On Sunday 24
November, the feast of Christ the King, some members of our Sunday School will
be receiving Holy Communion for the first time at the Parish Eucharist.
This is the
second time we will be admitting young people to communion ‘before Confirmation’
at St Jude’s in accordance with the permission granted us last year by the
Bishop of Edmonton.
Inviting young
people to receive communion at this stage in their Christian lives recognizes
that they have been ‘full members’ of the church since their baptism, and
affirms the commitment they have expressed through (at least one year of)
regular attendance at church and in a continuing programme of education at
Sunday School.
At a later
stage in their journey they will be invited to make a further commitment with a
personal declaration of faith before the community and before the bishop who
represents the wider church. They
will receive from the bishop the sacrament of Confirmation to strengthen them
on their journey.
In principle
communicant children will be present in church for the Liturgy of the Sacrament
(i.e. from after the Peace).
‘Communion
before Confirmation’ (or rather ‘Communion after Baptism’) is a return to the
ancient custom of the church and is now the practice in many parishes. However, because it is not yet
universal, it should be made clear that admission to
Holy Communion before confirmation is for the time being "for this parish
only", but unconfirmed communicants who move to another parish will be
commended to their new incumbent as communicant members of the church.
The article Preparing for Communion – the work of a lifetime published in the 2013
edition of the Spire gives a fuller account of the thinking behind our
policy.