Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation

The Book of Common Prayer teaches that those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been prepared, “to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop” (BCP, p. 412). Those baptized as adults are likewise invited to affirm their faith and baptismal responsibilities in the presence of a bishop.

Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation do not replace or complete Baptism. In Baptism, we are already fully initiated into Christ’s Body, the Church, and the bond God establishes with us is indissoluble. These rites give us an opportunity to respond intentionally and publicly to the grace we have already received.

In many ways, Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation are how we say “yes” to being Episcopalian and to rooting ourselves more deeply within the larger Anglican tradition. We affirm our willingness to remain open to the movement of the Holy Spirit and to participate in the shared discernment, guidance, and leadership of the bishop, priests, deacons, and people of the diocese and parish.

Each rite speaks to a different journey:

• Confirmation is for a baptized person making a mature public affirmation of faith and commitment to the responsibilities of Baptism.
• Reception is for a baptized person who has already made a mature affirmation of faith in another Christian tradition and now wishes to be formally received into the Episcopal Church.
• Reaffirmation is for a person who has been confirmed or received but now desires to renew publicly their commitment to Christ and the life of the Church.
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These are not simply private spiritual moments. They are public and tangible commitments to the community in which we worship, serve, learn, and belong. In a world that often prizes independence and hesitates before lasting commitments, such a public promise may seem unnecessary or even uncomfortable. Yet making commitments to one another is an essential part of our common life.

We might think of the promises made in marriage: the act of entrusting oneself to another and promising to share a life together. In a similar way, Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation are acts of offering ourselves to God within a particular community—this parish, this diocese, and the wider Episcopal Church. We promise to share in its worship and work, to participate in its discernment, and to join with others in serving God and the world.

This commitment also requires openness to receiving. The Church is not only a place to which we bring our gifts; it is also a community through which God gives gifts to us. Through active participation in the worship, prayer, service, learning, and fellowship of the parish, we are strengthened, challenged, forgiven, encouraged, and formed more fully into the people God calls us to be.



Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation are therefore not graduations from Christian formation or declarations that our faith is complete. They are renewed beginnings—a public “yes” to the continuing work of the Holy Spirit and to a life of faith lived with and for others.