“Confirmation
is a significant transition moment within the household of God, a
moment that both cannot be repeated and yet is always reaffirmed, not
least of all in the Daily Offices and holy communion.” –
Drew Nathaniel Keane, “A Reconsideration of the Continued Practice
of Confirmation in the Episcopal Church,” Anglican
Theological Review,
Vol. 200, Number 2, p. 263
This
Sunday we will welcome Bp. Chilton Knudsen to St. John's. She is our
Assistant Bishop and, as part of her primary duties, focuses on
western Maryland and small churches. She will be retiring at the end
of this year, so this is one of her last official parish visitations.
Lots
of things happen when a bishop officially visits a parish –
meetings, inspections, conversations, and at the top of the list,
Confirmations. We are blessed to have eleven people being Confirmed
and one person being Received (that is, officially moving from the
Roman Catholic church to the Episcopal church). It's going to be a
big day with a big celebration, and I encourage everyone to attend.
Confirmation
as we perform the rite is uniquely Anglican in that we have fully
separated it from baptism and reserved it for the hands of a bishop.
But I don't want to get into various understandings of what it is or
isn't here. I want to, instead, focus on the above quote.
When
we are Confirmed we reaffirm and agree with what happened at our
(usually) infant baptism, and we promise to live into the baptismal
vows often spoken for us. And while we are adopted into the
household of God at our Baptism, it is at our Confirmation that we
are given more rights and responsibilities as members of that
household. As Keane said, it is a significant moment of transition,
never repeated but constantly reaffirmed.
It's
like getting your driver's license: you only get it once, but you
are constantly improving/learning through every day driving.
The
other aspect of Confirmation is that, by the laying on of hands by
the bishop, the Confirmand is connected to the wider body of Christ
through apostolic succession. Apostolic succession isn't just from
Knudsen to Sutton to Claggett to Seabury to Cranmer to Augustine to
Gregory to Clement to Peter. It's also the recognition that we are
connected to those very people, and each other, in a significant way.
This
Sunday I invite you to attend the 10:15 service to be part of and
witness this very important life event for twelve people of our
family. If you can't attend, I invite you to pray for those being
Confirmed that they will be led by the Holy Spirit into the knowledge
and obedience of God's holy word.
And
for those who will experience the laying on of hands by the bishop,
know that this isn't the culmination of all those Confirmation
classes but, like a wedding, ordination, or getting your driver's
license, it is only the beginning.
May
you continue to grow in God's wisdom and grace, and increase daily
with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings,
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