PRESS PHOTO BY LORETTA FENSTERMACHER

Pastor Jeremiah Sassaman of St. Paul's Church, Mertztown, along with The Rev. Dr. Samuel R. Zeiser, bishop of N.E. Pennsylvania Synod, Allentown, confirms Jeffrey Sheetz, Brandon George, Aaron Jarrett, Shelby Tyson, Olivia Radcliffe and Tanner Geist, recently. Beginning his sermon, Zeiser asked the confirmands to come forward and hold the crosier (a bishop's staff symbolizing the rank of his office). Zeiser told the confirmands shepherds carried a similar staff with an open crook on the top end when they tended to their sheep. The staff was sharp at the bottom end to enable the shepherd to defend his sheep from danger and curved at the top to gently pull in sheep when they wandered off. "I am your friend; you are my friends," Zeiser said, and because their handprints are on his crosier they would always be friends, they will always be with him. Confirming their faith at St. Paul's Church, Mertztown, are Bishop of N.E. PA Synod The Rev. Dr. Samuel R. Zeiser, Jeffrey Sheetz, Brandon George, Aaron Jarrett, Shelby Tyson, Pastor Jeremiah Sassaman, Olivia Radcliffe and Tanner Geist.