The Parish of Flitwick
Church of England
Diocese of St Albans
Children & Holy Communion
Since November 2005 a number of children have been admitted to Holy Communion before their Confirmation. The policy of of the parish is set out in a document presented to the PCC and the Diocesan Bishop. Permission has been given by the Bishop of St Albans and has been recently updated to comply with General Synod regulations.
The programme is available to children between the ages of 7 and 13. Regardless of whether or not a child has been admitted to Holy Communion, individuals aged 13 or over will be considered for confirmation and will follow a separate course.
Anyone wishing to be admitted to Holy Communion or Confirmation must have been baptised.
Proposed course for children aged between 7 and 9 years
The course material for the 7 to 9 year old age group will be based on WELCOME TO THE LORDS TABLE written by Margaret Withers, Children’s Officer for the Diocese of Chelmsford.
This publication is aimed primarily at clergy, children’s workers, parents and teachers who want to enable children to participate fully in Eucharistic worship. It explores the background to the question of preparing young children for Holy Communion, gives guidance on preparing the congregation, training leaders and involving the family.
The course will be divided into ten units over approximately three months with the children receiving Holy Communion at the end. It is not a complete course in Christian faith – it is assumed that the children have a foundation knowledge through teaching in the Sunday School and that nurture will continue after the course is completed. It is also assumed that the children will be present for part of the Eucharist on most Sundays.
Each unit includes aims and objectives, biblical basis, Church focus, prayer, activities and music.
Centred on relating the stories in scripture to the children’s lives, the units explore:
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Who am I?
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Jesus, our friend and brother
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God’s Family
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Gods storybook
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Jesus’ friends
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Thank you; please
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Sorry
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Jesus is risen
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Let’s have a party
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Let’s share a meal
Each child will receive a task-based activity book to help make a personal record of his or her progress through the course.
Proposed course for children aged 10+ years
It is envisaged that the communion preparation for this age group will take place alongside that of the younger children and that parts of the sessions will overlap.
However, for children aged 10+ the main part of each session will be based on the ‘Youth Emmaus’ book which has previously been successfully used at this church as basis for confirmation classes.
As for the younger children, (7 to 9 years) the course will be 10 weeks in length. This will mean that the ‘Youth Emmaus’ course will be condensed from 14 week to 10 weeks. This is considered quite acceptable as it is envisaged the children undertaking the communion preparation course will be regular Church and/or Sunday School attendees and therefore will have already had some basic Christian instruction.
The course is divided into 3 sections:
1. What Christians believe
2. How Christians grow
3. Living the Christian life
It is envisaged the 10 sessions will be arranged under the following headings:
What Christians believe
1. Knowing God
2. Jesus - his life and ministry
3. Jesus - his death and resurrection
4. The Holy Spirit – our life and breath
How Christians grow
5. Prayer – one to one with God
6. The Bible – the world’s bestseller
7. The Church – what a great body/stand up and be counted
8. Holy Communion – the bread of life
Living the Christian Life
9. All you need is love - relationships
10. Living it and giving it – your life/sharing the faith
For further information please contact the vicar
This page last updated 31 August, 2008