Thoughts on Confirmation

[PloverWing]

@Michie recently posted an article in OBOB in which the author recommends lowering the recommended Confirmation age to 9 or 10. This is exactly the opposite advice from what I've been thinking lately. I thought it might be interesting to explore this in the Traditional Theology forum, to see how other folks felt about it. What do we envision Confirmation as being, and what role is it playing in practice (as distinct from what we envision in our theology books) in the spiritual lives of young Christians?

Original OBOB thread: Strengthening the Seal: Yet Another Diocese Returns Confirmation to Younger Children, Where It Belongs...

Article referenced in that thread: Understanding the Reality of the Sacrament of Confirmation | Knowing Is Doing

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A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a fellow-Episcopalian friend of mine. They're in their 20s, and I'm a generation older. Both of us had the experience of exploring and questioning faith in our late teens and early 20s, and then coming to a point in our 20s where we were ready to commit to continuing in the Christian faith despite all the doubts and questions. I suspect that's a common experience, and it feels like there should be a sacramental rite that marks that adult commitment. Both of us thought of Confirmation as the natural candidate for this, which made us lean toward an older recommended age for Confirmation, something like 25 or 30.

So when I encountered the above article this evening, it surprised me by recommending a much younger Confirmation age of 9 or 10.

I suppose that's similar to the age at which many young Baptists express a desire for believer's baptism, so perhaps the author's idea is for Confirmation to be linked to the child's first ability to understand and commit to the faith. I can see this as plausible. But it still leaves us without a rite to mark the passage into informed adult faith.

Some questions to invite thought:

1) What role does Confirmation play in your tradition? It's laying on of hands by the bishop, and it's a means of grace (I assume we all agree on those points), but what transition or commitment or stage of spiritual growth does it mark for the young people in your church?

2) I've overheard conversations in my town that went something like this: "Yeah, I went to church until I was Confirmed, and then that was all done, so I didn't have to go back any more." Is that just people in my town, or do you encounter this too? Is there something different we should be doing with Confirmation, if it's viewed like that?

3) Does your church have a rite that marks entrance into informed adult faith? A person goes to college and reads the philosophers and learns about world religions and the Enlightenment and higher criticism and whatever other intellectual challenges are out there, and like Jacob wrestles with it all until they extract a blessing -- and decides to continue being a Christian. Is there a rite for that? Should there be?

 

[All4Christ]

@Michie recently posted an article in OBOB in which the author recommends lowering the recommended Confirmation age to 9 or 10. This is exactly the opposite advice from what I've been thinking lately. I thought it might be interesting to explore this in the Traditional Theology forum, to see how other folks felt about it. What do we envision Confirmation as being, and what role is it playing in practice (as distinct from what we envision in our theology books) in the spiritual lives of young Christians?

Original OBOB thread: Strengthening the Seal: Yet Another Diocese Returns Confirmation to Younger Children, Where It Belongs...

Article referenced in that thread: Understanding the Reality of the Sacrament of Confirmation | Knowing Is Doing

---

A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a fellow-Episcopalian friend of mine. They're in their 20s, and I'm a generation older. Both of us had the experience of exploring and questioning faith in our late teens and early 20s, and then coming to a point in our 20s where we were ready to commit to continuing in the Christian faith despite all the doubts and questions. I suspect that's a common experience, and it feels like there should be a sacramental rite that marks that adult commitment. Both of us thought of Confirmation as the natural candidate for this, which made us lean toward an older recommended age for Confirmation, something like 25 or 30.

So when I encountered the above article this evening, it surprised me by recommending a much younger Confirmation age of 9 or 10.

I suppose that's similar to the age at which many young Baptists express a desire for believer's baptism, so perhaps the author's idea is for Confirmation to be linked to the child's first ability to understand and commit to the faith. I can see this as plausible. But it still leaves us without a rite to mark the passage into informed adult faith.

Some questions to invite thought:

1) What role does Confirmation play in your tradition? It's laying on of hands by the bishop, and it's a means of grace (I assume we all agree on those points), but what transition or commitment or stage of spiritual growth does it mark for the young people in your church?

2) I've overheard conversations in my town that went something like this: "Yeah, I went to church until I was Confirmed, and then that was all done, so I didn't have to go back any more." Is that just people in my town, or do you encounter this too? Is there something different we should be doing with Confirmation, if it's viewed like that?

3) Does your church have a rite that marks entrance into informed adult faith? A person goes to college and reads the philosophers and learns about world religions and the Enlightenment and higher criticism and whatever other intellectual challenges are out there, and like Jacob wrestles with it all until they extract a blessing -- and decides to continue being a Christian. Is there a rite for that? Should there be?

Orthodox “confirmation” is our chrismation. This actually happens when the child is baptized. They partake of the Eucharist from that time forward and are full members of the Church. The closest rite that marks their informed belief is their first confession. This typically happens around the same time as confirmation in other churches.

 

[chevyontheriver]

@Michie recently posted an article in OBOB in which the author recommends lowering the recommended Confirmation age to 9 or 10. This is exactly the opposite advice from what I've been thinking lately. I thought it might be interesting to explore this in the Traditional Theology forum, to see how other folks felt about it. What do we envision Confirmation as being, and what role is it playing in practice (as distinct from what we envision in our theology books) in the spiritual lives of young Christians?

Original OBOB thread: Strengthening the Seal: Yet Another Diocese Returns Confirmation to Younger Children, Where It Belongs...

Article referenced in that thread: Understanding the Reality of the Sacrament of Confirmation | Knowing Is Doing

---

A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with a fellow-Episcopalian friend of mine. They're in their 20s, and I'm a generation older. Both of us had the experience of exploring and questioning faith in our late teens and early 20s, and then coming to a point in our 20s where we were ready to commit to continuing in the Christian faith despite all the doubts and questions. I suspect that's a common experience, and it feels like there should be a sacramental rite that marks that adult commitment. Both of us thought of Confirmation as the natural candidate for this, which made us lean toward an older recommended age for Confirmation, something like 25 or 30.

So when I encountered the above article this evening, it surprised me by recommending a much younger Confirmation age of 9 or 10.

I suppose that's similar to the age at which many young Baptists express a desire for believer's baptism, so perhaps the author's idea is for Confirmation to be linked to the child's first ability to understand and commit to the faith. I can see this as plausible. But it still leaves us without a rite to mark the passage into informed adult faith.

Some questions to invite thought:

1) What role does Confirmation play in your tradition? It's laying on of hands by the bishop, and it's a means of grace (I assume we all agree on those points), but what transition or commitment or stage of spiritual growth does it mark for the young people in your church?

2) I've overheard conversations in my town that went something like this: "Yeah, I went to church until I was Confirmed, and then that was all done, so I didn't have to go back any more." Is that just people in my town, or do you encounter this too? Is there something different we should be doing with Confirmation, if it's viewed like that?

3) Does your church have a rite that marks entrance into informed adult faith? A person goes to college and reads the philosophers and learns about world religions and the Enlightenment and higher criticism and whatever other intellectual challenges are out there, and like Jacob wrestles with it all until they extract a blessing -- and decides to continue being a Christian. Is there a rite for that? Should there be?

There is a sense among many people that confirmation is a graduation. And that they have learned all they have to of the faith. That they are adults and can decide now whether to continue in the faith. A false sense but a persistent sense. A sense promoted perhaps by parents who have pushed their children to mass for years and have negotiated a peace that if they only get through confirmation the parents will give up.

I think this is a problem among children who have never caught the faith and probably also parents who have never caught the faith either. I co-taught a confirmation class and there were a few who were just marking time, essentially already checked out, waiting for it to be over, unreachable.

I don’t know that earlier confirmation fixes that. But the world gets its hooks into kids early. So maybe. I was confirmed earlier. Not sure I was mature enough to understand but not jaded yet as some later teens are.

I think there is a whole lot of improvement in evangelization and discipleship needed so youth and their parents actually catch the faith.

 

[PloverWing]

Orthodox “confirmation” is our chrismation. This actually happens when the child is baptized. They partake of the Eucharist from that time forward and are full members of the Church. The closest rite that marks their informed belief is their first confession. This typically happens around the same time as confirmation in other churches.

I hadn't realized that Eastern and Western traditions differed here. Thanks!

In the Catholic and Anglican traditions, the presence of a bishop is an important part of the rite. I gather that in Orthodoxy, a priest (rather than a bishop) normally performs the chrismation?

 

[seeking.IAM]

In on own situation, I became Anglican later in life after decades in another mainline Protestant denomination that was less traditional, liturgical, and sacramental. Confirmation in The Episcopal Church was unnecessary to me for my worship practice or my participation in the parish. In fact, I was not confirmed until six years after I began regular attendance in an Episcopal congregation. Leaving my past and stepping into something new was hard for me and took a while. Confirmation was a meaningful step for me in saying I wanted to be fully a part of something and there would be no turning back.

 

[PloverWing]

There is a sense among many people that confirmation is a graduation. And that they have learned all they have to of the faith. That they are adults and can decide now whether to continue in the faith. A false sense but a persistent sense. A sense promoted perhaps by parents who have pushed their children to mass for years and have negotiated a peace that if they only get through confirmation the parents will give up.

I think this is a problem among children who have never caught the faith and probably also parents who have never caught the faith either. I co-taught a confirmation class and there were a few who were just marking time, essentially already checked out, waiting for it to be over, unreachable.

I don’t know that earlier confirmation fixes that. But the world gets its hooks into kids early. So maybe. I was confirmed earlier. Not sure I was mature enough to understand but not jaded yet as some later teens are.

I think there is a whole lot of improvement in evangelization and discipleship needed so youth and their parents actually catch the faith.

The problem of not having "caught the faith" is an issue in my own church as well, and I agree that there's much room for improvement in discipleship. I don't yet know what, exactly, that improved discipleship looks like. (I don't think it's simple. "More praise bands" is not the answer. )

In my parish, the formal confirmation preparation for teenagers is minimal -- a half-dozen meetings where they talk about faith a bit, maybe visit some other churches to get exposure to other traditions so they know what they're choosing. You mention having taught a confirmation class; what does a confirmation class look like, in the Catholic tradition? I understand that Lutherans have a lengthy, multi-year class that their teenagers go through before confirmation; is Catholic practice similar?

 

[All4Christ]

I hadn't realized that Eastern and Western traditions differed here. Thanks!

In the Catholic and Anglican traditions, the presence of a bishop is an important part of the rite. I gather that in Orthodoxy, a priest (rather than a bishop) normally performs the chrismation?

Yes, a priest normally performs the chrismation.