Confirmation class of 2026 - St Nicholas' Church, 28 April 2026

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​Confirmation Testimony - Pamela Farley

​As a child I regularly attended Sunday School and frequently attended church services with my mother, and sister and occasionally also my father. This continued until I left home to commence occupational training.

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Once away from home it became difficult for me to find and attend a church and thus my attendance diminished.  Throughout my adult life I have continually remembered the Christian celebrations, readings and have passively listened to religious broadcasts throughout the years.

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My journey with Christ has been continual, but more as a friend in the background. I wish to make the relationship more prominent and learn and understand more of the teachings from within the Holy Bible.

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Since the start of our recent journey, my thoughts and actions towards others have changed and become more considerate. I would like my relationship with Christ to become closer.

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Confirmation Testimony – Tim Farley

When I was a child, religion paid very little part in my life, if at all.   Now as I look back on my life, I can see the paths that were laid out for me. I have thought for a long time that there’s something or someone that is guiding me and giving me strength mentally.

 

The journey really started when I was 24 years old, I had a major traffic accident which changed my life.  I remember looking down at myself on the hospital bed and saying to myself, ‘this is not the time to die, there’s so much I need to do’.  My life started to have direction, I met my wife, we have two fabulous children who now have their own families and we’ve had a good life from then on until now.

 

There was one particular occasion after my mother had passed away, she was cremated and when we received the ashes, I knew I needed help from the church. I couldn’t just dispose of them, throw them away. They were very important to me, so I arranged for a local vicar, near to where my mother used to live, to be with me and my newly found sisters, to scatter my mum’s ashes and say a final goodbye.

 

Over the years I have visited churches, maybe on holiday, but I have always felt a little bit on the outside; looking in like a stranger, who’s knocked at the door of someone’s house and saying ‘can I come in’.

 

Only a year ago my nephew died, it was a very sad time. He was our page boy when my wife and I got married.  He had been part of my life in his early life and we had lost touch a few times, but over the latter years we had become close again.  I needed to find a church, to go to think and talk to God. The church was closed, I passed by, went home, I just felt I wanted to take my thoughts to God.

 

Then later I was going past St Mary’s Church and there was a sign outside welcoming people in for a coffee morning. The first time I saw it I thought not a lot about it and passed on by, but subsequently, on other occasions I wanted to go in, so the next time I saw a sign I went through the door of the church and was welcomed, initially by Karen but others too. I felt I was in the right place so that Sunday, my wife and I went along, and have done ever since. We’ve joined the Bible studies, we’ve talked about the Bible and challenged our own thoughts in discussion.

I now feel that I’m no longer on the outside looking in, but I am part of that family, the church family, everyone has been so friendly and so welcoming, our lay minister Daphne is absolutely fantastic, so inclusive in everything that she does.

 

What I have learned over these many years is life is like a game of snakes and ladders. We start at the bottom, but we have no idea where it may take us, but what is certain there will be drawbacks on the way. We humans are so individual, we all have our frailties, we all have our good points, our bad points, we all make mistakes, but hopefully we all learn by those mistakes. When things get tough in our lives, we look for help and sometimes we may look to God for help, and if we do, we can be assured that He will always be there for us and will never abandon us.​​​​