Confirmation – a Space for Human and Divine Action. Traditional Ritual in the Process of Changes in Secular Czechia

Abstract

Abstract Work with confirmands and the concept of confirmation have undergone a number of changes in recent decades. This study explores the changes that have taken place in the largest Protestant church in Czechia, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. With the help of empirical research, it attempts to trace general trends and confronts them with the proposal of a new confirmation liturgy of the ECCB (2023), current theories of confirmation, and the results of European research on confirmation. It concludes by showing the difficulties inherent in trying to reduce confirmation to one core meaning, and recommends that a balance is sought between the subjective and objective as well as theological and anthropological dimensions. Confirmation is both an opportunity to accompany adolescents with intercession and blessing on the journey of faith that began with baptism, and a space where they can respond to it and assume their own religious responsibility.