Thursday, April 24, 2008

An Order of Confirmation

The following Order of Confirmation is substantially that of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with several additions and alterations that do not change the Biblical and Reformation theology of the 1662 Order of Confirmation. One of the additions is an alternative prayer for the strengthening of the Holy Spirit. This prayer recognizes that the Anglican Church does not hold one sole doctrine in regards to baptismal regeneration but tolerates two different schools of thought upon the matter.

AN ORDER OF CONFIRMATION

This order of Confirmation may be used after the first reading at Morning or Evening Prayer or after the first reading or Gospel at The Holy Communion.

If the order is used as a separate service, it may begin with a hymn, canticle, or psalm, and the bishop may greet the people. This order may also follow immediately after the baptism of those who answer for themselves. When this occurs, the renewal of the baptismal promise and vow is omitted if the congregation were present at the baptism. [1]

The candidates for confirmation and/or reception stand before the bishop. The bishop (or some other minister appointed by him) reads the following Preface:

Out of the belief that Confirmation should be ministered to the building up of those who are to receive it, the Church has thought good to order that none shall be confirmed, but those that know and understand the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and have been further instructed in the essentials of the Christian faith. This order is very convenient to be observed to the end that children, being now arrived at the age of discretion, and having learned what their godparents promised for them in Baptism, may themselves, with their own mouths and consent, openly before the church ratify and confirm the same, and also promise that, by the grace of God, they will endeavor faithfully to observe all things that they, by their own confession, have agreed to.

The bishop may then address the congregation and the candidates. [2]

The candidates may be invited to give their testimony. [3]

Then the bishop asks the candidates:

Do you here, in the presence of God and this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow that you made or that was made in your name, at your Baptism? Do you ratify and confirm that solemn promise and vow; and acknowledge yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things that you then undertook, or your sponsors undertook for you? [4]

The candidates answer:

I do.

Then the bishop says:

Our help is in the Name of the Lord

Answer. Who has made heaven and earth.

Bishop. Blessed be the Name of the Lord

Answer. Now and for evermore.

Bishop. Lord, hear our prayer.

Answer. And let our cry come to you.

The bishop continues:

Almighty and ever-living God, by whose grace these your servants have
been born again of water and the Spirit, and have received forgiveness of all their sins; Strengthen them, we pray, O Lord, with the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and daily increase in them your plentiful gifts of grace; the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of guidance and strength; the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of your holy fear, both now and for ever. Amen.

or

Almighty and ever-living God, you did condescend to receive these your servants into the Church by Baptism, and have given them grace to profess their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ anew, or for the first time, through the renewal of the solemn promise and vow that they made or that was made in their name, at Baptism; Strengthen them, we pray, O Lord, with the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and daily increase in them your plentiful gifts of grace; the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of guidance and strength; the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of your holy fear, both now and for ever. Amen. [5]


The candidates kneel before the bishop who lays his hands upon the head of each and prays the following prayer:

Defend, O Lord, this your child N [or this your servant N] with your heavenly grace, that he may continue to be yours for ever; and daily increase in your Holy Spirit until he comes to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

When there are those present who come from other Christian bodies to be received into membership, then each kneels before the bishop who says:

N we recognize you as a member of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion. May God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bless, preserve and keep you. Amen. [6]

A hymn may be sung and the bishop may address the newly confirmed. [7]

Then the bishop says:

The Lord be with you.

Answer. And also with you.

Let us pray,

If the Lord’s Prayer is not used elsewhere in the service, it is now said. [8]

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 your now and for ever. Amen.

or

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

The bishop says this prayer:

Almighty and ever-living God, who make us both to will and to do those things that are good and acceptable to you; we humbly pray for these your servants upon whom (after the example of your holy apostle) we have now laid our hands, to assure them (by this sign) of your favor and gracious goodness towards them. Let your fatherly hand, we ask, ever be over them; let your Holy Spirit ever be with them; and so lead them in knowledge and obedience of your Word, that in the end they may obtain everlasting life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

This prayer, or some other suitable collect, may be added, in which all may join: [9]

Almighty and everlasting God, be pleased, we pray, to direct, sanctify, and govern our hearts and bodies in the ways of your commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be kept safe in body and soul, and joyfully serve you in the work of the gospel to which you have called us; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. [10]

A hymn may be sung. [11]

The bishop then blesses those who have been confirmed, saying:

The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you, for ever. Amen.

A reading from the New Testament may follow.

A sermon may be preached here.

Morning or Evening Prayer may resume at the Apostles’ Creed or at the prayers. The Holy Communion resumes at the offertory. [12]

When Confirmation is ministered only to those who answered for themselves at their Baptism, the Preface is omitted. [13]

Endnotes:
[1] These four rubrics were adapted from the Order of Confirmation, First Form, of An Australian Prayer Book (1978).
[2] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1926 Irish Prayer Book.
[3] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the Anglican Church of Kenya’s Our Modern Services (2002, 2003).
[4] The renewal of the baptismal promise and vow was adapted from that in the Order of Confirmation of the 1789 American Prayer Book.
[5] This alternative prayer was adapted from the prayer, "Almighty and everliving God, who didst vouchsafe to receive these they Servants into thy Church by Baptism…" in the Order of Confirmation of the 1786 Proposed American Prayer Book.
[6] This recognition, reception, and blessing of those coming from other Christian bodies was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1979 American Prayer Book.
[7] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1926 Irish Prayer Book.
[8] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation, First Form, of An Australian Prayer Book (1978).
[9] The first part of this rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1926 Irish Prayer Book and the second part from the Order of Confirmation, First Form, of An Australian Prayer Book (1978).
[10] This version of the collect, "Almighty and everlasting God, be pleased, we pray, to direct, sanctify, and govern our hearts and bodies in the ways of your commandments…" was taken from the Order of Confirmation, First Form, of An Australian Prayer Book (1978).
[11] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1926 Irish Prayer Book.
[12] These three rubrics were adapted from the Order of Confirmation, First Form, of An Australian Prayer Book (1978).
[13] This rubric was taken from the Order of Confirmation of the 1926 Irish Prayer Book.

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