Confirmation

The meaning of confirmation

In the early days of the Church, baptism and confirmation took place at the same time – normally around Easter. The rite would be performed by a Bishop, who, after baptism, would extended his hands over the candidate, anoint them with the sign of the cross on the forehead; and pray for the Lord to confirm them with the Holy Spirit.

In time this changed – but it wasn’t for theological reasons. As the church grew it was simply not practical or possible for the Bishop to be present at every baptism.

So a new tradition developed whereby the priest conducted the baptism and the bishop came later for the confirmation. Over time this led to the situation whereby baptism was assumed to be appropriate to infancy and confirmation to later years.

As a separate rite, confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which the participation in the life of God’s people inaugurated at baptism is confirmed by the bishop by the laying on of hands, and in which those who have been baptised affirm for themselves the faith into which they have been baptised and their intention to live a life of responsible and committed discipleship.

Through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop, the Church also asks God to give them power through the Holy Spirit to enable them to live in this way.

When confirmation is part of a combined rite including adult baptism it has a slightly different significance. In this case the confirmation element signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit following on from baptism in water. The biblical model for this is Christ’s own baptism in which, the gospels tell us, the Spirit descended on Him when He came up out of the water after having been baptised by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:32-33).

The different confirmation services in the Church of England

As in the case of baptism, there are two types of confirmation service in the Church of England, those that follow the confirmation service in The Book of Common Prayer and those that use the pattern of confirmation service contained in Common Worship. Most confirmation services today follow the Common Worship pattern.

The content of the confirmation services

The Book of Common Prayer confirmation rite is brief. It consists of:

• A declaration by the candidates that they renew the ‘solemn promise and vow’ made on their behalf at their baptisms. A prayer by the people led by the bishop asking that God will strengthen those who are confirmed with the Holy Spirit and that they will be given the sevenfold gifts of God’s grace mentioned in Isaiah 11:2.
• The laying on of hands by the bishop with the words: ‘Defend. O Lord this thy child [or this thy servant] with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit, more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom.’
• Prayers led by the bishop, who asks that God’s Fatherly hand will be over the candidates, that His Holy Spirit will ever be with them and that they will be led by God to attain everlasting life.

Although the basic elements of the rite remain the same, The Common Worship Confirmation rite is longer and contains a number of additional elements:

It begins with the bishop asking the candidates to state whether they are ready to be baptised or have been baptised already and whether they are willing to affirm their faith in Jesus Christ. At this point candidates may be invited to give their testimony – a brief statement about how God has brought them to this point in their lives.

The bishop then asks the candidates to repeat the renunciation of the devil and all that is evil and the declaration of turning to Christ from the baptism service.

If there are any candidates who have not been baptised they are next baptised by the bishop. After this has taken place all the candidates join with the bishop and the rest of the congregation in reciting the Apostles’ Creed as an expression of the Christian faith into which they were baptised and which they are now affirming for themselves. They may then be signed or sprinkled with water as a reminder of their baptism and of their need to remain faithful to the commitment to God that their baptism involved.

Using words based on Isaiah 11:2, the bishop leads the people in praying for the Holy Spirit to rest upon those being confirmed and following this confirmation prayer the bishop addresses each candidate by name and says:

‘[Name] God has called you by name and made you his own.’

The bishop then lays his hand on the head of each candidate, saying

‘Confirm, O Lord, your servant [Name] with your Holy Spirit.’

Each candidate replies Amen.

When all have been confirmed in this way, the bishop invites the congregation to join with him in praying:

Defend, O Lord, these your servants with your heavenly grace,
that they may continue yours for ever,
and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more
until they come to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

The bishop may then use words of commissioning in which the candidates are able to express their determination, with the help of God, to live a life of Christian discipleship and the candidates may also be anointed with oil as an additional sign of their anointing by the Holy Spirit.

The Age for confirmation

Anyone may be confirmed who has been baptised, who is old enough to answer responsibly for themselves, and who has received appropriate preparation. In the Church of England it has been traditional for people to be confirmed in their early teens, but there is no set age for confirmation; and many people are now being confirmed as adults as they discover for themselves the freedom that Christ brings.

Preparation for confirmation

The purpose of confirmation preparation is to ensure that those who are confirmed have a proper understanding of what it means to live as a disciple of Christ within the life of the Church of England. In The Book of Common Prayer it is envisaged that this preparation will take the form of learning by heart the Apostles Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and The Book of Common Prayer Catechism.

Today a more comprehensive course of preparation is felt to be appropriate. As in the case of baptism preparation, the form that this preparation takes will vary according to the practice of the church or cathedral concerned and the particular needs and circumstances of the confirmation candidates.

Where confirmation takes place

Many people are confirmed in the church or cathedral that they normally attend. However, it is common for two or more nearby churches to join together for a joint confirmation service. There are 585 churches in the Diocese of Lichfield – and if each of the four bishops were to do one Confirmation a week, it would take nearly three years to cover the whole diocese.

Most confirmation services take place on Sundays – but they can also take place on midweek evenings. Some children and young people are confirmed at their school.

Confirmation and Holy Communion

According to the Canons (laws) of the Church of England those who receive Holy Communion in the Church of England should either have been confirmed in the Church of England or should be ready and desire to be confirmed. However, as has already been explained, there is an exception to this requirement in the case of children who are admitted to Communion prior to confirmation in the context of an agreed diocesan and parochial policy that this should be the case.

Those who are baptised communicant members in good standing of other churches are also welcome to receive Holy Communion in the Church of England with the understanding that if they continue doing so indefinitely then they should be made aware of the normal requirements for reception.

It is normal for Confirmation to be followed straight away by Holy Communion, although in cases where confirmation has not taken place in a candidate’s parish church they may instead take Communion for the first time in that church on the following Sunday.

Confirmation and holding office in the Church of England

The Canons lay down that those who wish to exercise certain leadership roles in the Church of England, including ordained ministers, readers and licensed lay workers need to be confirmed as a sign of their commitment to living as disciples of Christ as the Church of England understands it

Confirmation in another Christian tradition

The Canons also lay down that Christians from churches in which confirmation is not performed by a bishop need to be confirmed by a bishop if they wish formally to be admitted into the Church of England.

Those who have been confirmed in a church whose ministerial orders are recognised and accepted by the Church of England and in which confirmation is performed by a bishop, or by a priest acting on the bishop’s behalf and using chrism blessed by the bishop, do not need to be confirmed. They are simply received into the Church of England instead.

Joint Confirmation

Some of our churches are designated as a Local Ecumenical Project (LEP). This means that it is a church which is shared by two or more denominations. In these cases it is likely that any confirmation service will be a joint confirmation – with the bishop being joined by an appropriate minister from the partner denomination.

The reason for this practice is that since candidates for Confirmation who belong to a single Christian church are confirmed within that tradition by an appropriate minister from that tradition, it is therefore right that candidates for Confirmation who identify with more than one Church because of they have come to faith in an LEP should be jointly confirmed within all the churches concerned by the appropriate ministers from those churches.

In addition, joint Confirmation also expresses the joint or shared oversight of the LEP by the appropriate ministers of these churches. It is a sign that all the churches involved accept their responsibility for pastoral oversight of that LEP.

Joint Confirmations can take place between the Church of England and one or more other churches which practice the rite of Confirmation and who accept the Anglican rite. These will normally be the Methodist, United Reformed, Moravian or Lutheran churches. Joint Confirmation with the Roman Catholic Church is not permitted by its Canons.

In a joint Confirmation the confirming minister from the Church of England is always a bishop. In the case of the other churches it is the appropriate minister in terms of their practice. Those who are confirmed in this way are confirmed both in the Church of England and in the other churches involved.

For information about adult baptism please click here

To find out more about the theology of Christian Initiation please click here

• For more information about Confirmation please contact your local parish church.  You can find contact details for all our churches by clicking here.  Alternatively email your full contact details - including postal address - to info@lichfield.anglican.org and we will send your enquiry to your local parish.