Confirmation & Festal Eucharist

Above: Last year, The Right Rev’d Michael Colclough, Canon Pastor, St. Paul’s Cathedral, laid his hands on 14 individuals who were confirmed. This year, we are pleased to have¬†The Right Reverend Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of New York, lay hands on 25 individuals to be confirmed and 2 individuals to be received.

About Confirmation & Reception:

Once a year, we celebrate at Saint Thomas the Sacrament of Confirmation and Reception. Those who have never had the laying on of hands of a bishop of the apostolic succession are confirmed into the Episcopal Church; those who have already been confirmed by a bishop of the apostolic succession (such as those previously confirmed into the Roman Catholic church, or many Eastern Orthodox churches) are received into the Episcopal Church.

Candidates for Confirmation and Reception are baptized Christians who are ready to publicly affirm their Christian faith and who wish to be a part of the Episcopal Church. The adult candidates prepared for Confirmation and Reception by attending the Rector’s Christian Doctrine Class; the younger candidates prepared with other instructors.

If you are interested in Confirmation or Reception into the Episcopal Church, we’d be delighted to speak with you. We’ll repeat the process again beginning in January 2013, when a new Rector’s Christian Doctrine Class begins to prepare for Confirmation and Reception in May 2013. If you are not yet baptized, let’s get moving on that sooner rather than later. If you are already baptized and want to be confirmed or received in 2012, don’t hesitate to let us know now, and we will help you prepare. In the meantime, the best way to prepare is to attend church, and to grow in the faith alongside other Christians.

Service Details:

You’ll notice the structure of this service is very similar to Holy Baptism. At Baptism, it is frequently one’s sponsors or Godparents that make promises on behalf of the newly baptized. At Confirmation and Reception, the entire congregation renews its baptismal covenant alongside those to be confirmed and received. We do this by reciting the Apostles’ Creed, just as we do at baptisms. [To fully understand the Creed, you might consider reading or listening to the sermons in the Apostles’ Creed Sermon Series, which was preached in 2011.]

The Sacrament of Confirmation takes place at the chancel steps. Each of the individuals to be confirmed or received comes forward to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop (see the photo above). The Bishop concludes the ceremony with the prayer, we say the peace, the Rector greets the congregation, and then we proceed on with a Eucharist as usual. All baptized Christians are invited to make their Holy Communion at Saint Thomas.

‚ñ∫The Rector speaks about Confirmation in his weekly audio message.

Music notes: The Flemish composer, Orlandus Lassus, is perhaps the most celebrated and prolific of all the late Renaissance composers. His diverse output includes over one hundred settings of the Magnificat and over sixty masses, of which only three are for double choir i.e. eight voice parts – the Missa Bell’Amfitrit altera is one of these.

• Choral Services
• Worship Services