"For me attending church has been a decision that I have reached as an adult. I was not baptised as child and although our family always considered our faith to be Christian it mainly consisted of midnight mass occasionally and school nativity plays. I taught at a Church of England school for a few years which began to open my eyes to the Christian faith, and even before I had children I knew that I wanted them to attend a church school as I really respected their core values. The big change for me came when I was diagnosed with a genetic neurological condition after having my 1st son. Looking back I spent a couple of years coming to terms with what it all meant for me and my family. Then in 2006 I decided to come to St Joes and have been coming ever since. I am so much more at peace now than I have ever been in my life. I made the decision to be baptised in 2007 and my boys were baptised later that year. I see confirmation as an opportunity to publicly renew the vows that I made at my baptism. My journey with Jesus has been a very personal one with many paths, some of which I am much further along than others. With my family at St. Joes I feel confident continuing this journey." Sarah Wells

"I have been attending St Joseph for eight years and I love being part of the church family who have always supported me. I want to get confirmed as I feel I am ready for the next step in my faith. Certain people in my life have helped me to get to this place now where I feel ready to be confirmed. Over the past few years I have been attending New Wine and Soul Survivor, which has helped me to grow in my faith. Last year at Soul Survivor I stood up at the front and said with hundreds of other young people that I want to follow Jesus all my life. That moment I burst into tears as I felt God's love for me. It has been the best decision that I have made. God is my hope, my guidance but overall my saviour and I will trust in him." Laura Thornborough

“At the age of nine months I was baptised at St Mary’s, Hayes, and I attended Dr Triplett’s Church of England School where my mum met Sandra Brooker and Elaine. Sandra introduced us to come to St Joseph the Worker Church. I came on and off with my mum on Sundays and later I attended ‘Toybox’ (carer and toddler group) at St Joseph’s where I asked my good friend Janet to be my daughter Tallulah’s godmother.

In March 2007 I was invited by Jo Neary, our curate, to attend the ‘Start’ course, and at the time I was very shy. I don’t think I would have gone without my friend Janet. The course really helped me with all the questions I had and I was sad to see it come to an end.

But for me that was the start of my journey: there was a follow-on group on Thursday mornings. I really enjoyed coming to Thursday morning Mass because it also involved the children. I find I learn a lot from reading the Children’s Bible to my daughter Tallulah.

In January 2008 I had Tallulah baptised at St Joseph’s Church, wanting her to be brought up in the Christian faith. I also became godmother to Sofia in December and felt so proud to be given an important role in her life.

I felt I still had my questions about my Christian faith so I attended the ‘Alpha’ Course. I learned so much from everyone’s questions, as well as my own questions. From attending the ‘Alpha’ Course, my partner Terry could see a change in me. I now go to a Bible Study on Tuesdays and I have learned how to pray and know more about the bible.

I now feel ready to confirm my promises that my parents made on behalf of me when I was a baby and would like to say a big thank you to my good family here who have helped me on my journey finding out more about the Christian faith. God Bless.” Roxanne Came

++++++++++

Before we greeted our three newly confirmed members on Sunday, Bishop Pete prayed: "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, that you may be rooted and grounded in love and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Amen."