The legislative body of the Sydney diocese is to consider next week a report from a six-member committee set up to consider the possibility of confirmation no longer being required after baptism as an adult, and confirmation being administered by presbyters or appropriate laypeople as well as bishops.

The majority wants confirmation to be performed by ministers, but a dissenting report, championed by two senior members of the Anglican Church League, has urged the diocese to go much further and hand over the role to senior lay leaders. AdvertisementAdvertisement

Rites not mandated by the Bible as the jobs of clergy, they say, should be performed by laypeople as part of a strategy to democratise the church and invoke the direct word of God.

"Administration of Holy Communion and confirmation is consistent with the practice of laypeople being able to baptise, for all three are spiritual ministries which in principle belong not just to the clergy but to laypeople as well," the dissenters say.

Either way, the radical move would need legislative approval by the General Synod, the church's national law-making body.

The Bishop of North Sydney, the Reverend Glenn Davies, said opening confirmation to ordained ministers would bring the Anglican Church in line with the Catholic Church, which permits priests to baptise and confirm, and the Greek Orthodox Church where priests perform the two rites at the same time. The Lutheran Church allows ministers to administer confirmation.

"There is good grounds to support such a proposal and there would be considerable positive support by some bishops outside the diocese," Bishop Davies said.

"Leaving it to presbyters is a pragmatic argument because there is no way the national church will accept confirmation by laypeople."

Opponents say allowing someone other than a bishop to confirm people is contrary to Anglican order and to the Book of Common Prayer, the Anglican standard text of doctrine and liturgy. It also risked bishops losing contact with their people.

The head of the Anglican Church of Australia, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, said it was premature to comment on a Sydney diocesan proposal that had not been voted on, but the possibility of confirmation being administered by people who were not bishops was surprising.

"My initial impression is that this is a completely novel proposal within the Anglican Communion worldwide, and while something along these lines was raised a long time ago, it was rejected.

"I have not been advised of or received any report or rationale for this proposal, and will be interested to read them."

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