The 1979 Book of Common Prayer recovered the practice of baptism as full initiation into Christ's Body. This means baptism makes a person a full member with access to the fullness of the sacramental life of the church. Previously, under the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, confirmation was required for persons to receive communion. Confirmation before communion is the practice familiar to so many. But with the recovery of baptism as full initiation and confirmation being moved more and more to 14 and 15 years (instead of 11 or 12), how can we help parents feel as if their children are being taught what the Eucharist is without denying them the Eucharist until they are teenagers?
Last night we had our first children's communion class. This is not exactly like first communion, since all who attended last night have already received the Eucharist. Instead this is a class on what we do every Sunday and why. We talked about Passover and the Last Supper. We talked about how Christ is present with us because he loves us and we are never alone. We learned how to receive the bread and wine (and we even rang the sanctus bell!). We took a tour of the sanctuary, looked in the tabernacle and took a tour of the sacristy. Finally we made bread. On January 18 the children will share what they have learned and the bread they made will be used for communion. It was truly a great night.
The next class (covering the exact same thing) for those who missed last night will be January 4 at 4pm.
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