Confirmation

The Service

A brief explanation …

This order of service contains the text that is to be used for confirmation services. Feel free to adapt the format to suit your local styles. Please send a copy of the draft service to the Bishop at least one week before the service.

​

By way of explanation of what is outlined below, the red text is only to let you know what is happening. Obviously it does not need to be included in any leaflets, handouts, or service sheets. If you don't plan to provide handouts to the congregation but to project the service onto a screen, please make sure that (at least) the blue text appears on the screen so the congregation can participate in the appropriate places.

​

The service usually begins with:

1. a welcome from the minister and some sentences from the Scriptures,

2. a song or two,

3. an interview with one (or more) of the candidates for confirmation, 

4. a time of confession, and

5. the Bible Readings and a sermon by the Bishop.

6. another song.

​

Then, after these, the confirmation is introduced by the minister (or service leader) with these words:

​

Without Christ, we are far from God and mired in sin. But through the gospel, God addresses each one of us and calls us back to himself, resulting in a profound change.

​​

If anyone is being baptised, this is read (if no baptisms, skip to the next paragraph):

The act of baptism is about that change. We follow the direction of Jesus, who said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ In baptism, ordinary water is used to point to the extraordinary work of God in cleansing us from sin and giving us a new heart to trust and serve him, through the death and resurrection of his Son. Baptism provides a public opportunity to turn to Christ and express a personal trust in him and what he has done for us and ask for the renewing work of the Holy Spirit.​

​

The service continues:

We have come together to pray for those who seek God’s blessing as they affirm their faith in God and their desire to serve him throughout their lives.

The congregation joins the minister in praying:

Heavenly Father, we thank you that in your great love you have called us to know you and to trust you. Increase this knowledge and strengthen our faith. Grant these people what they cannot have by nature that being born again by the Holy Spirit, they may be cleansed from all sin, and inherit your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

​

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 bishop says to the candidates

All who come must declare their allegiance to Christ and their 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 addresses the first question to each candidate individually, then asks the remaining questions to all as a group

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.

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.

The bishop says to the congregation

You have heard the responses that have been made to turn from sin to Christ and to love and serve God. Will you support those who have responded to this high calling?

We will do so.

Let us all affirm the Christian faith we believe.

The congregation join the candidates in saying one of the following forms of the Apostles’ Creed:

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 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.

This is the faith of the Church.

This is our faith: We believe in one God:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Or this form may be used:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

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

Let us pray that God who has begun a good work in 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.

​​

If there are any candidates for baptism, the bishop/minister says to those to be baptised

Do you ask for baptism in the faith you have professed?

I do.

Each person to be baptised comes to the font and the bishop/minister, having asked their name, baptises by dipping in the water, or pouring water on , saying

N, I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

​

The bishop/minister continues

God has called you into his Church.

The congregation joins with him in saying

We therefore receive and welcome you

as a fellow member of the body of Christ,

as a child of the same heavenly Father,

and as an inheritor with us of the kingdom of God.

The bishop/minister makes a cross on the candidate’s forehead and says

I sign you with the sign of the cross

to show that you are to be true to Christ crucified

and that you are not to be ashamed

to confess your faith in him.

The congregation joins saying

Fight bravely under his banner

against sin, the world, and the devil,

and continue Christ’s faithful soldier and servant

to your life’s end.​

​

If there are no baptisms, the service picks up from here. The bishop lays his hand on each of the candidates and prays:

Defend, O Lord, 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.

​

After all the candidates have been confirmed, the bishop leads the congregation:

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.

​

Other prayers led by member(s) of the congregation, follow. Then, after the prayers, the congregation usually sings a final song and 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