Canon B 28 governs the reception of people into the communion of the Church of England. The interpretation of the requirement for episcopal confirmation has become more complex in the light of the increased use of presbyteral confirmation (with chrism) in the Roman Catholic Church, the K-4 regular practice of presbyteral confirmation (without chrism) in the Nordic Churches of the Porvoo Agreement, and continuing debate about how presbyteral chrismation is to be understood in the Eastern churches. The provision made in these services makes no attempt to resolve such questions. It is provided to enable the public reception into the communicant life of the Church of England of those who are judged to be episcopally confirmed.
The question of whether this should be celebrated publicly before the bishop or more quietly will depend on individual circumstances. Where an episcopally ordained priest is being received, the Canons require that this must be done before the bishop. The current discipline of the Church of England requires that members of the Church of England who have not been episcopally confirmed must be confirmed before they can be regarded as full communicant members of the Church of England. Members of other Churches who have not been episcopally confirmed in the sense intended under Canon B 15A become communicant members of the Church of England by being confirmed by an Anglican bishop. While this discipline stands, reception into the communion of the Church of England is for those who have been episcopally confirmed in other churches.
