At our church we have an open table and all are welcome. We also invite our children to leave the sanctuary after the first part of the service for a children's worship time. Communion occurs near the end of the service, so when the kids leave, they miss communion. I solved that problem by creating a Kid's Communion ritual as a part of our children's worship time. We talk about why we celebrate communion and then share the meal together. It's amazing to me how the wiggliest group of children becomes immediately reverent when we move to communion. They love to take turns assisting the elder who serves the meal. They all know that it's more than a snack; it's a special meal for our hearts that Jesus himself taught us how to share so that we could remember him. Instead of saying "The body of Christ broken for you and the blood of Christ shed for you" we use the words "This is the gift of Jesus' life" as each child comes forward to take a piece of bread.
We have an open table too and enjoy having kids taking communion with us. I really like the Kid's Communion ritual that Marjorie shared. We have kids assist with communion too. We also share with parents the following:
The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, “To whatever degree they’re able to participate in the Great Thanksgiving—even if that’s simply being held in their mother’s arms while they sleep—they are there. They are part of what we are all doing together, so they are welcome to receive.”
If children receive communion do they know what they are doing when they receive Communion? No, they do not understand the full meaning of this holy sacrament and neither do any of us. It is a wonderful mystery. Likewise, children cannot understand the full significance of family meals, but we feed them at our family tables. Young children experience being loved by being fed. They sense the difference between being included and excluded at a family meal. They have the faith, appropriate to their stage of development, which Jesus recognized and honored: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15 NSRV).
Adults experience a different understanding and meaning to receiving the bread and the cup throughout our lives. We understand communion differently then we did 25 years ago.
I think my biggest hang up now is weather to use the, body and blood vocabulary. Part of me feels that I'm watering down the truth by not saying it..the other part is repulsed at bringing the idea of drinking blood to the youngest kids age 4/5.
I wonder if rather than 'watering down' it's more like adding layers. There's so much going on at communion, so starting with some of it and getting to other parts later is just a version of spiral learning, I'd say.
Whoops -- we’ve been letting our kids take communion for forever (even though our church’s table is pretty well closed). We keep waiting for someone to talk to us about it 🤣.
Ha! Love it! Maybe the communion police will find you? I would personally not be good at following the closed table rule, even if I knew the church wanted me to. Too much Christian freedom in my background for that.
At our church we have an open table and all are welcome. We also invite our children to leave the sanctuary after the first part of the service for a children's worship time. Communion occurs near the end of the service, so when the kids leave, they miss communion. I solved that problem by creating a Kid's Communion ritual as a part of our children's worship time. We talk about why we celebrate communion and then share the meal together. It's amazing to me how the wiggliest group of children becomes immediately reverent when we move to communion. They love to take turns assisting the elder who serves the meal. They all know that it's more than a snack; it's a special meal for our hearts that Jesus himself taught us how to share so that we could remember him. Instead of saying "The body of Christ broken for you and the blood of Christ shed for you" we use the words "This is the gift of Jesus' life" as each child comes forward to take a piece of bread.
So cool--thanks for sharing this!
We have an open table too and enjoy having kids taking communion with us. I really like the Kid's Communion ritual that Marjorie shared. We have kids assist with communion too. We also share with parents the following:
The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, “To whatever degree they’re able to participate in the Great Thanksgiving—even if that’s simply being held in their mother’s arms while they sleep—they are there. They are part of what we are all doing together, so they are welcome to receive.”
If children receive communion do they know what they are doing when they receive Communion? No, they do not understand the full meaning of this holy sacrament and neither do any of us. It is a wonderful mystery. Likewise, children cannot understand the full significance of family meals, but we feed them at our family tables. Young children experience being loved by being fed. They sense the difference between being included and excluded at a family meal. They have the faith, appropriate to their stage of development, which Jesus recognized and honored: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15 NSRV).
Adults experience a different understanding and meaning to receiving the bread and the cup throughout our lives. We understand communion differently then we did 25 years ago.
I think my biggest hang up now is weather to use the, body and blood vocabulary. Part of me feels that I'm watering down the truth by not saying it..the other part is repulsed at bringing the idea of drinking blood to the youngest kids age 4/5.
I wonder if rather than 'watering down' it's more like adding layers. There's so much going on at communion, so starting with some of it and getting to other parts later is just a version of spiral learning, I'd say.
Whoops -- we’ve been letting our kids take communion for forever (even though our church’s table is pretty well closed). We keep waiting for someone to talk to us about it 🤣.
Ha! Love it! Maybe the communion police will find you? I would personally not be good at following the closed table rule, even if I knew the church wanted me to. Too much Christian freedom in my background for that.