Children at the Table

The last paragraph of the bulletin text regarding the Lord's Supper reads: "Sometimes parents ask if their children can partake. Often parents are able to judge their children's fitness to join with others in the Lord's Supper. But we ask parents to bring their children to an elder to be asked about their faith and their understanding of what the communion service means so they might regard the Lord's Supper seriously and partake with understanding."

This last paragraph reflects an effort to balance two concerns. Communion is regarded as a sacrament for members of the church body, and, indeed, the chapter for joining the church is entitled, "The Admission of Persons to Sealing Ordinances." Thus, ordinarily children ought to wait to receive communion until they are ready to become communicant members of the church. Having said this, we recognize that children may make a credible profession of saving faith in Christ at an early age. Many of us parents attest to our children making such a profession years before they became communicant members. We waited for them to grow older before they took the communicants class, because of the need to mature mentally to grasp the further concepts of theology and church doctrine. Should, then, they be denied a sacrament meant to build the faith of believers? As a parent, I still would have them wait in order to preserve (in my mind) the significance of the Supper as an ordinance of full responsible membership. And yet, another parent, for conscience sake, may believe that the sacrament ought not to be withheld from his/her child who has faith in Christ. Thus, to preserve conscience without violating our own doctrine, we permit parents presenting their children to elders to ascertain their faith and permit them to the table. If you, as a parent, have such a concern, then present your child to your parish elder.