The Riteness of Confirmation
By The Rev. John Ohmer

Will Rogers said, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”

At times I feel the same way when the General Convention gets hold of liturgy.

This General Convention has been asked to consider rites for “Moving a Child from a Crib to a Bed,” and to approve prayers for “Earning a Driver’s License or Permit.” At the same time, it’s being asked – in well-intentioned proposals to make baptism full initiation – to eliminate the necessity of confirmation for licensing, holding elected or appointed office, or accessing the ordination process.

In other words, we’re developing new rites for young people while denuding the one we already have.

Let me be fair: The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) is to be commended for creative, hard work in the Triennium. They rightly point out that there is a deep-seated need to mark, through some sort of ritual act, significant life changes. They are right in saying there is a need for rites of passage, especially for youth and young adults. And clearly, parish communities should be encouraged to “affirm and uphold” young people in their “journey through adolescence,” liturgically.

But isn’t that just another way of saying that we’re in need of a sacramental rite for pre-teens and teenagers? Am I missing something, or isn’t that what confirmation is? Or at least could be?

Again – as was pointed out in the House of Bishops Monday – much of what the SCLM has produced will be a very valuable resource for many people throughout the church. But going forward, wouldn’t the church be better served if we find ways to strengthen the sacramental rite we already have in confirmation?

As Kathryn Tanner has written in the Anglican Theological Review, “Everything has already happened at baptism, but has yet to be revealed in our lives, made our own, personally appropriated.” Confirmation is where we take responsibility for the new life that is given to us in baptism and can be exactly the kind of affirming, upholding, ritual act young people need.

So why not invest the time, talents and treasure of our greatest liturgical minds on developing national standards and churchwide expectations for confirmation? What would a Christian bar- or bat-mitzvah program be like, complete with minimum age requirements, clearly stated expectations (perhaps even for learning a bit of Hebrew or Greek), and culminating with a service project?

Let’s find a way to include new rites and prayers in our repertoire and uphold our theology of baptism, but without sacrificing confirmation – lest we find ourselves in need of a rite for Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water.