March 2013 - St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Kingsville, MD

The Slap Heard Around the World
From the editor: Holy Week is the time of year that we celebrate the Rite of Confirmation. The
article below tells the story of an interesting confirmation tradition. We don’t practice it here
at St. Paul’s, but it’s certainly a graphic reminder of why junior confirmation is so important
to us.
Your confirmation day is supposed to be exciting. It’s important, it’s a big deal, it’s formative.
It’s also the day that my pastor slapped me. On the face. In front of the whole congregation.
Yeah. You heard me.
My confirmation pastor was the best. He taught us from the Book of Concord, read to us in Latin and tried to teach us German,
made us learn our Small Catechism, heard our confession, and actually cared whether or not we were retaining what he was
explaining.
So when that fateful Sunday arrived, I was ready. I stood there next to my friends in my white confirmation robe, proud of my
accomplishments and anxious to be able to receive the Lord’s Supper. My grandmother was there. My aunts and uncles and
cousins were in the pew. My parents and my sisters looked on… as I got smacked in the face.
I heard it before I felt it: an echo that I’m fairly confident bounced off the church’s walls for at least five seconds. (Ok, so
maybe I’m being a little dramatic. So maybe I was the only one who heard it. So maybe it wasn’t that loud at all.)
It stung. I looked at him, shocked, while flipping through my bulletin. Where was THIS fine print in the rite?!
He explained it to the congregation then, that this was an ancient practice, this slap of peace, a slap that marked us confirmands
for the pain and the suffering we would endure from the world on behalf of Christ. It was beautiful really. It made complete
sense.
And it hurt like heck.
So keep this in mind, you pastors out there. You want kids to remember their confirmation vows when they leave for college?
You want them to recall why it’s important to haul themselves out of bed on Sunday to go to church? You want them to
remember what you taught them?
I think you’ve got your answer.
Source: The above is the September 30, 2011 posting on a blog called Stet. The blogger is Adrianne Dorr. Ms Dorr is the
managing editor of The Lutheran Witness.
St. Paul’s Golf Tournament
March 2013
Hold the date! The 20th Annual St. Paul’s
School Golf Tournament will be held on
Monday September 16 at Winters Run Golf
Club in Bel Air, Maryland. Proceeds benefit the
education program at St. Paul’s School. Look
for registration and sponsorship information in
the spring. If you have any questions, please
contact the school office at 410-592-8100.
Submitted by John Bruck
We will celebrate the Rite of Confirmation at our
11 a.m. Palm Sunday service on March 24. At that
service, our youth will publically confess their faith
in the Triune God, the very faith that the Holy
Spirit created in their hearts in Holy Baptism.
Please join or this important event in the life of our
congregation.
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