Children and communion

Dear Friends,

The question of how to introduce children to Holy Communion is something which has exercised the Churches nationally and to some degree locally for some time. For the majority of Christians it is the most important thing we do, but for whatever reason we seem to fail to communicate this to our children and young people. This may be because there are fewer of them, they come less often and it is difficult to attain consistency in Christian teaching in relation to the younger generation. I heard it said recently, in the debate about teaching History in schools, that one thing which has changed in the last generation is that children no longer learn Christian History from their church-going, as so few attend.

After some discussion with Elders and also the Junior Church Committee we are going to focus in Holy Communion during Lent, and particularly on the three Sundays of March 4th, 11th and 18th. In the all-age worship service on March 4th we will aim to teach about Communion, and provide the kind of explanation which may help the children understand it. March 11th is a Study Service and Communion wil be the theme. We will also follow this up on March 18th and on one if not both of these occasions we aim to hold a Communion Service to which the TYG and the Juniors (7 plus) section of Junior Church will be invited to stay. At this point they will not be invited to partake of Communion, but come for a blessing, however the possibility that we will occasionally have a 'Family Communion', in which children of the age of 7 and above will be invited to partake if they wish, is being proposed.

Hopefully this will give all church members the opportunity to ponder more deeply on what Communion means to us, especially as we again approach the events of Holy Week. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for you to speak with your children, or with children generally in the church about this matter. Communion is something which almost every Christian Church practises, some celebrate it every week, although we in the 'Free Churches' are generally content with once a month. The topic will also be discussed at Church Meeting on March 4th, but do let me know if you have any views. Hopefully this might also guide us to a better attendance on Maundy Thursday, the traditional occasion of the first 'Last Supper', and certainly on Easter Sunday - both occasions being of equal spiritual importance.

David Haslam

Return to Articles