Didn't go through with confirmation

[RadMan]

I don't know if that's the absolute rule or not...I think Matt gives people the option, but if someone wants to be baptized and confesses Christ Matt won't make them wait until they're done taking the confirmation class.

I've seen it done both ways in a couple of different churches. I guess it's more the person's preference than anything.

And that was the essence of my question and the quandary. If I was baptised in any church , since baptism is of God, and came to your church and confessed my agreement of the Lutheran beliefs then why would that keep me from taking communion. I wouldn't have to take confirmation then. In essence that is what Matt is saying. I have confessed my beliefs and was baptized and it has nothing to do with my denom background.

I'm not trying to be difficult but just trying to figure this out.

 

[DaRev]

And that was the essence of my question and the quandary. If I was baptised in any church , since baptism is of God, and came to your church and confessed my agreement of the Lutheran beliefs then why would that keep me from taking communion. I wouldn't have to take confirmation then. In essence that is what Matt is saying. I have confessed my beliefs and was baptized and it has nothing to do with my denom background.

I'm not trying to be difficult but just trying to figure this out.

I would have to ask where you obtained your understanding of Lutheran beliefs from. As the pastor, I would have to thoroughly examine you in order to know whether or not you truly know and understand the Lutheran teachings so that you could adequately make that public confession of faith by kneeling at the altar to receive the Sacrament. Simply being baptized and stating "I believe in the Lutheran beliefs" doesn't necessarily warrant automatic admittance to the table.

 

[Edial]

Are there any other Lutherans who didn't go through with confirmation or communion? I was baptised as a Lutheran, but I never went through with confirmation or anything.

I am not certain if I went through confirmation,

Pastor said that I do not need to go to the confirmation classes and when I became a member I was asked questions concerning my faith.

Was I confirmed?

Thanks,
Ed

 

[DaRev]

I don't know about the ELCA, but in the LCMS adults can be brought into membership a few different ways. All must be baptized, that's a given. Communicant membership can be through regular Confirmation, Reaffirmation of Faith (usually for those who have been away from the Church for a time), or Confession of Faith, which sounds like what you did. These would have to be determined by the pastor after thorough examination.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

The way I see it is this way:

To be baptized, you need only confess Christ as your savior. That faith is all that is needed, whether as a baby or as an adult. So, if someone wished to be baptized and confessed Christ, they can be baptized.

Confirmation, however, delves into the doctrine of the church, as well as matters of faith. One doesn't need to know the doctrine of the Lutheran church to be baptized.

That's why we don't make people wait to be baptized until they have completed the confirmation instruction.

I think Matt has joked before that if someone came to his door, confessed Christ and asked to be baptized that he would do it. Obviously he would encourage them to come to church, but there would be no requirement that they become a member of our church before they could be baptized.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

And that was the essence of my question and the quandary. If I was baptised in any church , since baptism is of God, and came to your church and confessed my agreement of the Lutheran beliefs then why would that keep me from taking communion. I wouldn't have to take confirmation then. In essence that is what Matt is saying. I have confessed my beliefs and was baptized and it has nothing to do with my denom background.

I'm not trying to be difficult but just trying to figure this out.

If you have confessed, publicly, your agreement with the Lutheran church, then you have essentially been confirmed.

There are many different ways to be confirmed...it doesn't always have to be a 6 week long course or a three year course.

My own dad didn't take any courses. He came from the ALC and his pastor asked him a couple of key questions and based on my dad's answers he was made a member. That's a bit different, since he came from a Lutheran background, but the principle is the same.

 

[Edial]

I don't know about the ELCA, but in the LCMS adults can be brought into membership a few different ways. All must be baptized, that's a given. Communicant membership can be through regular Confirmation, Reaffirmation of Faith (usually for those who have been away from the Church for a time), or Confession of Faith, which sounds like what you did. These would have to be determined by the pastor after thorough examination.

Good ... now I can go back to fighting in that thread with a clear conscience.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

I went through it...but I was scared to because I heard there were tests involved and the pastor could refuse to confirm you....but I am glad I went through it because the tests were super easy and the pastor was wonderful.

Since you are an adult now, have you considered going to an Adult Inquirers class at a local Lutheran church and getting confirmed that way? It's a lot easier and you learn TONS!!

It is a lot easier as an adult. When I was confirmed we were "examined" facing the congregation ant the front of the Church, during a regular service. We were terrorized, but what a sense of achievement when we were finished. I also think that knowing we had to do this, made us more serious about learning our stuff.

Mark

 

[BigNorsk]

People baptized in a Lutheran congregation that don't take confirmation are pretty common actually. Just often not that visible because many of them are not sitting in a Lutheran pew, though some are.

Confirmation isn't an absolute requirement. It's not a sacrament like the Catholics teach, though you maybe wouldn't know that in some congregations.

It's retained not because it's commanded but because a time of more intense study usually with the pastor but at least with a fairly learned adult is a very useful thing. Even though many don't use it for quite a few years after their confirmation.

Sometimes it's almost scary that even with confirmation how little the average Lutheran seems to understand and retain, but if you go to other groups then you often see real lack of knowledge, though not always.

The name confirmation really comes from the person confirming their baptism, during which they typically were too young to speak for themselves.

In many congregations, confirmation has really become kind of linked to communion and a rite of passage as well, but again there is no commandment of God doing so.

Could I ask the OP why?

Marv

 

[filosofer]

[FONT= "Book Antiqua"]
Might be worth treating the young people as adults. Those who have visions of inflicting terror on the youngsters ("Like we were!") have often advocated examinations in front of the church for the youth. I agree to do that, but if any youth misses any question, anyone in the congregation is free game for me to ask them in front of the congregation. No one has urged "youth examinations" in front of the congregation since.

[/font]

 

[DaRev]

The way I see it is this way:

To be baptized, you need only confess Christ as your savior. That faith is all that is needed, whether as a baby or as an adult. So, if someone wished to be baptized and confessed Christ, they can be baptized.

Confirmation, however, delves into the doctrine of the church, as well as matters of faith. One doesn't need to know the doctrine of the Lutheran church to be baptized.

That's why we don't make people wait to be baptized until they have completed the confirmation instruction.

I think Matt has joked before that if someone came to his door, confessed Christ and asked to be baptized that he would do it. Obviously he would encourage them to come to church, but there would be no requirement that they become a member of our church before they could be baptized.

Traditionally, the Church has used Baptismal interrogation as the means of making that confession of faith in Christ. This is based on the Scriptural premise of "confess and be baptized." The Baptismal Rite has always included this interrogation in the form of the Apostle's Creed which was developed for the purpose of Baptismal interrogation. It would require one to be able to make such a confession. Infants and small children have those questions answered by one who has authority to speak for them. Older children and adults answer for themselves, thus it is necessary to understand what it is they are agreeing to. This is why the LCMS has traditionally instructed Baptismal candidates prior to Baptism. It's actually an ancient practice.

 

[PreachersWife2004]

Let me ask you this, Rev...

Would you make someone take confirmation classes because they came to you and asked you to baptize them? Would they HAVE to become a member of your church before you would grant them a baptism?

 

[DaRev]

Let me ask you this, Rev...

Would you make someone take confirmation classes because they came to you and asked you to baptize them? Would they HAVE to become a member of your church before you would grant them a baptism?

Baptism makes them a member of the Church (baptized member). If they wanted to be baptized but didn't want to be a member of the Church, I wouold question their motive and ask why they want to be baptized.

As I said before, baptism and instruction go hand in hand according the the Scriptures. In the case of those who cannot yet be instructed in the faith, their confession is made for them by one who has the authority to speak for them. Part of this is the promise to raise the child in the faith and teach them all that Christ commands according to the Scriptures.
In the case of those who can speak for themselves, they would need to be instructed in the faith in order to confess the faith on their own. This is the same instruction the preceeds confirmation. (Confirmation is just the personal reaffirmation of one's baptismal confession.)

They would not necessarily need to join our congregation, but as I said I would question them as to why they want to be baptized if they have no intention of joining the Church.


The short answer to your question is Yes, older children and adults need to be instructed before Baptism.

 

[BigNorsk]

Might be worth treating the young people as adults. Those who have visions of inflicting terror on the youngsters ("Like we were!") have often advocated examinations in front of the church for the youth. I agree to do that, but if any youth misses any question, anyone in the congregation is free game for me to ask them in front of the congregation. No one has urged "youth examinations" in front of the congregation since.

I had to smile at this. Ever been tempted to have a drop quiz from the pulpit?

You, you and you get up here and answer some questions.

I'm not sure if everyone would come to see, or if they would not come to avoid. Might get people to pay attention during the sermons.

Marv

 

[porterross]

[FONT= "Book Antiqua"]
Might be worth treating the young people as adults. Those who have visions of inflicting terror on the youngsters ("Like we were!") have often advocated examinations in front of the church for the youth. I agree to do that, but if any youth misses any question, anyone in the congregation is free game for me to ask them in front of the congregation. No one has urged "youth examinations" in front of the congregation since.

[/font]

How about the confirmands quizzing the congregation instead? I would bet that a fair number of those confirmed as teens would be caught off guard.

 

[DaRev]

How about the confirmands quizzing the congregation instead? I would bet that a fair number of those confirmed as teens would be caught off guard.

Ha! The next quiz I send the Kidlet I'll send a copy for you as well.

 

[glamourdollxoxo]

Thanks for your input everyone with me I was baptised when I was about five years old, but my family stopped attending church after that so I've kind of been on my own until now that I'm in college and I have attended the Lutheran church, but I haven't gotten up early enough for the 9 o clock service where I'm assuming they do communion. I have done open communion at the non denominational campus church that I attend. It's something I will deffiantly look into though.

 

[DaSeminarian]

Might be worth treating the young people as adults. Those who have visions of inflicting terror on the youngsters ("Like we were!") have often advocated examinations in front of the church for the youth. I agree to do that, but if any youth misses any question, anyone in the congregation is free game for me to ask them in front of the congregation. No one has urged "youth examinations" in front of the congregation since.

Since the Six chief parts are what we teach them, I thought that each of them needs to learn them and at examination time they come into a room with me and pick a piece of paper out of the hat that has the numbers 1-6. Whichever number they get is the chief part they have to tell me about in their own words in 5 minutes.

I got the idea of doing this from our Church History prof who made us do two oral presentations for our final.

 

[RadMan]

Traditionally, the Church has used Baptismal interrogation as the means of making that confession of faith in Christ. This is based on the Scriptural premise of "confess and be baptized." The Baptismal Rite has always included this interrogation in the form of the Apostle's Creed which was developed for the purpose of Baptismal interrogation. It would require one to be able to make such a confession. Infants and small children have those questions answered by one who has authority to speak for them. Older children and adults answer for themselves, thus it is necessary to understand what it is they are agreeing to. This is why the LCMS has traditionally instructed Baptismal candidates prior to Baptism. It's actually an ancient practice.

I thought it was "confess" your sins. Didn't know you had to have a creedal confession. Is that Biblical? I must have missed that

 

[RadMan]

Thanks for your input everyone with me I was baptised when I was about five years old, but my family stopped attending church after that so I've kind of been on my own until now that I'm in college and I have attended the Lutheran church, but I haven't gotten up early enough for the 9 o clock service where I'm assuming they do communion. I have done open communion at the non denominational campus church that I attend. It's something I will deffiantly look into though.

Welcome. haven't seen you around here before.