One of the promises made during baptism is to bring the child to the Lord’s Table. As a way to fulfill this promise—a class will be offered for the youth of the congregation to learn more about Holy Communion and the history behind this meal that Jesus instituted.
The classes will begin on Sunday, March 9 and will continue throughout the season of Lent. These classes will be held during the Sunday School hour. The last class will be on April 13 with the intention of having all the participants receiving their first communion on Maundy Thursday (April 17). In addition to the Maundy Thursday Service, we will be having a dinner and a modified Seder for family and relatives of those participating in their First Communion. This will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Class Details
Stoles
The night of the First Communion, the youth will be wearing a stole (which is a sign of being connected to Jesus). The congregation has been trying to visibly tie baptism, First Communion and Confirmation together—the stole is one way to do that. If you already have a stole from baptism, you will need to bring it to one of the last classes to add the First Communion symbol to it. If you do not have a stole from baptism, they will be provided and the youth will attach both the baptism and communion symbol to the stole. After the service, you will need to store the stole in a place that you will remember where it is until the youth is ready to be confirmed. At Confirmation they will complete the stole to be worn during the Confirmation service.
Readiness
If you think that your child is ready to begin to commune, you are encouraged to bring them to this class. If you have questions about the readiness of your child, I have included with this letter a page from the First Communion material that may be helpful to you. If you still have questions, please feel free to contact me for conversation about this issue. My understanding of a child being ready is not that they will completely understand communion, but that they see this meal as a part of what it means to be a member of the congregation and a way that Jesus shows us his love for us. You can also talk with some of the parents of youth who attended the class in the last several years about what the youth learned and their preparation for receiving their first communion.
As the parent, you are welcome to come and be a part of the class. Additionally, if you are unsure about whether or not your child is ready, they can always come to the class to learn—but then at the end of the class you can decide whether or not your child is ready to begin taking Communion.
Topics
In the class, we will talk about the following areas:
• communion being a special meal for a special people
• communion as a table of welcome
• the history of this meal (Passover)
• meal as sign of forgiveness of sins
• logistics about receiving communion