Confirmation Preparation in the 1928 BCP Catechism
Confirmation Preparation in the 1928 BCP Catechism joins instruction in the Christian faith to the public renewal of baptismal promises and the Church's prayer for the Holy Spirit. The Catechism is intended to be learned before a person is brought to the bishop; the related Offices of Instruction and Confirmation service show how this learning is used in worship and continued Christian life.
From Baptism to personal profession
The Catechism begins with the name given by sponsors in Baptism and asks what they promised: renunciation of evil, belief in the Christian faith, and obedience to God's commandments. Its answer to the question whether the child is bound by those promises does not treat preparation as self-sufficient moral effort:
Yes, verily; and by God's help so I will. And I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my life's end.
The child is taught to give thanks for what God has already given in Baptism and to seek grace for perseverance. In the baptismal office, sponsors also undertake to see that the child learns the Creed, Lord's Prayer, Commandments, and other necessary Christian teaching, and is brought to the bishop when sufficiently instructed. The Catechism makes that undertaking the starting point of the learner's own answer.[2]
What must be learned
The Catechism's concluding rubric specifies a “competent age” and a defined body of instruction; it does not set a numerical age:
So soon as Children are come to a competent age, and can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and can answer to the other questions of this short Catechism, they shall be brought to the Bishop.
These are not unrelated items to memorize. The Creed gives the faith confessed; the Commandments unfold duty to God and neighbour; the Lord's Prayer teaches the baptized to ask for grace. The Catechism also teaches Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Its rubric entrusts public instruction or examination to the parish minister and assigns families and households responsibility for bringing learners to it. Its historical language about household authority reflects its own setting; the practical point is that formation involves both parish and household.
The Offices of Instruction supply additional questions and arrange instruction as worship. Their final rubric similarly requires the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Commandments, but adds sufficient instruction in the matter contained in the Offices. Edward W. Averill, writing immediately after the American revision, described their devotional method:
The whole has been cast into the form of two services with verses, responses and prayers ...
The difference matters: the older Catechism's rubric asks for answers to its questions; the Offices' rubric asks for sufficient instruction in their expanded contents. Neither makes the candidate's ability to recite the only purpose of instruction. In the Second Office, the candidate connects Confirmation with baptismal vows, allegiance to Christ, and the Spirit's help:
The Church provides the Laying on of Hands, or Confirmation, wherein, after renewing the promises and vows of my Baptism, and declaring my loyalty and devotion to Christ as my Master, I receive the strengthening gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture and the Confirmation rite
The order permits the bishop or an appointed minister to read Acts 8:14–17. The passage concerns those already baptized in Samaria and the apostles' prayer and laying on of hands:
When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
The service places that biblical episode before a contemporary rite; it does not repeat Baptism. The candidate publicly renews the baptismal promise and acknowledges its obligations, answering “I do.” A second question makes the personal centre of that promise explicit:
Do ye promise to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?
John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, explained the educational purpose of preparation in an earlier American Confirmation manual:
It tends to increase Christian knowledge in both the young and the old ...
Hobart's account is a historical Anglican interpretation, not a claim that every candidate must be a child. The 1928 order itself is for baptized persons who have come to years of discretion. After the public promises, its prayer recalls regeneration by water and the Holy Ghost and asks for the Spirit's strengthening gifts. The bishop then lays a hand on each candidate with the prayer:
Defend, O Lord, this thy Child with thy heavenly grace; that he may continue thine for ever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom. Amen.
The prayer is directed to God, not to the candidate's capacity to strengthen himself. It asks for protection and growth throughout life, so preparation points beyond the day of Confirmation to continuing discipleship.
Preparation for Communion and continuing life
The Office of Instruction immediately follows its answer about Confirmation with an answer about Holy Communion as the continual strengthening and refreshing of the soul. The Confirmation rite directs the minister to urge those confirmed to come without delay to the Lord's Supper. Its admission rubric also includes an important qualification:
And there shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.
The qualification “ready and desirous” should not be omitted when describing the 1928 rule. The Catechism also teaches how to approach the Supper: with repentance, a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, thankful remembrance of his death, and charity toward others.[11] Thus preparation is not merely a test passed once; it introduces the learner to a life of prayer, worship, moral responsibility, and sacramental participation.
See Also
- Book of Common Prayer (1928)
- Catechism (1928 BCP)
- Offices of Instruction (1928 BCP)
- Confirmation (1928 BCP)
External Links
References
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), “A Catechism,” p. 577, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Ministration of Holy Baptism,” p. 277, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “A Catechism,” concluding rubric, pp. 582–583, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Edward W. Averill, Talks on the Prayer Book (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: The Parish Press, 1929), pp. 49–50, Project Canterbury transcription. Averill offers a contemporary interpretation of the new Offices' teaching method.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Offices of Instruction,” Second Office, p. 291, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Order of Confirmation,” optional reading from Acts 8:14–17, p. 296, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Order of Confirmation,” p. 297, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription. The rubric directs each candidate to answer “I do.”
- ↑ John Henry Hobart, A Catechism for Confirmation, Proper to be Learned by Those Who Are Preparing for That Holy Ordinance (New York: Protestant Episcopal Tract Society; printed by T. & J. Swords, 1819), pp. 10–11, Project Canterbury transcription. Hobart's answer goes on to describe young people reviewing Christian truth and duty while their elders guide them.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Order of Confirmation,” laying on of hands, p. 297, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “The Order of Confirmation,” final rubric, p. 299, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
- ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), “A Catechism,” p. 582, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.