St. Mary's confirmands attend retreat

Sparta - St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Sparta hosted the confirmation of 75 youths at two services on Sunday, June 4. At the first service, 12 confirmands of St. Mary’s were confirmed by The Right Reverend John P. Croneberger, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. The bishop also officiated later when 63 additional youngsters were confirmed. The 75 confirmands were from the 14 churches of District 2 of the Newark Diocese. The St. Mary’s confirmands were accompanied by The Reverend Orion Davis, St. Mary’s priest, and Cathy Vonderahe, senior warden. The group arrived to attend a weekend retreat at the Serenity Lodge in Lake George, N.Y. The purpose of the retreat was to provide a comprehensive workshop comprised of lectures and prayer designed to examine each confirmand’s understanding and to answer questions relative to the purpose of confirmation. Though it was primarily a working weekend, time out was taken for relaxation and fun at Lake George.