The confirmation ritual in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark: conveyance of a religious experience or play-acting?

ABSTRACT

The article explores the meaning of the confirmation ritual in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. Two cases show two different understandings. In case one the minister holds that the rite is play-acting. Everything belonging to Christian initiation is given in baptism. Case two is in accordance with generation-old tradition reflected in the expectations of confirmands and parents. Here the ritual conveys a special blessing not repeatable. But is it possible to uphold a strict theological view that Christian initiation belongs to baptism and nothing is left for confirmation? Or are the effects of the room, adornment, music, lights, and traditions of the ceremony overwhelming and contain the capacity to sweep away consequent theological thinking? Is the ritual what it expresses; a special blessing in harmony with baptism? The discussion in the article refers back to Luther and the early Reformers and represents a contribution to an ongoing critical conversation.

KEYWORDS:

• Ritual practices
• confirmation
• Christian initiation
• atmospheres
• Denmark
• qualitative methods

Acknowledgements

Author is grateful for the support and advice from Geir Afdal, MF, Oslo, and Kirstine Helboe Johansen, Aarhus University. Author also thank hisanonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments on this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Anna Døssing Gunnertoft is a Ph.D. Fellow in Practical Theology at Aarhus University, Denmark. She specializes in the study of confirmation work in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark.

Notes

1 Quotations of direct speech and interviews are translated from Danish by author. The difference between the languages cannot be entirely overcome, but they are insignificant.

2 It is difficult to define this concept, but it can be compared to Kelleher’s threefold analytical understanding of ritual practice, the private, public, and official meaning (1988). The concept here has similarities to public meaning, even though it is not exactly the same, but rather a general view of church members reflected in the confirmands and their parents (this makes it difficult to distinguish between the general public and the confirmands). The official part can be compared to the views of the ministers or the theological elite and the confirmation law. The private understanding is found among some of the confirmands who express their thoughts about the experience expected from the enactment of the rite.

3 In several publications the special character of the ELCD has been covered (e.g. Bach-Nielsen 2012; Nielsen and Kühle 2011; Gunnertoft 2018).

4 Translated by author ‘ … wenn jede andere Kreatur geheiligt wird durch Wort und Gebet, warum sollte dadurch nicht erst recht der Mensch geheiligt werden?’