For all Christians: 1st Communion question

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How important is First Communion in your church?

My niece and nephew (ages 10 and 6) are receiving First Communion at their church, ELCA Lutheran, tomorrow and I am going. I am one of their godparents. Their church used to offer First Communion to fifth graders but have now expanded it to include preschool and above if the child is ready. The kids had a preparation class last night.

All answers are welcome. Thanks.
 
In my synod, the WELS, we have to go through 2 years of confirmation class, which is pretty intense with weekly memorization of a part of Luther’s Small Catechism and a Bible verse. In my class we also had to each week outline a chapter of the Gospel the first year and a chapter of Acts the second year. My pastor also had us do public examination the week of confirmation where we had to know the entire Small Catechism. My pastor was old-school and strict.

Usual age of confirmation is 8th grade (13 or 14), and only after confirmation we receive Holy Communion, usually the week after or sometimes the day of. So you could say we take it very seriously. But on average the ELCA is much more liberal in their doctrine than the WELS.
 
It doesn’t have much importance at all. I don’t even remember the first time time I took Communion. Of course, we rarely have Communion at a service at all, so as a young child I always viewed it as a special treat. (I loved grape juice, and Communion was one of the ily times I got to have some!) the church I now attend has a sort of “kid communion” offered when we do have it as part of a Sunday service. They get oyster crackers and grapes, and are remained when they are baptized they can take communion with athe adults. Love Feast is another matter. My patents really pushed the limit by letting my siblings and I take part before being baptized.😃
 
ELCA Lutheran here. I think it is very important. I happen to teach the First Communion class at my church. All my kids are like in the 4-6 grades. I haven’t had younger but I have had older. I think the importance for kids especially at that age is it gives them an opportunity to deepen their faith and be able to have a real experience of church every Sunday. And I think for kids, it’s a lot easier for them to be genuinely present to the true presence more so than some adults I encounter.

My experience growing up was very similar to skigirls, where I was left out of the Eucharist until after confirmation when I was like 14. It sounds like she got off easy in confirmation. I remember not only having to remember the small catechism, “What does this mean?”, but we also had to remember the three creeds, and that Athanasian creed was a killer.

Parents seem to have a weird idea about First Communion, they sort of see it as like getting another merit badge from Boy Scouts, somethng that you check off as done on the Faith List of things to do. I usually let them know that this isn’t just another checkbox but it’s part of the continuation of their childs walk of faith that first began with their baptism and will contiune for the rest of their lives.
 
‘First communion’ isn’t generally a ‘thing’ for Anglicans. We take communion first when we are confirmed (very generally, the Prayer Book allows for those ‘ready and desirous to be confirmed’ to receive communion, but in practice that was never normal until very recently). Confirmation requires preparation. The way candidates are prepared can vary.
 
Thanks for sharing, everyone.

I am going to an Episcopal church, and the pastors allow all baptized Christians including children to take Communion.
 
Practice in the LCMS varies. Some parishes wait until about age 14, immediately following Confirmation. Others may allow younger children to commune prior to Confirmation. I believe the former is more typical than the latter.

Jon
 
At my LC-MS church, first communion comes after Confirmation which takes to two years to complete. At the completion of confirmation studies, the confirmands are quizzed individually by the pastor and the board of elders to see if they are ready for confirmation.
 
hn160 said:
At my LC-MS church, first communion comes after Confirmation which takes to two years to complete. At the completion of confirmation studies, the confirmands are quizzed individually by the pastor and the board of elders to see if they are ready for confirmation.
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This is the “typical” I mentioned above. 👍

Jon
 
JonNC said:
This is the “typical” I mentioned above. 👍

Jon
Click to expand...
I’m really torn - I love the discipline, love, and devotion shown in the traditional Lutheran First Communion process. And I also love infant communion.

Our church has moved the rigorous training seen in First Communion,to an Affirmation of Baptism - and we do infant communion.

🤷
 
Among Friends ritual communion is not something we practice. Our 'first communion" is when we experience the Presence in our Midst…THAT Communion is of utmost importance…and every member is taught to Seek Communion with God and be joined to one another in that common Experience of the Divine Presence.
 
The church had 26 children receive First Communion today. The families received with their children. The service was very moving. My niece and nephew looked nice and did a great job.
 
In the Orthodox Church, we do baptism, chrismation, and communion all at once. After that, infants receive communion just like their parents do. Everyone is a “full” member from day 1.
 
I love this thread. Not only are everyone’s answers interesting, but it’s with so many denominations contributing, it’s a really touching display of Christian unity.

Please everyone carry on…🙂
 
My experience growing up was very similar to skigirls, where I was left out of the Eucharist until after confirmation when I was like 14. It sounds like she got off easy in confirmation. I remember not only having to remember the small catechism, “What does this mean?”, but we also had to remember the three creeds, and that Athanasian creed was a killer.

Oh, yes, we had to know the “What does this mean?” parts and all but the Athanasian Creed. I was fortunate to have a good memory but I was more worried about the public examination than the confirmation rite itself:eek:.
 
Mikeoffaith said:
My experience growing up was very similar to skigirls, where I was left out of the Eucharist until after confirmation when I was like 14. It sounds like she got off easy in confirmation. I remember not only having to remember the small catechism, “What does this mean?”, but we also had to remember the three creeds, and that Athanasian creed was a killer.
Click to expand...
Oh, yes, we had to know the “What does this mean?” parts and all but the Athanasian Creed, and this was less than a decade ago. I am not aware of anyone else having to go through what my class did, even in my own synod. I was fortunate to have a good memory but I was more worried about the public examination than the confirmation rite itself:eek:.
 
benjohnson said:
I’m really torn - I love the discipline, love, and devotion shown in the traditional Lutheran First Communion process. And I also love infant communion.

Our church has moved the rigorous training seen in First Communion,to an Affirmation of Baptism - and we do infant communion.

🤷
Click to expand...
I share your conflict. On some levels, the Orthodox practice is attractive to me.

Jon
 
JonNC said:
I share your conflict. On some levels, the Orthodox practice is attractive to me.

Jon
Click to expand...
I wonder how the Orthodox deal with the “properly disposed” question with children, especially infants. Do they have some sort of innate proper disposition? And if our children have that as well, then do they lose it at some point, much like the ability to swim, and need to be retaught and sort of reinfused with proper disposition?
 
Mikeoffaith said:
I wonder how the Orthodox deal with the “properly disposed” question with children, especially infants. Do they have some sort of innate proper disposition? And if our children have that as well, then do they lose it at some point, much like the ability to swim, and need to be retaught and sort of reinfused with proper disposition?
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I think they sort of have a different attitude to the whole matter, which is not the same as our more legalistic western view of ‘disposition’ towards the communion. I’m also fairly sure that the Eastern Orthodox practice of having infants receive communion is closer to the practice of the early Church.
 
Mikeoffaith said:
ELCA Lutheran here. I think it is very important. I happen to teach the First Communion class at my church. All my kids are like in the 4-6 grades. I haven’t had younger but I have had older. I think the importance for kids especially at that age is it gives them an opportunity to deepen their faith and be able to have a real experience of church every Sunday. And I think for kids, it’s a lot easier for them to be genuinely present to the true presence more so than some adults I encounter.

My experience growing up was very similar to skigirls, where I was left out of the Eucharist until after confirmation when I was like 14. It sounds like she got off easy in confirmation. I remember not only having to remember the small catechism, “What does this mean?”, but we also had to remember the three creeds, and that Athanasian creed was a killer.

Parents seem to have a weird idea about First Communion, they sort of see it as like getting another merit badge from Boy Scouts, somethng that you check off as done on the Faith List of things to do. I usually let them know that this isn’t just another checkbox but it’s part of the continuation of their childs walk of faith that first began with their baptism and will contiune for the rest of their lives.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information and sharing your experience teaching First Communion at your Church. I taught five years of Catholic Catechism Classes and I noted also
that children really seem to be present to the real presence quite easily. They simly accept it easily with their “child like” Faith.

Great point also about the analogy to the Boy Scouts. Well stated about the continued walk of faith.
Mary.
 
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