Teaching Confession - Not for Judgement or Condemnation, but for Healing

Two weekends ago, we hosted our first in a series of combined youth sleepover events with youth from St Philip's and St Mary's. As a part of these events, the youth are taking over parts of the worship service the next morning at whichever parish is hosting. This gives the youth an opportunity to learn about various parts of worship and then plan and lead them.

For this first event, one of parts of the service that we looked at was the confession and absolution. This was a great opportunity because often in intergenerational worship, confession and absolution are omitted. This is sometimes to keep the service shorter, but also there is a sense that this is not one of the more "child-friendly" parts of our service. Confession, in my opinion, gets a bad reputation. In many Anglican Churches it is associated with a God and a Church that condemns people for their actions and seeks to frighten them into good behaviour. It is also associated with punishment or penance that seems to have little or no relationship with the sin to which it is a response. In many progressive Church traditions, we shy away from the language of sin because it has so often been used to condemn, shame and exclude people from God's love and grace. But anyone who has experienced the power of forgiveness knows that confession is about healing, restoring relationships and inclusion. In confession we acknowledge our weaknesses, our brokenness and our need for help that is beyond ourselves. We also acknowledge that we need to be in relationship with God and with one another. We ask for healing and forgiveness and we commit to offering these things to one another. Acknowledging wrongdoing, asking forgiveness, learning to forgive others and building relationships are all basic parts of growing up - they are ideas that children and youth are already learning. Why would we exclude them in the context of their spiritual life? It is important that we don't shy away from these parts of our communal life that deal with sin and brokenness in our ministry with children and youth. Beyond putting together the confession for worship the next day, the night prayer service that we did focused on self-examination, confession and reconciliation. After a time of reflecting on the day that had past and where we might need to ask forgiveness or forgive others, we said the following prayer of confession and then we exchanged the peace with one another:

Leader:        As we prepare for sleep, 

                  let us confess to God our brokenness and need.

Silence

Leader:        God forgives and heals us.

All:                 We need your healing, merciful God:

                      give us true repentance.

                      Some sins are plain to us;

                      some escape us,

                      some we cannot face.

                      We ask to be forgiven

                      through your transforming and renewing Word.

Leader:        Through the resurrection of Christ,

                  God offers us life at every moment.

                  Know that you are forgiven,

                  and be at peace.

                  God forgives you.

                  Therefore, forgive others;

                  forgive yourself.

This prayer of confession is clear in the focus being on healing and restoring relationships as opposed to just a frightened plea for mercy from God's judgement and condemnation. Hopefully, in this way, confession can become a source of new life to people of all ages in the Church. We don't want to create a preoccupation with our own sin, unworthiness, failings or mistakes, but rather seek an opportunity to reflect on how our relationships can grow in the light of God's grace and love in order that all might have the fullness of life that Jesus brings us. 

On a more practical note, here is the process we followed for the purposes of our worship planning. Together we looked at the confession in the Book of Alternative Services: What were the different parts of each prayer? Who was saying them? What kind of words were used? What kind of feelings or images were used? We also discussed why we did confession together in worship and how it fits into the whole Eucharist service. Looking at confession together was important before we set to work on our next task. We divided the group into pairs and each pair wrote a petition of confession and reconciliation relating to the theme of worship which was spiritual gifts. Before they began working we also reviewed what kind of language we use in worship and why. For this I got to use one of my favourite resources, "Youth Worship Source Book" by my friend Sarah Kathleen Johnson, a Mennonite Pastor in Ottawa and fellow graduate in liturgical studies from Yale Divinity School. This book provides many lessons and activities to introduce youth to different elements of corporate worship as well as how to plan and lead them. After going through this information together, the youth came up with their prayers in pairs with the help of the leaders and then after a snack break they shared these petitions with the larger group. Then the group thought of a response that the congregation could say together after each prayer so that they flowed together.

As always, I was very impressed with how insightful and honest their prayers were. Overnight, I edited them for grammar and length and put them together in order. The youth led the confession during the service each one reading part of the prayer they had written with their partner. Here is the confession that they wrote on the theme of spiritual gifts. (Thanks to the youth of St Philip's and St Mary's for their hard work).

Cameron:   Let us confess our sins, responding to each prayer together with the phrase “we will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts.” 

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts.

Alex:         Most merciful God, 

Euan:        We have not used our spiritual gifts in outward ways.

Alex:         With your help, we will now recognize our spiritual gifts and use them to choose the path of Christ and grow in faith. Amen.

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts.

Naomi:      God, sometimes people have extraordinary gifts like leadership and we mistake them for things like bossiness and want of power.

Evie:         Sometimes we do not recognise their gifts and instead turn away from that person, thinking they are only seeking attention they don’t deserve. 

Naomi:      Help us see the good of what they are doing and how it helps other people so that we may discover our own gifts and not criticize those of others.

Evie:         Open our eyes so that we see each other’s gifts without jealousy or envy, but celebrate them together. Amen.

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts.

Ross:        God, we are sorry that we sometimes misuse our spiritual gifts in ways that break relationships with you, each other and the earth. 

Duncan:     We pray for your wisdom and knowledge to use our spiritual gifts to build relationships in the hope of your common good and the healing of the whole creation. Amen.

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts. 

Max:          Sometimes through pride and anger we reject compassion.

John:         but let us learn to never become too prideful through the help of your Son Jesus Christ, Amen.

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts. 

Andrew:     Holy God, we acknowledge that we have not recognised the gifts of our peers as we have our own.

Graeme:    We ask you to help us recognize that each person is unique and has a different gift. Amen. 

All:              We will breathe out what is past and breathe in God’s gifts.

Living Justice Confirmation Curriculum

Along with my efforts to understand the theology and practice of confirmation, I have also had to put together a curriculum for the youth in the parish preparing for it. Thank goodness I have a Rector who has done confirmation preparation many times and already has a curriculum which I can start from. Thank goodness also that the Outreach committee passed along a list of resources available from the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund that included their Living Justice Confirmation Curriculum. At St Philip's we will be combining these two resources into a curriculum structured around the order of the Eucharistic service that we do every Sunday morning. I would like to take some time now to talk about the Living Justice Curriculum as a part of a confirmation programme.

The Living Justice Curriculum was put together by youth for youth. Specifically, it was the brain child of PWRDF's youth council who wanted to offer a way for young people preparing for confirmation to explore their baptismal promise to "...strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being." The curriculum includes 6 lessons, each focused on an issue of justice related to one of the Marks of Mission. The Marks of Mission are a framework that structures the Worldwide Anglican Communion's understanding of what the Church in mission looks like. Officially there are five Marks of mission, but the Anglican Church of Canada has proposed a sixth which is also included in this curriculum.

The Marks of Mission are:

To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
To respond to human need by loving service
To seek to transform the unjust structures of society
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and renew the life of the earth
(The sixth mark of mission proposed relates to peace, reconciliation and conflict-resolution)

This curriculum gives youth the opportunity to explore six important justice issues as a part of their preparation for confirmation. It also helps to make the connection between their faith and the work of the Church to bring about justice. The curriculum includes a guide for leaders, power point presentations and background information for each lesson. In the guide, activities, links to websites and videos as well as discussion questions help to provide diverse lessons that appeal to many different types of learners. The issues explored include: deep justice, fair trade, extreme poverty, HIV and AIDS, environment and gender justice. The background information provided is extensive including information from UN documents, NGO websites, popular media clips and ecumenical activist and advocacy organizations. In addition, the information is sent on a USB flash drive so it is all available electronically - a convenience which I greatly appreciate.

While this resource gives a wonderful introduction to the connection between faith and justice as well as examples of a diversity of real issues, it is important to note that it is designed as a supplement to an existing confirmation programme. Working for justice, while an important and dynamic part of our faith is not the whole thing. Youth preparing for confirmation will need to explore other dimensions of Christian faith from worship to spiritual practice to Bible study to the history and tradition of the Church in order to form a more complete picture of what being a Christian will mean for them. I am glad that I can check the justice component off of my list though.

If you would like to take a look at the leader's guide for this curriculum, it can be found on the PWRDF website.

Confirmation - Confusion and Confession

When I began as Youth and Family Worker at St Philip's, one of the responsibilities that intrigued me the most was the opportunity to prepare youth for confirmation. 

The question of why and how we do confirmation in the Church has always confused me. In the early Church, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist were all part of the initiation of new Christians into the Church and were all done by Bishops. They were different moments in the same rite and the Eucharist was the repeatable part which was always linked to the covenant made with God at baptism. This is the way things still are in the Eastern Churches, baptism, confirmation (called Chrismation) and Eucharist all at once except that they are all done by priests now instead of bishops. In the Christian West of which the Anglican Church is part, confirmation was separated from baptism and Eucharist and reserved for Bishops. Interestingly, baptism and Eucharist were also separated from one another. Infants were baptized and then at a certain age when they were deemed old enough they received their "first communion" and then again when they were old enough they were confirmed when a Bishop was around. It seems as though Christian initiation in the West has come apart at the seams. 

What was the unique purpose of each of these moments? Why were they separated? Why isn't baptism enough? Why isn't Eucharist enough? Or are they? Why don't we just put them all back together? What is the purpose of the Bishop's presence at confirmation? There is one case in the Christian East that might shed some light on this question. When a person baptized according to another Christian tradition, who isn't Orthodox or Eastern Catholic wishes to join one of these Eastern Churches, Chrismation is celebrated apart from baptism. Baptism, as long as it is done with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is usually not redone. Chrismation, in this case, serves as the act through which one is liturgically joined to a particular visible Church. It has to do with the wider Church and their shared and common faith. Perhaps this is why in the Western Church we have decided that Bishops are necessary for Confirmation.

The parish where I grew up and most recently worked does not routinely prepare youth for confirmation. In fact, when as an eager 11 year old I asked my former priest if i could be confirmed, I was given the response that "we don't do confirmation here anymore, but you can renew your baptismal vows." Well renew my baptismal vows I did and I was quite pleased with this for 11 more years or so. Then in my last year of undergrad when I was spending most of my time studying theology and the rest working in youth ministry, when I discerned a call to lay ministry in the Anglican Church, I decided to ask about confirmation once again. Well in an ironic twist on the "we don't do confirmation" policy of my parish, that same priest seemed quite content for me to be confirmed as a 23 yearold theology student. So I was confirmed on the second Sunday of Advent that year when the Bishop came to visit.

As a student of Christian worship, I thought long and hard about why it was I wanted to be confirmed. I had already reaffirmed my baptismal vows publicly on my own behalf, accepting for myself the promises that my parents and sponsors made at my baptism (for which I was an infant). The only difference between a confirmation and a renewal of baptismal vows is that you can't do the former without a bishop. So, what is the significance of the Bishop's presence and leadership in the confirmation service? For me it was indeed this opportunity to be publicly and symbolically joined to the faith of a particular visible Church - that is the Anglican Church. This of course raises the question of whether or not this was done at either my baptism or my renewal of baptismal vows. Certainly at my baptism I became a full member of the Church and at my renewal of baptismal vows I publicly confessed my belief in the faith of the Anglican Church. 

If we look back to the practice of the Early Church, where Christian initiation was baptism, confirmation and Eucharist altogether, perhaps we can glimpse some of the purpose of confirmation. All of these moments point to the same thing - the covenant between God and humanity made in Jesus Christ. God, through the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, has made a promise to be faithful to this relationship with humanity and in our baptism we have made promises to be faithful as well. In the Eucharist, we recall this covenant and God's grace and faithfulness and we remember our own baptismal promises. Confirmation too points to this covenant and through the laying on of hands by the Bishop we are joined to a visible sign of God's covenant - the Church. Sacraments, as defined in the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace. The grace isn't contained in the rite itself or any part thereof - the grace comes from God and we don't control it. Perhaps then the grace of initiation, that is the promises through which we are joined to God and the Church, is not contained in any one of these moments or rites, but each of them points to and celebrates this relationship. In the Eastern Church, sacraments are called mysteries and this emphasizes the fact that exactly what is happening when and by what mechanism is not entirely available for us to know or understand.

As usual, these musings on why and how we do Confirmation have left me without any clear answers. Is confirmation a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood in the Church? Is it a way to join ourselves to the faith and communion of the wider Church? How does it connect to the other sacraments of initiation in the Church - baptism and Eucharist? One last interesting fact about confirmation in the Anglican Church of Canada is that the only purpose for which it is absolutely necessary is ordination. Without being confirmed, you can do anything else in the Church - receive communion, receive various blessings, be married, be a baptismal sponsor, serve as a warden, preach, lead prayers - but you cannot be ordained. So yet another question is raised; what is the relationship between confirmation and ordination? It seems there is no end to the questions around confirmation. I am sure these and many more questions will be raised in our upcoming confirmation classes at St Philip's.

Those of all ages interested in confirmation (or baptism or reaffirmation) should speak to me, John or Marilyn about preparation. Classes for youth begin in the next few weeks and there are also processes in place for adults and parents seeking baptism for their infant children.