SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION
WE GATHER HERE - 469
LET US TALENTS AND TONGUES EMPLOY - 468
AS WE GATHER AT YOUR TABLE - 457
SENT FORTH BY GOD'S BLESSING - 481
PSALM 19 - 740, Refrain 1
DOXOLOGY - 542
DISTRIBUTION HYMN - ONE BREAD, ONE BODY - 467
COMMUNION: SACRAMENT OF GRACE
In the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper the Church acts out the drama of God’s love for humankind. People hungering for faith and hope and love are fed and then sent to share this love with others. For centuries churches in the Western world have restricted this sacrament to those who could “understand” it. In Orthodox churches, on the other hand, children are initiated into table fellowship from birth. There is a growing ecumenical consensus that all baptized persons, which includes children, should be welcome to share in the Sacrament of Communion. (See “...and do not hinder them” World Council of Churches, 1982 Faith and Order Paper #109.) Experience has shown that young children can grasp the truth that is enacted in the meal:
• a four-year-old boy said he wished he could take Communion because “I belong to the Church, you know.”
• a seven-year-old girl added: “I’m not going to say ‘We are all one body’ again, because we aren’t. Me and Ben don’t share the bread.”
• a nine-year-old said simply; “I go because I am glad I am a Christian.”
• a three-year-old boy described it as “the church’s sharing service.”
Children are welcome at our table! All are welcome at our table!
