Putting the baptism clock back

One thing that nearly got Synod excited last week was the Bradford diocese motion on admitting people to communion without their being confirmed.

We already do this as regards children (in many dioceses) and the Bradford motion was not necessarily as helpful as it might have been (in terms of how it was phrased and what it asked for).

However, it elicited a response from the Faith and Order Commission which was frankly bizarre. This in turm was connected to a book on initiation which FAOC has just published. I wrote a review of this for the Church Times (which thay had not asked for and which they did not publish) – it is posted here instead. Basically, FAOC want to overturn the consensus that baptism is full Christian sacramental initiation and go back to a time when we thought confirmation (by a bishop) was essential too.

Journey of Christian Initiation book review