A Reconsideration of the Continued Practice of Confirmation in the Episcopal Church

Abstract

Many Episcopal liturgists argue for the elimination of confirmation. This essay explores the reformed rite of confirmation, the doctrine of the Book of Common Prayer (1979), and considers objections to the rite involving its relationship to the sacraments of baptism and communion. I argue that it is a nuanced application of the New Testament's teaching on baptism to a context in which infant baptism is normative. The supposed redundancy and theological untidiness of confirmation prove, in fact, to be its strength.