Confirmation: Early Christian Community Essay

For people in the Early Christian Community who wanted to commit themselves as followers of Christ they first needed to receive the sacraments of initiation. Initiation into the Church took place in a single ceremony, which normally unfolded during the Easter Vigil service. In the early church, the three Sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist—were celebrated in the same ceremony by adult converts. Although there was no clear emergence of Confirmation as a separate sacrament until after the third century, the elements of the Sacrament of Confirmation can be recognized in the Sacrament of Baptism in the early writing of the bible. After a long period of instruction that sometimes lasted as long as three years, each person was baptized, confirmed and also received the Eucharist. They were then brought before the Bishop where he laid his hands on each of their heads and prayed that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and become responsible Christians living through Christ to fulfill his life long mission. At some point in the early Christian Community, the sacraments of initiation, baptism and confirmation, became primarily a sacrament for infants. Their baptism would allow them to become a member of the church and then confirmation would happen right after this, which was when the bishop would confirm or acknowledge this commitment. Eventually, however in the early 1900’s confirmation became a sacrament associated not with infants but with older youths. Where each child can consciously make the decision to strengthen the bond with god and accept the reasonability to the church and to others as well.