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There is a regular Sunday School (Trekkers) at the 10:00 AM Communion Service. There are six groups in all including crèche; more details about the groups will be added later....
Group Venue Creche (0 to 3 years) Church Hall Scramblers (Pre-schoolers) School classroom Climbers (Years 1 and 2) School classroom Explorers (Years 3 and 4) School classroom Pathfinders (Years 5 and 6) School classroom Lazer (11 to 13+ years) Parish Centre
At Easter 2000 we admitted children to Holy Communion before Confirmation for
the first time. Since then it has become our pattern to admit children to
Communion once each year, following a course of preparation. All the feedback
that we have received from the children has suggested that they have appreciated
the course and enjoy being able to take Communion.
To be eligible to be admitted to Holy Communion in St Sebastian’s a child should: him/herself be keen to receive Holy Communion; be baptised; be aged 7 years or over; be regular at worship; and be ready to attend a preparation course before admission. At least one of his or her parents should: consent to the child being admitted to Holy Communion; be baptised and be a regular communicant member of St Sebastian’s church. Please note that in order to get the best out of the course your child will also need to have a reasonable reading ability.
Sacraments are signs of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ, which the Bible tells us is received by faith. Paul’s comments on the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 make it clear that it is faith and right living which are important in receiving Holy Communion. Children are as capable of these as adults. So often in the past we have waited until children can understand Holy Communion, when this does not seem to be part of Paul’s teaching at all.
In the New Testament admission to Holy Communion is linked to baptism. Those who share in the covenant also share in the covenant meal. The Church of England baptises children who are too young to profess the Christian faith on the understanding that they grow up as Christians within the family of the church. They are included within the covenant by virtue of their parents’ faith. It seems strange to refuse Holy Communion to these children, as they begin to discover and grow in the faith into which they were baptised.
Traditionally we have made Confirmation the gateway to Holy Communion, but this has no biblical basis. Confirmation is much better seen as an opportunity to make an adult profession of faith, when a person is ready to take on their own life-long commitment to Jesus. All of this leads us to believe that it is acceptable to admit baptised children of Christian parents to Holy Communion before Confirmation. We acknowledge that different churches will have different policies, but this has seemed to be the right way forward for St Sebastian’s. Once admitted to Holy Communion, the House of Bishops’ Guidelines say that a child or adult should ‘ nowhere be deprived of it’.
We will be holding another preparation course, with a view to admitting children to Holy Communion later this year. You have a very important role to play in discussing with your child how he or she feels about taking Holy Communion, but in the end the decision must be theirs. Please do not put any pressure on them if they seem unwilling. If your child would like to take part in the course later this year, or for further information, please contact the Parish Office.
Andrew Marsden
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