Confirmation

The bishop will be making his visitation to Christ Church this Sunday. We will be presenting nine young people to be confirmed and two adults to be received into the Episcopal Church.

It’s a relatively large group, in part because my predecessor did not have a high regard for confirmation. I understand the theological basis for that point of view – baptism is the sacrament that gives us full membership in the Christian church, and nothing is needed to “complete” that process once one has reached a certain age. The restored emphasis on baptism in the 1979 prayer book has necessarily meant a diminishment in the importance of confirmation.

Nevertheless, most of the youth who will be confirmed were baptized when they were infants. They have not had the opportunity to make a mature public profession of their faith, individually, before a bishop. They are now excited and eager to do so. And witnessing that level of commitment will strengthen the faith of the whole community. For me, that it is more important than any abstract theological reasoning.

I remember my own confirmation quite vividly. I was confirmed by my father after three years of classes for which he wrote the texts. During the service, as he reached me in the line of confirmands, his voice broke. (I later learned that he had been unable to speak while confirming one of my older siblings.) In the Lutheran Church, confirmation meant a lot. That’s why it took me so long to agree to let an Episcopal bishop lay his hands on my head. As far as I was concerned, once was good enough.

So I understand what it will mean to the two adults who are to be received into the Episcopal Church on Sunday. It means moving into a new stage in faith. It is not a repudiation of the past, for the past is what brought us to faith in the first place. Rather, it represents a renewed willingness to stand up and witness to Jesus Christ in this place at this time.

No doubt our bishop will follow his usual custom of asking those present to come forward for the laying on of hands in reaffirmation of their faith. I haven’t prepared anyone especially for that – it’s one aspect of the preparation process that I’d like to change next time – yet I’m hoping some will rise to the challenge. After all, if we cannot witness to our faith among one another, how will we ever be able to proclaim to anyone by word and example the good news of God in Christ?