Moving First Communion
I arrived at my current Call in October 2023. Coming from a congregation where First Communion and Confirmation were separated, some of my children had begun receiving the Lord’s Supper at a younger age. This raised some questions at my new congregation: “Can we work towards receiving the younger children to the altar here?”
While this was a surprise to me, I was also ecstatic. Now, to be clear, we are not doing infant communion. Instead, children need to be able to recite the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer without help. Their families must be in the Divine Service at least 75% of the time, attending Sunday School and growing in the faith. Then, they can be admitted to the First Communion Class in 3rd grade.
The First Communion Class follows the rite of First Communion for the most part. However, we also study the Ten Commandments and the Small Catechism regarding the Lord’s Supper. Children need to be able to express their understanding of having faith in the words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” They also need to be able to articulate how one examine themselves before receiving the Sacrament of the Altar. My experience has shown that these children are often better at examining themselves than adults. This class typically lasts approximately ten weeks.
In the process, we’ve also adapted the entirety of our Confirmation program to begin sooner, with boys starting to serve as acolytes and girls serving as junior Altar Guild members in 2nd grade. Then comes First Communion, followed by in-depth studies of the Small Catechism between the 4th and 7th grades.
The goal is to stretch out our Confirmation program so it doesn’t seem like a box to check. We want families to grow in their faith beyond the younger years, have joy in learning God’s Word, and be with Jesus eternally.
If you are curious about the resources I used to teach the congregation, you can access them here.
You’ll notice that I found papers written by Pastor Todd Pepperkorn and Pastor Rick Stuckwisch to be incredibly helpful.
Writings by Re. Dr. Todd Pepperkorn regarding First Communion can be found here.
Writings by Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch regarding First Communion can be found here.
