What about Confirmation?

Although you won’t find confirmation mentioned in the Bible, it has been widely practiced since the third century, and in many churches is a sign of adult membership and a means of entry into communion. It provides those who have been baptised as infants with an opportunity to declare their Christian faith publicly.

In the early church adult candidates were totally immersed in water and then anointed with oil and hands were laid on them by the bishop. This expressed their union with Christ and their incorporation into the Christian community. As baptising children became widespread, things had to change. The anointing and laying on of hands were separated off and took place at a time when the people were old enough to reiterate the promises and the expressions of faith made on their behalf when they were baptised. A Church of England confirmation service involves a Bishop laying hands on the candidates in response to their declaration of faith.

So what is the meaning of confirmation?

Confirmation gives people baptised in infancy a public opportunity to profess their personal faith in Jesus Christ; and the laying on of hands by the Bishop confirms God’s commitment to strengthen and protect them in their Christian walk.

It is important to recognise that confirmation is not a ‘topping up’ of baptism, or the moment when the candidate receives the Holy Spirit for the first time. Baptism alone is a mark of membership of the body of Christ through repentance, faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are therefore not talking about a ‘two stage’ initiation process. Confirmation provides an opportunity for candidates to reaffirm the promises and declarations of faith made on their behalf by their parents and godparents at their baptism and to acknowledge their membership of one part of the universal church.

Confirmation is a commissioning for service, not a passing-out parade, as it marks an important stage in a life of active service for Christ.