Confirmation

What is confirmation?

In the Early Church those who were entering the Christian faith were baptised and confirmed at the same service. After a time, the Church in the West separated baptism and confirmation except in the case of adults. Infants are normally baptised and the promises made on their behalf by parents and godparents who promise that they will teach them the Christian faith and when old enough encourage them to make a personal commitment and be confirmed by the bishop.

At a Service of Confirmation today there are often candidates of all ages and some will already have been baptised whilst others will be baptised and confirmed at the same service. We are seeing an increasing number of adults coming for confirmation and there is no upper age limit.

The Service of Confirmation follows a period of preparation. This may take place by attending an informal group with others, where a member of our Church family introduces various aspects of the Christian faith.