A Service for Confirmation: A Step in the Right Direction

By Robin G.Jordan

The rites and services that have so far been produced under the auspices of the Anglican Church in North America’s College of Bishops and endorsed by the College unequivocally show the partisan character of that body. It is dominated by Anglo-Catholic and philo-Orthodox bishops and bishops who share their views.

These rites and services conform to quite different set of doctrinal and liturgical standards than the Scriptures and the Anglican formularies. They give expression to unreformed Catholic doctrinal views and countenance and even enjoin unreformed Catholic liturgical practices.

Lacking in the rites and services produced to date is any evidence of a reasonable effort to make them genuinely comprehensive, acceptable to a broad spectrum of conservative Anglicans. The variable options in the rites and services are largely to enable those planning a rite or service to make it more pronouncedly Anglo-Catholic and philo-Orthodox.

Below I have reproduced A Service for Confirmation from the Diocese of Sydney’s Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings. The service is based on the Order of Confirmation in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. It conforms to the doctrine of the Book of Homilies and the Articles of Religion as well as that of the 1662 Prayer Book.

Three Prayer Books are authorized for use in the Anglican Church of Australia—The Book of Common Prayer (1662), An Australian Prayer Book (1978), and A Prayer Book for Australia (1995). The Anglican Church of Australia’s canons also permit its dioceses to produce their own service books.

Among the notable features of A Service for Confirmation is that the preface has been omitted. It leaves instruction on the nature of confirmation and the like to the ministers preparing the confirmation candidates and the bishop confirming them.

The service generously presumes that those who are being presented to be confirmed have experienced the new birth. For this reason they desire to profess their faith in Jesus Christ before the gathered church and to receive the prayers of the church. It does not teach that regeneration accompanies baptism while at the same time it does not rule out that possibility. It does not infer that confirmation is a biblical ordinance or a sacrament. Indeed it is silent on those issues. It is a service that both Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals can use.

A SERVICE FOR CONFIRMATION

The service takes place within a Service of the Word and Prayer or the Lord’s Supper.

1. The candidates are presented to the bishop.

2. The bishop says

Let us pray

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, by your Holy Spirit you have called these your servants and made them your children by adoption and grace; mercifully grant that, being strengthened by the same Spirit, they may continue your servants and receive your promises; through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

THE COMMITMENT

3. The bishop says to the candidates

Those who are to be confirmed are first invited to reaffirm the promises made at their baptism.

You must therefore declare again your allegiance to Christ and your rejection of all that is evil: the devil and all his works, the empty display and false values of the world, and the sinful desires of the flesh.

 The bishop may address each candidate individually

Therefore I ask you

Do you turn to Christ?

I turn to Christ.

Do you repent of your sins?

I repent of my sins.

Do you reject selfish living, and all that is false and unjust?

I reject them all.

Do you renounce Satan and all evil?

I renounce all that is evil.

The bishop says to the candidates as a group

Will you each, by God's grace, strive to live as a disciple of Christ, loving God with your whole heart, and your neighbour as yourself, until your life’s end?

I will, with God's help.

4. The bishop says to the congregation

You have heard these our brothers and sisters respond to God's call to love and serve him throughout their lives.

Will you support them in this high calling?

We will do so.

5. The bishop says to the candidates

You who are to be confirmed must now yourselves affirm before God and his church the Christian faith into which you were baptised.

Do you believe in God the Father?

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

  creator of heaven and earth.

Do you believe in God the Son?

I believe in Jesus Christ,

  God’s only Son, our Lord,

  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

  born of the virgin Mary,

  suffered under Pontius Pilate,

  was crucified, died, and was buried;

  he descended to the dead.

  On the third day he rose again from the dead;

  he ascended into heaven,

  and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

  from there he will come to judge

  the living and the dead.

Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

  the holy catholic church,

  the communion of saints,

  the forgiveness of sins,

  the resurrection of the body,

  and the life everlasting. Amen.

The bishop says to the congregation

This is the faith of the Church.

The congregation responds

This is our faith: We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

THE CONFIRMATION

6. The bishop says

We come now to confirm those who have been baptised and instructed in the Christian faith, laying hands on them and praying that God’s indwelling Spirit will strengthen and guide them throughout their lives.

Let us pray that God who has begun a good work in these our brothers and sisters will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. 

.

Almighty and everliving God, you have been pleased to grant to your servants new birth by water and the Holy Spirit and have given them forgiveness of their sins; strengthen them, we pray, with the Holy Spirit; grant that they may grow in grace; and give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of discernment and inner strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and fill them, Father, with wonder and awe in your presence, now and for ever. Amen.

7. The bishop lays his hand on each of the candidates individually.

Defend, O Lord, this your servant N with your heavenly grace, that he/she may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more until he/she comes to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

or

Strengthen Lord your servant N with your Holy Spirit. Empower and sustain him/her for your service. Amen

8. The bishop prays.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

Almighty and everliving God, we pray for these your servants upon whom we have now laid our hands, following the apostles’ example, to assure them of your love for them. May your fatherly hand ever protect them. Let your Holy Spirit ever be with them to uphold them in the love of Christ and to lead them in obedience to your word. Strengthen them with your heavenly grace and keep them in eternal life; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

9. Other prayers follow

10. The bishop concludes the service with these words

Go forth into the world in peace;

be of good courage;

hold fast that which is good;

render to no one evil for evil;

strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted;

give honour to all;

love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always. Amen

Purchase Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings - PRINTED  EBOOK

See also my previous articles "The Draft Preface to the Proposed ACNA Rite of Confirmation: An Evaluation" and "5 Reasons Why I Advocate a Second Alternative North American Anglican Province."