When do children first take Holy Communion here at Our Savior? There is no set age or grade. It is when parents feel their children are ready. When a child has shown interest in the meal and learning what it’s about. And when the parents feel their child is able to grasp the biblical meaning behind the Lord’s Supper and that the meal is about the gift of receiving Christ. Though having said we encourage first communion at an age when children have an ability to learn what the meal is about, it is significant that children from a very early age come up for communion and seem to sense that something special is happing. Even though young children and infants are not yet taking the bread and wine, most parents will pick up their children from the nursery and bring them into worship for communion. They receive a blessing as we are all gathered around the table. You see young children at the table often with either an eager curiosity or quiet wonder and the sense that this is something special.
Each year we hold First Communion classes for children who are interested in taking their First Communion and their parents. We meet for three Sundays (see dates at right!) and we learn about the Lord’s Supper from a biblical perspective—the meal’s set in the Old Testament (the Passover) and that the Passover meal one night became Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. We also talk about the many other times that Jesus revealed himself as God’s Son in the breaking of the bread. Then we talk about some of the practical aspects of receiving the bread and wine. What are the different ways that we receive communion at Our Savior? Intinction and a common cup, individual glasses, wafers or bread, gathered around the table, or coming forward in a continuous fashion. In all of these different ways we see that this is a meal, a special meal. A meal in which we receive gifts from God, bread and wine that actually are Christ himself given for us for forgiveness and for nourishing us and filling us with his strength and presence.
Martin Luther often emphasized that the most important words Jesus spoke at the Lord’s Supper and the most important words we hear at the Lord’s table are the words “for you.” Jesus said, “This my body, given for you . . . this is my blood poured out for you.” In those words we are reminded that all Christ did, his life and death and resurrection were for us. We look forward in the month ahead to more young people joining us in the Lord’s Supper and hearing the words “for you,” and knowing that the gifts of God are there for them and for all of us week after week after week.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelly
Each year we hold First Communion classes for children who are interested in taking their First Communion and their parents. We meet for three Sundays (see dates at right!) and we learn about the Lord’s Supper from a biblical perspective—the meal’s set in the Old Testament (the Passover) and that the Passover meal one night became Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. We also talk about the many other times that Jesus revealed himself as God’s Son in the breaking of the bread. Then we talk about some of the practical aspects of receiving the bread and wine. What are the different ways that we receive communion at Our Savior? Intinction and a common cup, individual glasses, wafers or bread, gathered around the table, or coming forward in a continuous fashion. In all of these different ways we see that this is a meal, a special meal. A meal in which we receive gifts from God, bread and wine that actually are Christ himself given for us for forgiveness and for nourishing us and filling us with his strength and presence.
Martin Luther often emphasized that the most important words Jesus spoke at the Lord’s Supper and the most important words we hear at the Lord’s table are the words “for you.” Jesus said, “This my body, given for you . . . this is my blood poured out for you.” In those words we are reminded that all Christ did, his life and death and resurrection were for us. We look forward in the month ahead to more young people joining us in the Lord’s Supper and hearing the words “for you,” and knowing that the gifts of God are there for them and for all of us week after week after week.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelly
