Age and circumstances of Admission

Children who are to be admitted should themselves express a wish to receive communion and they should attend church regularly. They need to have parental support or the personal support of a Godparent or another adult within the church community, and provision should be made by the parish priest for preparation before admission.

Although a child may receive Holy Communion from the time that (s)he is baptised, in general, the time of the first receiving should be determined not so much by the child's chronological age as by his or her appreciation of the sacrament, perhaps at the age of five. Candidates will need to be old enough to express for themselves a wish to receive communion, to ask for Baptism if they have not already been baptised and to take part in the preparation provided. Special care should be taken to ensure that appropriate provision is made, if necessary, to include children with special needs and advice should be taken from those responsible for their care and education about this.

Marking admission

Admission to communion should be formally marked and should take place during the Sunday Eucharist in the church community where the child normally worships.  It will probably be appropriate to make this service special in some way for the candidate(s), and the community in which their faith has been nurtured.  Wherever possible the child's family and Godparents should be present and, if appropriate, involved in the service.  Advice about the ways in which this may be done, and suggestions of texts to be used can be obtained from the Children's and Youth Office.

Register

A register should be kept of every person admitted to Holy Communion, and each should be given a certificate (or, better, the baptismal certificate should be endorsed) marking his/her admission.

No baptised person, child or adult, who has once been admitted to Holy Communion and remains in good standing with the Church, should anywhere be deprived of it.  When a family moves to another area, the parish priest of the parish they are leaving should contact their new Parish Priest to ensure that there is no confusion regarding the communicant status such persons. It is the responsibility of the new Parish Priest to discuss with the children and parents concerned when the children should be presented for Confirmation.  Such children should normally be presented at least by the age of 18.

Christian nurture, Christian education and preparation for admission to Communion.

Admission to Communion should be considered within the general context of both the ministry that is carried out in the parish through initiation and also of the continuing nurture of people in the Christian faith.  An appropriate and serious pattern of preparation for admission to communion should be followed and the Bishop will need to be satisfied that a programme of continuing Christian nurture is in place leading to Confirmation in due course.

The circumstances of each parish are different and programmes for Christian education will vary.  Nevertheless it is the responsibility of each church community to review regularly the provision it makes for the nurture of young Christians and to ensure that there is an appropriate pattern of Christian Education.  The Parish Priest and PCC should take care regarding the quality of educational material and advice of Diocesan officers and other professional advisers should be taken into account.

The priest must decide exactly how much of the liturgy communicant children will attend.  Even if there is a separate 'Ministry of the Word' for children, anyone who is to receive Holy Communion should be present in the main assembly at least from The Peace.

Services of Baptism and Confirmation.

Since baptism is at the heart of initiation, it is important for the Bishop regularly to be the minister of Holy Baptism, and particularly at services where candidates will be both baptised and confirmed.  It is generally inappropriate for candidates who are preparing for initiation into the Christian life in Baptism and Confirmation to receive baptism at a service other than the one in which they are to be confirmed.  Confirmation remains an important affirmation of faith and the Confirmation Service is a public recognition of a person's commitment to adult discipleship.

Monitoring Process

It will be helpful both to the parishes involved and to the Diocese to be able to monitor the progress of changes and how they affect the life of the church.  It is hoped that parishes which decide to admit children to Communion before Confirmation will welcome a member of the Bishop's staff to monitor the process after a year. 

There are a number of clergy and parishes with experience of admitting children to Communion before Confirmation within the Diocese.  These parishes are encouraged to share good practice and parishes exploring the issues are encouraged to learn from others' experiences.

Click here for Framework for application
Click here for more background information
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Please contact Shelley Porter, Diocesan Children's Adviser on 01872 247211 or click here to send an email.