the family one the day instead. 

Going into the church I almost had to blink a few times to take in the many, many heads facing the front where the priest would soon be holding a special sermon. I looked around taking in the Bunads and suits and suddenly becoming very conscience about my jeans and shirt, I noticed that there were NO empty benches and even the upstairs layer of seating in the church was full!  The family and I shuffled in on the full benches scattering around the church where we could squeeze in with the rest of the congregation. Soon after we were seated the congregation were signaled to stand and my confusion of what was happening soon dissolved as I saw everyone turn to face the back of the church where the 12 fourteen or fifteen year olds dressed in white robes came walking two by two to the front of the church. I remember thinking that it felt as if I was at a wedding, waiting anxiously to see the bride in her beautiful white dress come gently down the isle. Once the confirmation youth had made their way to the front benches we were asked to give silence for The Lord as the usual series of three loud and deep sounding church bells sounded.

12 newly confirmed youth each received a red rose at the end of the ceremony

 A few Bible passages were read and the priest -a different one than usual supposedly for the special occasion- held a speech about how the youth are now choosing to follow Christ and how special each one of them are. I found it some what entertaining when she got to the part of saying- in Norwegian of course-, "The holy Spirit will come upon you , Not with the Holy Spirit or water alone, but by both the holy spirit and water shall you be renewed" and thunder sounded loud and clear outside the church. Inside however it was pin dropping silence due to shock for a while. This died down with the rolling in of many confused, fascinated and shocked voices chirping to one another how much of a 'coincidence' it was that that had happened at that very sentence in the sermon. Even the priest was shocked by this and didn't quite know what to say straight away. Not long after the holy spirit arrived through the thunder did the water arrive, in bucket fulls of rain pouring down!

After this little incident the youth being confirmed went up one by one to be congratulated by the priest and announced confirmed. Each of them walking back to their seat with a smile upon their face and eyes reverting away from the intimidating sea of people that were there to celebrate this big event. When the service finished with a prayer, the newly confirmed youth lead the congregation out of the church back down the isle, this time smiling and managing to search through the crowd for family and friends with the confidence of their partners by their sides. I was struck by the formal order which seemed so natural for everyone in the way that the whole church waits and exits in an organised fashion.

Simon and Klara

The first row either side of the middle isle leave, the second trailing on to the end of them, then the third and fourth.This was something I had noticed after the 17th of May service but hadn't realised it was an official thing I thought everyone was just polite on this particular day. Turns out I was mistaken its just usual mannerisms!   
After the church service we arrived at a hall where we were to celebrate the Svalheim families cousin/niece which for the purpose of this piece I shall call LA. Here around 50 people were gathered in a big hall for the feast I had been hearing about all day! The hall was decorated just as formally as the people with a stage up front ready for all the speeches, nicely arranged tables with white table clothes and rose Italian-styled serviettes which were folded on each plate. Wine glasses adding a sense of class and to the top right of each plate a fancied-up name tag was aligned. We were told to find our name and have a seat. I stepped back for a while looking curiously were my host siblings were placed, Simon came to me after a short while and said my name was between his and Emma's. I was quite relieved by the thought that I wouldn't be sitting next to a stranger in this unfamiliar environment in my jeans, not that it would have been a problem considering the fact that everyone here was family and friends.

Emma

The afternoon started off with LA's brother as the host introducing her and the special event, following that was many touching speeches by various family members, her father, mother, brother and sisters aswell as aunts and uncles. This being a very musical family meant quite alot of songs were written for LA by her family and were performed during speeches. The speeches made me smile and it was a heart warming experience to see how much love and affection was presented to LA on this day. This is a day to celebrate her and her life in Christ. It was great to hear in every speech ( as far as I can remember) The Lord was mentioned and she was guided by her family members to always know that even though she is now moving into adult hood she is not alone. She will always have her family and Christ by her side, every step of the way.
In-between the songs, speeches, hugs and happy/overwhelmed tears from family members, we had a good meal with much variety to choose from, a coffee and chocolate pause and last but not least cake time nearing the end.
Oh and of course lets not forget the gift tradition of these traditional confirmations! The usual way of gifts is in the form of money. At LA's confirmation there were two tables lining the opposite sides of the walls where the guests placed an envelope with a card and money for LA. I have heard many get quite a lot on this day which I'm sure must have been an exciting thought for LA on this day.

Outside the church before the ceremony

The celebration for LA  lasted around 3/4 hours but unfortunately our family had to run out a tad early just as things were closing up because we still had a 4 hour drive and 30 min ferry ride back home to Gjeving!