Is the Holy Spirit a necessary presupposition for repentance?

**Background**: I had a discussion with my church leadership and their position is that without the Holy Spirit there can be no repentance. **The issue in more detail**: My proposal was to do a service where a big chunk of the service is dedicated to writing down your sins, asking God for forgiveness, and throwing that paper in the fire afterwards. I know it's a bit confrontational but I thought, given how important repentance is for the relationship with God, I thought dedicating a service with a special event might be a good idea. - Their objection was that repentance is something that cannot be planned in a service, because to do repentance you need the Holy Spirit, which you cannot control. - My position is that repentance is an act that you as a person do by confessing your sins and asking God for forgiveness. If the Holy Spirit is active and convicts one of sin, then that is nice but it still starts with oneself. I would even go so far as to say that for a full repentance you *do* need the Holy Spirit because one is blind to one's own sin, but I don't think you need the Holy Spirit to start repenting. **Biblical examples**: - In the story of the prodigal son I don't see a passage where the Holy Spirit convicted the son. He found himself in the dirt, went back to his father and showed remorse, and asked for forgiveness. (Luke 15:14-21) - David, when confronted by the prophet Nathan, asked for forgiveness for killing Uriah, which he did without the Holy Spirit. (2 Samuel 12:13) - The Parable of the Tax Collector does not mention the Holy Spirit or anything similar. The important part here is having a remorseful and a humble heart. (Luke 18:9-14) - The guy next to Jesus at the cross also only asked to think of him when Jesus goes to heaven. (Luke 23:40-42) To repeat: I am not saying that the Holy Spirit does not convict people of sin but I do not think He is necessary for repentance. Hence my question: **Is the Holy Spirit necessary for starting repentance?** ----- Edit (since I was asked about the denomination for this question): We are a small church that would classify as Charismatic. However, I am open to and I value the opinions of all denominations, since I think that is one good way to find the actual truth. Furthermore, I think this topic should be basic enough that we can find a consensus beyond a single denomination.