If you read the Gospel accounts of the baptism of Jesus you’ll see that this special event had two parts to it, the first was his immersion in water and the second was the descent of the Holy Spirit. In the same way baptism in the early church mirrored this with baptism in water being followed by the laying on of hands with prayer for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So normal was this that the Acts of the Apostles goes out of its way to mention that when the two got separated the Apostles Peter and John made a special journey to provide part two. (Acts 8.14-17)

In later years because Christian parents naturally wanted their children baptised the Western church decided to separate the two parts of the service. Babies were ‘baptised’ on the understanding that the parents (and sponsors) would nurture their child as a follower of Jesus. The Laying on of hands part of the service – the ‘Confirmation’ part was then kept till those concerned had grown up and could make their own public declaration that they genuinely wanted to follow Jesus and belong to his people.