VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Dinah|DATE|1378818783|CONTENT|When I was growing up, a meaningful number of my contemporaries went in for confirmation classes and were eventually confirmed into the C. of E.  This seemed to be very much a rite of passage for middle-class progeny along with Christening, marriage and, eventually and inevitably, a funeral according to C. of E. rites.  Fortunately, as my parents were neither C. of E. nor churchgoers, I was neither Christened nor confirmed, and thus was spared the ordeal of being blessed by the Bishop.
  
It is rather ironic that Banner was talking about membership of a club, because certainly in those days, confirmation into the C. of E. was like being admitted into full membership of a club with its attendant rituals, petty concerns and rivalries, formal and informal ceremonies.  What is supposed to be the essential point of confirmation is that it enables the person to take part in the (allegedly) most sacred ceremony of all, communion, but that rather got side-lined by the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses aspect of it.

As for the moral and spiritual development which Banner mentioned, I don’t have any recollection of anyone either before or after confirmation possessing any more of those qualities than anyone else.  It seemed essentially a cultural and ‘belonging’ thing, with no one taking the religious part very seriously: indeed, the majority of those confirmed never became regular church-goers.  In a way, there is perhaps something to be said for this type of Christianity, if only because it is so watered down it is practically meaningless apart from being a badge of cultural identification.
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