St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Kerzapp!?

Confirmation? Isn't that the one where the bishop lays his hand on your head and the Holy Spirit oozes out of his fingers?

We have booked Bishop David to come to a confirmation service on Sunday 13th May at 6.30pm, and confirmation preparation will take place on Friday evenings, with a first meeting for all those interested on Friday 16th February at the vicarage.

So what is it all about? Why get a bishop to come and lay hands on your head? And what happens when or if he does?

In the early church, baptism and confirmation belong together as the sign of wanting to stand up and be counted as a follower of Jesus. It is true that the bible records two occasions when the laying-on of hands come separately after baptism, but these are both clearly one-off times. In Acts 8:17 the apostles in Jerusalem are confirming that they approve of what Philip has done when he baptized people who did not live in Judea, and in Acts 19:6 it turns out that the people in Ephesus hadn’t received Christian baptism after all - so they were baptized and confirmed at the same time.

Confirmation only became separated from baptism at the Reformation of the church in the time of Henry VIII, when Thomas Cranmer and others realized that it made no sense to confirm children in infancy. Infants were baptized because they were part of the family of the church, and were brought up to know and love Jesus for themselves. But there needed to be a chance for grown-ups to say in public that they accepted the faith which their parents had professed for them, and that they wanted to dedicate themselves to Jesus. Cranmer rewrote the confirmation service so that it became a dedication for adults.

So today, confirmation is for those who want to stand up and be counted as Jesus’ followers. If you haven’t been baptized yet, you’ll be baptized and confirmed at the same service. It’s a way of declaring your faith in public.

The church will not just confirm all and sundry: we need to be sure that people really do want to make the commitment to Jesus which the bible and the service require. So the preparation sessions are without obligation on either side. They are a good way of finding out more about Jesus, more about your local church, and more about how faith can help you in your personal life. Come along if you’re interested.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. February 2001, Page 4.
Home Page. Index of articles. Christenings etc: index, Thanksgivings, Confirmation, Brooklyn. In this issue: (February 2001) Vicar's Letter, The PCC, Confirmation, Question.	Kerzapp!? Confirmation? Isn't that the one where the bishop lays his hand on your head and the Holy Spirit oozes out of his fingers? We have booked Bishop David to come to a confirmation service on Sunday 13th May at 6.30pm, and confirmation preparation will take place on Friday evenings, with a first meeting for all those interested on Friday 16th February at the vicarage. So what is it all about? Why get a bishop to come and lay hands on your head? And what happens when or if he does? In the early church, baptism and confirmation belong together as the sign of wanting to stand up and be counted as a follower of Jesus. It is true that the bible records two occasions when the laying-on of hands come separately after baptism, but these are both clearly one-off times. In Acts 8:17 the apostles in Jerusalem are confirming that they approve of what Philip has done when he baptized people who did not live in Judea, and in Acts 19:6 it turns out that the people in Ephesus hadn’t received Christian baptism after all - so they were baptized and confirmed at the same time. Confirmation only became separated from baptism at the Reformation of the church in the time of Henry VIII, when Thomas Cranmer and others realized that it made no sense to confirm children in infancy. Infants were baptized because they were part of the family of the church, and were brought up to know and love Jesus for themselves. But there needed to be a chance for grown-ups to say in public that they accepted the faith which their parents had professed for them, and that they wanted to dedicate themselves to Jesus. Cranmer rewrote the confirmation service so that it became a dedication for adults. So today, confirmation is for those who want to stand up and be counted as Jesus’ followers. If you haven’t been baptized yet, you’ll be baptized and confirmed at the same service. It’s a way of declaring your faith in public. The church will not just confirm all and sundry: we need to be sure that people really do want to make the commitment to Jesus which the bible and the service require. So the preparation sessions are without obligation on either side. They are a good way of finding out more about Jesus, more about your local church, and more about how faith can help you in your personal life. Come along if you’re interested. John Hartley
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