Most Protestants have strong concerns about the way that private/auricular (audible) confession is practiced in Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately, some evangelicals have rejected the practice of confession altogether by saying “I don’t need to confess my sins to another human being, I just need to confess them to God.” While it’s true that we should go directly to God through Christ, confessing our sins to other Christians is commanded by God, spiritually liberating, and ought to include our God-appointed spiritual overseers—pastors. As a pastor, I’ve had countless people confess sins to me in an informal context (e.g., at lunch or in my home when seeking spiritual counsel), and I long to see this become the norm in Protestant churches today.
Private Confession is Biblical
James 5:16 plainly commands, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” John Wesley took this command so seriously that he created an entire second weekly small group called the “Band Meeting” in which Methodists gathered to “come clean” to one another every week, confessing every sin that they had committed in word, thought, or deed, and praying for one another’s growth in holiness. Wesley emphasized that the one and only purpose of the Band Meeting was to obey the command of John 5:16. Confessing sin to other believers is crucial to the Wesleyan way.
At our best, we Protestants have not rejected confession altogether. We have emphasized the priesthood of all believers, confessing sin to one another in accountability relationships and groups. We have emphasized the need to expand confession to include not just ordained ministers but other members of the body. With this said, however, it’s odd and unfortunate that ordained ministers have sometimes been cut out of this crucial part of their members’ spiritual lives.
James 5, which commands us to confess our sins to one another, at the very least includes elders, since it comes in the context of “calling for the elders of the church.” Pastors are God-ordained spiritual overseers. They should have primary oversight in hearing confessions and restoring the penitent. In John 20:23, Christ gives his apostles—and by extension the apostolic Church—authority to represent him in forgiving or withholding forgiveness. Confession is one way that pastors—authorized representatives of the Church—extend forgiveness and assurance to those who demonstrate true repentance and faith.
Private Confession in the Anglican Tradition
In the Book of Common Prayer, there are several “Rites of Healing,” one of which is the “Reconciliation of Penitents” (Private Confession). The Anglican Compass explains, “In contrast to the Roman Catholic practice of confession, most Anglicans do not consider the rite a sacrament (though, as we receive a type of grace through it, many still consider it a ‘sacramental act’).” Many Anglican pastors encourage members to schedule an appointment for confession, or set aside times when they are available to walk-ins.
Redeemer Anglican Church in Richmond, VA, for example, encourages members to schedule 15-minute times of private confession with one of their ministers as a way to “tear down the idol of self-image” and as an aid to “receive and experience the grace that God offers.” They emphasize that the purpose of this limited duration and formal structure is to allow the minister “to serve as simply an aid to your conversation with the Lord. The focus is on you and God, not the priest.” They include five points about this confession time:
- This is not a time for chit-chat or small talk. We will not be catching up on how things are going.
- This is a solemn time (with deep joy waiting on the other side).
- Prepare for this time by writing down a list of both your sins of commission (wrong things done) and sins of omission (right things left undone).
- When you arrive for your session, we will sit down side by side, light a candle, and use the brief liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer to give structure to our time.
- When the liturgy concludes, we will thank each other and bid each other farewell, but will not slide into small talk.
This time of private confession with an ordained minister is not meant to replace confession to God or to other believers. They state that members should, first and foremost, confess sins to directly to God, and that they should also confess to “a close friend or friends who are mature in their faith, not prone to gossiping, overreacting, or minimizing sin.”
A Protestant Rite for Confession
The 2019 BCP rite for confession is lightly adapted below.
The Penitent begins,
Bless me, for I have sinned.
The Minister says,
The Lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you may truly and humbly confess your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Penitent:
I confess to Almighty God, to his Church, and to you, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in things done and left undone; especially __________. For these and all other sins that I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry. I pray God to have mercy on me. I firmly intend amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and his Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.
Here the Minister may offer counsel, direction, and comfort. Then, the Minister says,
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Or, the Minister may say instead,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given power to his Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive you all your offenses; and by his authority committed to me, I absolve you from all your sins: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Then, the Minister says,
The Lord has put away all your sins.
And the Penitent responds,
Thanks be to God.
The following prayer may also be said:
Let us pray.
O most loving Father, by your mercy you put away the sins of those who truly repent, and remember their sins no more. Restore and renew in your servant whatever has been corrupted by the fraud and malice of the devil, or by his own selfish will and weakness. Preserve and protect him within the fellowship of the Church; hear his prayers and relieve his pain; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Minister concludes,
Go (or abide) in peace, and pray for me, a sinner.
