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Questions & Answers

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Anglicanism is a form of Christianity that is part of the Protestant branch of the religion. People throughout the world belong to Anglican churches. Some of those churches have different names, but they are all related. Together they are known as the Anglican Communion. Anglicanism developed in England, and the Church of England is still the main Anglican church.

In the 1500s the leaders of the church came up with the Thirty-nine Articles. These state the beliefs of the church, though not all individual churches follow them. There are certain basic ideas, however, that most Anglicans accept. They believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and his gift of salvation to all believers.  They follow the Bible as the Word of God, and they believe in two main sacraments, or special signs of faith—Holy Baptism and Holy Communion or Eucharist.

The Anglican church was formed when King Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church in the mid-1500s. He did this because Pope Clement VII refused to grant him an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Henry wanted to keep the church as it was except that he would be the head of the church instead of the pope.

At the time, other people in Europe were breaking away from the Catholic church as well. This movement became known as the Protestant Reformation. Some people in England wanted the Church of England to keep its ties to Roman Catholicism while others wanted to see further changes as in the other Protestant churches. Upon Henry’s death, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, a leader of the church, began making more changes. He prepared the first Book of Common Prayer. It revised traditional forms of worship to incorporate Protestant ideas.

From the 1600s through the 1800s, English explorers founded colonies in the Americas, Africa, India, and the Far East. Missionaries soon spread the Church of England to all of the English colonies. From these missionary efforts grew the separate churches that came to form the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which you affirm for yourself the faith into which you have been baptized and your intention to live a life of committed discipleship. This affirmation is confirmed through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop. The Church also asks God to give you power through the Holy Spirit to enable you to live in the way of Jesus.

Your confirmation will be led by the bishop. It will take place at a date and time chosen by the Bishop of Fredericton, the Most Reverend David Edwards, Archbishop of the Ecclesistical Province of Canada.  The service may take place during the main Sunday service at your own church. It may also take place on a weekday in the evening, depending on the Bishop's availability.

There may be a rehearsal before the confirmation service so that you understand everything that happens in the service. The priest will make sure you know where to sit and when you need to move. Some parts of the service will be for the whole congregation to join in; some will be for just you and the other confirmation candidates to say.

For most of the service you will be seated in a pew with your family.  At one point in the service, you will be asked to come to the front of the church and kneel before the bishop who will lay hands on you and pray over you.  Your parents and godparents will be invited to come with you, stand behind you and place a hand on your shoulder as a sign of support.  Later in the service, you will come to the front of the church once again to receive Holy Eucharist.

When you were baptized as a child, your parents and godparents were asked to declare publicly on your behalf that they believed in God and that they would bring you up to follow Jesus. They were asked to answer, on your behalf, that you had decided to turn away from everything which is evil or sinful and instead to turn towards Christ. At confirmation, you will renew these decisions and promises.

The declarations made by you will be made in front of the church congregation; the local Christian community will promise to support you and pray for you.