Children and Holy Communion by Revd Chris Probert

We know very little about Christian initiation in New Testament and post New Testament times. There is clear evidence of the baptism of children in the second century, although the practice went out of fashion for a while after this. What seems clear is that when children were baptised, they received Holy Communion from then on: for example in 251AD St Cyprian refers specifically to little children receiving Holy Communion.

An historical note by Revd Chris Probert

For many years, the bishop remained the only minister of Christian initiation.  When Augustine of Hippo's understanding of original sin became widespread in the 5th century there was a new pressure to baptise children at the earliest age - to respond to this and other pressures, authority to baptise was delegated to priests, or even (in emergency) to anyone.  Different churches attempted to retain the role of the bishop in different ways: probably most common was the administration of confirmation by the priest using oil consecrated by the bishop.  Children thus initiated would receive Holy Communion from that moment on.

Following the Great Schism of 1054, Eastern Christians retained the practice of priests administering initiation with consecrated oil - still today, an Orthodox child will receive Holy Communion (from the chalice with a spoon) from the day of its baptism.

Western Christianity tried to retain the physical involvement of the bishop in the process of Christian Initiation, but this proved especially difficult in the vast dioceses of mediaeval England.  Thus a practice grew up of the priest baptising, with the bishop visiting occasionally to confirm all baptised since his last visit.  Since there might be years between such visits, candidates could range from a week old to the age of seven or eight.  The rubrics show that confirmation might even be administered at the roadside with the bishop still on horseback!

Confirmation was always a part of the baptismal process, but tended to be neglected because of its haphazard nature.  In an effort to boost the importance of this ceremony, in 1281 Archbishop Peckham decreed that those not confirmed (without good reason) should be barred from Communion.  Whenever the bishop baptised, no matter the age of the candidate, he would still always confirm at the same time.  Thus the Princesses Elizabeth and Mary Tudor, baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, were both confirmed at their baptism.

In the later Middle Ages a custom grew up of requiring instruction of older candidates before their confirmation, and the Church of England followed the Reformation practice of setting out what needed to be learned in a catechism.  This was learned by rote, and was intended for those who had passed from infancie to the yers of discrecion, (1549 Prayer Book) ie were reaching the age of ability to tell right from wrong, always believed to be around the age of seven.  The confirmation itself was simply a prayer followed by the laying on of hands.

In the 16th century Roman Catholic Church, the Council of Trent decided to abolish the practice of communicating the unconfirmed, but in more modern times they have followed the practice of admitting children to first communion after instruction around the age of seven, while deferring confirmation by the bishop until the teenage years.

Confirmation languished in the Anglican tradition - since Holy Communion was only an occasional event in most parishes admission to the sacrament also became haphazard.  With the evangelical revival at the end of the 18th century, confirmation found a new emphasis as a moment of adult decision and public declaration: it became a passage to Christian adulthood, in the process confining Holy Communion to adults of mature faith.  In the following century the Oxford Movement re-emphasised confirmation as a sacrament in itself as well as being the gateway to Holy Communion, partly to distinguish Episcopal from non Episcopal forms of Christianity.   

By restoring the Eucharist as the central act of worship, the Oxford Movement made the pastoral question of non-communicant children more urgent: now they were expected to be routinely present at the Eucharist, but were excluded from the altar itself.  During the 20th century the Parish Communion Movement moved the weekly Eucharist, and the problem of child non-communicants, into the experience of most parishes in the CofE.

Pressure to reconsider the place of children at the altar has grown for the past 30 years, and has come from many angles.

The Ecumenical Movement has made us aware of the differing (and often older) practice of other Christian traditions; the Biblical and patristic revival has reminded us that baptism rather than confirmation was the gateway to full participation in the Christian community, while our theology of the Church as family makes it increasingly odd that children should be only spectators at the family meal-table.

At the same time, a concern for justice has questioned the arbitrary exclusion of children from the sacramental heart of the Christian community; while pastoral concern for the spiritual needs of our Christian children, many of whom face ridicule and misunderstanding in school and socially, has made us aware that we need to give them access to the same sacramental strength and grace which adults draw from the Eucharist in order to sustain their Christian life and witness.