Children and Communion

The Church of England now allows children to receive Communion before they are Confirmed, and, on Easter Day this year, St Peter’s Church admitted children to Communion for the first time. A special 'First Communion' liturgy was used during the main 10 o'clock family service, following on from Children's Communion Classes in Lent.

Children's First Communion Classes will take place each year in Lent, and the next First Communions will be on Easter Day 2009.

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For further details please have a word with Fr Philip or one of the clergy. More details about Communion before Confirmation are below:

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Communion

If you are interested in the theological rationale for this, please click here to see a discussion paper about the subject.

In a nutshell, Holy Communion, the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, is the church’s “meal of fellowship” and “food for the journey” for the whole Christian family. Since Baptism (Christening) is our full entry into that Christian family, by admitting baptised children to Communion, we show them that "we really do see you as a valued and full member of the church": if a baptised (but un-Confirmed) child or adult wants to grow in their faith, there is no good reason for denying them this food, the “foretaste of heaven”.

For St Peter's, this is a new development, but many churches have followed this practice for a long time. In doing so, they have discovered the joy of sharing Communion with their children at the altar - and have found that including children at Communion has enhanced children's sense of truly belonging to the church family and being fully valued as a part of the church.

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What about Confirmation?

Confirmation is a public commitment of mature discipleship. It is not (and originally never was) intended as a gateway to Communion, but rather is an affirming of faith before a bishop, who represents the wider church. In a Confirmation service, God (not a bishop) ‘confirms’ us and says “I love you – now trust in my Holy Spirit to help you on life’s journey".

St Peter's will therefore continue to encourage everyone to be Confirmed. Generally, we will expect children who have been admitted to Communion to be confirmed once at secondary school, as their sense of, and involvement in, the life of the church grows. The responsibility rests on adults in the congregation to continue to nurture children and young people by involving them in all aspects of the church's liturgy and life. Confirmation Courses will continue to take place each summer at St Peter's, and the Bishop will be leading our Confirmation Service as usual in July this year.

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Children's Communion Preparation Classes will take place in the church meeting rooms on three Saturdays in Lent, 10.00am - 12.30pm, as follows:

Saturday 16th February

Saturday 8th March

Saturday 22nd March

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For an application form or for more details, please have a word with Fr Philip or one of the clergy.

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