AN ORDER OF SERVICE

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to Him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. Luke 15:18

Let us examine ourselves in silence.

All are silent for a space. After this, the minister says:

Let us humbly confess our sins to almighty God.

All say:

O God, our Father, We have sinned against thee in thought, word, and deed: We have not loved thee with all our heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Have mercy upon us, we beseech thee; Cleanse us from our sins; And help us to overcome our faults; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The minister says:

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant unto us pardon and remission of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Or he may say you and your instead of us and our.

All sit.

The presbyter reads the names of the candidates, who stand one by one as they are called.

The minister says to them:

BELOVED in the Lord, in your baptism you were received into the fellowship of Christ and sealed as members of the family and household of God.

Now you come, of your own choice, to ratify the solemn covenant then made, to profess your faith in the Lord Jesus, to consecrate yourselves to him, and to receive the gifts which he is waiting to bestow.

You come that, in accordance with the practice of the apostles, we may lay our hands upon you, praying that the Holy Spirit may strengthen you in every good work.

You come that this congregation may welcome you into the full fellowship of Christ’s people, and that together we may worship and serve him all the days of our life.

Hear, therefore, the word of God concerning the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel:

A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. You shall dwell in the land, which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezek. 36: 26-28

In the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Church in Rome:

Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back in fear, but you have received the spirit of son-ship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Sprit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Rom. 8: 12-17

In the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom thee world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you. John 14: 15-17

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8

¶ Or the minister may choose other passages.

The Sermon is preached.

THE VOWS

The candidates stand, and the minister says:

I ask you now in the presence of God and of this congregation:

IN the power of Christ, do you renounce the pride and vanity of this world, the sins of the flesh, and all the works of the devil?

Answer: I renounce them.

Do you believe in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Answer: I believe.

Do you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and the Savior of the world?

Answer: I do.

Let us therefore profess our faith

I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried, He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit; The holy catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body; And the Life everlasting. Amen.

Will you keep God’s holy will and commandments and walk in them all the days of your life?

Answer: I will, God being my helper.

Do you promise to join with your fellow Christians in worship on the Lord’s Day, and especially in thee Lord’s Supper?

Answer: I promise.

Do you promise to be faithful in reading or hearing the Bible, and in prayer?

Answer: I promise.

Do you promise to give according to your means for God’s work?

Answer: I promise.

Do you acknowledge yourselves bound to confess the faith of Christ crucified and risen, and to continue his faithful servants unto your lives’ end, bearing witness to him both in word and in deed?

Answer: I promise.

The minister says:

Beloved, you have confessed your faith in God through Christ our only Savior, and your desire to obey Him and live in the fellowship of his people; will you now kneel and pray that the Holy Spirit may enable you truly to perform that which you have promised?

Silence, all kneeling.

Then the candidates, led by the minister, say:

O GOD, my God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am not my own, but thine. Relying on thy grace, I give myself to thee, As thy child, To love and to serve thee faithfully, All the days of my life. Amen.

THE CONFIRMATION

The minister calls the congregation to pray in silence for the candidates.

Silence is kept for a space.

A hymn or lyric praying for the Holy Spirit may be sung kneeling.

The minister says the following prayer alone.

Or he may invite the congregation to say it with him.

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who by Holy Baptism hast received these thy children into thy family: Establish them in faith, we beseech thee, by thy Holy Spirit, and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and keep them in thy mercy unto life eternal; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

The minister lays his hand upon the head of each of the candidates in turn, saying:

STRENGHTHEN, O Lord, this thy child with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit, until he come unto thine everlasting kingdom.

The people each time say:

Amen.

When all have been confirmed, the minister says:

The Lord be with you:

And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; In earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

The minister prays:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, according to the promise of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, hast ordained thy Church to be the temple of the Holy Spirit: Mercifully hear our prayers for these thy children, upon whom we have laid our hands. Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, be over them; let thy Holy Spirit ever be with them; and so lead them in the knowledge and obedience of thy word, that they may serve thee all their days and be with thee forever; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

THE RECEPTION

If the Lord’s Supper is celebrated together with Confirmation, the Reception takes place after the offertory sentences, and the Peace is given first to the newly confirmed and by them to the rest of the congregation.

The newly confirmed persons stand and face the congregation, while the minister and the congregation stand and together say to them:

Beloved, we, the members of this congregation, welcome you with joy as partners in the common life of the Church. We pledge to you our friendship and our prayers, That you may grow in the knowledge and love of God And of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. God grant that we may all serve Him here on earth In the unity of thy Spirit, And come to the perfect fellowship of the saints above.

The newly confirmed persons turn again to the minister.

Each is given a membership card. A Bible, a New Testament, and or The Book of Common worship of the Church of South India may also be given.

The minister says to them:

In token of our brotherly love in Christ, we give you the greeting of peace.

The Peace is given, and a hymn is sung, during which the offerings of the newly confirmed and of the congregation are received.

If there is no celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the minister says this blessing:

Go forth into the world in peace; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

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