The Rt. Rev. Brian Prior, Bishop of Minnesota, writes about invoking the Holy Spirit at confirmations:
Family, clergy, peers are all circled around the person in front of me. After I solicit everyone’s prayers for said person I pause for a moment. It is an intentional, silent space that I always take prior to laying my hands on the person’s head — “making room for the Spirit” I always suggest in the rehearsal. I also always make it clear that each person coming forward is a child of God worthy of their own moment and that I am not a “Confirmation machine.” The Holy Spirit always, and I do mean always, “shows up.”
… One of the greatest blessings of serving as Bishop that I experience is inviting those gathered to make room for the Holy Spirit. Yes, on the aforementioned occasions, but also in other times of great joy and tremendous tragedy, regular meetings and spontaneous situations. It is an incredible privilege, one that I never take for granted, and one about which I was duly warned a number of years ago, “If you invite the Holy Spirit into your midst — be prepared for the unexpected!”
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
