Using “Quote of the Day” last week was a little misleading, or a least inaccurate, as not every day has a quote on this blog. So, instead, on with the “Quote of the Week”:
This quote is an interesting thought I ran across in Pieper. There’s been quite a bit of discussion as of late about confirmation at my church, and I think Pieper has a quote which certainly brings perspective to the matter.
“We must beware of supplanting Baptism with confirmation. There is a trend in our day, also among Lutherans, to exalt confirmation at the expense of Baptism. Dr. Walther (Pastorale, p.266) issues this caution: ‘The pastor must guard against representing confirmation as a complement or supplement of Baptism received in infancy, as though, e.g., the confirmand now for the first time makes the confession and pledge given by his sponsors his own. Rather the rite of confirmation should primarily serve vividly to recall to the confirmands, as well as to the entire confgregation present, the glory of their Baptism, received in infancy. To invest confirmation with a sacramental character is one of the aberrations so prevalent today, particularly among those who want to be regarded, above others, as strictly Lutheran and churchly.'” – F. Pieper – Christian Dogmatics: Volume III
Wait…confirmation isn’t a sacrament?! :0)
Would the DCE like to weight in?
Dear Christian Friends 
Since my dear friend asked if I would like to weigh in I suppose I will do that.
It’s very comforting to find a quote that warns us against putting too much emphasis on confirmation. Many times in our churches we find that confirmation has indeed achieved almost a sacramental type status. We need to bear in mind that confirmation is a teaching tool to further instruct our members in the beliefs of our church. The other thing that gets me is when confirmation is made out to be a “graduation” of sorts. Kids have somehow gotten into their heads that they no longer need to come to church after they have been confirmed. This could not be further from the truth. We should always be in the Word and Sacraments. Parents need to encourage, and if encouragement doesn’t work then we need to go on to a more forceful method, their kids to come to church.
Confirmation is a wonderful teaching tool within our congregations, as long as that is what we use it for.
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