Pastoral Offices

The Pastoral Offices are Prayer Book services that are done on an occasional basis according to pastoral need at significant moments in the lives of church members. The pastoral offices are also known as occasional offices. These services include the sacramental rites of

• Confirmation
• Holy Matrimony
• Reconciliation of a Penitent (Confession)
• Holy Unction (Anointing)
• Burial of the Dead

These sacramental rites are means of grace, but "they are not necessary for all persons in the same way that Baptism and the Eucharist are" (BCP, p. 860). The pastoral offices of the BCP also include forms for Commitment to Christian Service, Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child, and Ministration at the Time of Death.