EASTER according to a five-year-old

After attending our church’s ‘A Walk through Holy Week’ family event including 7 interactive stations of the cross, a children’s booklet with things for them to look for and do at each station and supper, Sinead, our then five year old drew her response. Her Dad (Jason Goroncy) asked her to tell him about her drawings.... 

‘Anyway’, she said, ‘it’s all about Jesus’.

‘But what about the empty tomb?’ asked her theologian father.

‘We don’t worship the tomb, daddy’, she said. ‘Jesus is the bit that matters’.

‘So why is there a cross?’

‘Because people always seem to forget about that bit, and because that’s how Jesus remembers himself to us’.

‘But what about the yellow bit?’

‘Ah. That bit is just to make it pretty, silly’.

Welcome to our table

I’ve been having a few conversations about children being invited to the communion table.  Most have been positive, in my view, as churches are taking seriously the call to “let the children come” and inviting children to participate in our holy sacrament. 

I heard of one church where the session decided not to proceed with their Kids Friendly self-review because they don’t believe children should be invited to receive communion.  Their minister contacted me to clarify if “children receiving communion” is a requirement for Kids Friendly churches.  

It’s NOT a requirement.  However when churches tell me children are not invited to participate in communion, I ask them to encourage their leaders to read others’ views on the topic (Kids Friendly has some very good articles on the subject if you’re interested), discuss what they read together and prayerfully consider their decision. 

Most Kids Friendly churches decide to invite children to the table and carefully plan how they will educate children about this sacrament and how their communion liturgy engages children.  One minister shared:  “Last Sunday I decided to ask children to help me prepare the table and assist elders in serving communion.  This was a first for our church and it was the most powerful communion service I’ve ever experienced.”

My research has revealed no theological reason for excluding children and the too often cited “they don’t understand” excuse is, I believe, unfounded.  My understanding is that communion is a meal of grace for which no one needs to qualify.  Fortunately in our denomination previously churches that included children in communion had to explain their reason for doing so, now it is the reverse.