Children & Holy Communion

Children and Communion... What has happened?

Review Meeting in October 2000

In October 2000 there was an invitation to a forum to share experiences of the admission of children to Holy Communion. Carolynn Pritchard, a member of the Children's Council and a children's worker in the parish of St Andrew, Chesterton where children have been admitted to Communion describes what happened.

Recently a small group of people came together from across the Diocese to share what had been happening since admitting children to Communion. Others came who were thinking about admitting children and who wanted to hear other people's experiences. We asked ourselves the questions, "What did we feel were the benefits of admitting children to Communion, for the children and the parish and did anything surprise us about the experiences we had had?"

We shared our responses to children receiving Communion. The general perception was that of the reverence and the seriousness of the children who come to communion. It was important to them and it seemed natural to children as if they had taken Communion all their lives. Within the structures that the churches had in place, children come forward to be admitted to Communion when they felt ready and wanted to do so. Through taking Communion the children had matured and were more confident in church. The children wanted to come to Communion and very often the whole family came to church and took communion together and there was a suggestion that more dads came as a result.

In the body of the church there were also benefits as it had united the church to pray for the children. There was a real family atmosphere and the sense that the children belonged and were now there in their own right. Considering children and Communion allowed churches to think seriously about the place of children in the church and the development of children's faith and this had been of tremendous importance in the churches that had admitted children. The quality of consultation and the learning processes that the churches had been engaged in had been invaluable. Someone older members wished it had been available for their own children.

It became evident that there was quite a wide variety of practices in terms of preparation. These ranged in length from about 6 weeks to 20 weeks. Minimum age for admission also varied from 6+ to 9. However, teenagers had also been admitted to Communion rather than Confirmation in their early teens. The procedure for actually admitting children varied from a short liturgy admitting them in the Communion service, to no specific admission rite at all apart from giving a certificate in the context of a normal Communion service.

And what about Confirmation? One church has had its first generation of those admitted to Communion move on to Confirmation. But Confirmation is being seen by most of the churches that have admitted children as becoming rather more a stage in the adult faith journey rather than a teenage rite. It was described by one person as marking the beginning of someone's adult lay ministry in the church. Churches who have admitted children to communion, seem in the main to have kept their children and are looking forward to them coming to Confirmation at some time in the future.

Admitting children to Communion has been an adventure into the unknown. For those churches represented at the meeting, it has undoubtedly been a time of spiritual growth for both the churches and the young people. We can but pray that, as our young people share the bread and the wine, week by week, they will grow up in the knowledge and love of God and in the Christian faith into which they were baptised. And, that being strengthened by sharing at the Lord's table, they will in due course come to Confirmation and take their places as adult members in the family of the church.

Related links

• The Children's Council - Children and Holy Communion
• Children as Communicants
• Diocesan Framework for Admission of Children to Communion before Confirmation
• Children and Communion... What has happened? Review Meeting in October 2000
• Training Events