Each Lent Pastor Albers “introduces” older children and middle schoolers to the joy of receiving communion. This year these 50-minute classes will begin on Wednesday, March 12, at 5 pm in the Ladies’ Lounge, and meet for five weeks.
DISCOVERY
Older elementary and middle school students are naturally curious. They are usually eager to receive the gifts of the Lord’s Supper that in the past were “reserved” for older youth and adults. These young persons see their parents and other adults coming to communion and receiving a small bit of unleavened bread and a sip of wine and wonder “Why?” and “When can I?”
Instead of waiting until a longer period of instruction is completed, St. John’s invites these catechumens to receive Holy Communion while beginning what we hope will be a lifetime of discovering and re-discovering what it means to live as a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus.
It is necessary that those receiving the gifts of communion for the forgiveness of sins remember the faith given in Holy Baptism, rejoice in the confession of faith shared by their sisters and brothers in Christ, and learn something more about what we receive through the physical means of bread and wine.
STUDENTS AND PARENTS
At the beginning of each part of his Small Catechism, Dr. Martin Luther indicates that the following essentials of the faith are “as the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.” In other words, in classes designed to teach young persons, the church is really taking on a responsibility first assigned to parents.
Because of this, Pastor Albers asks that at least one parent attend these first communion classes with their students. While Pastor Albers will lead the conversation, it is intended that through this short period of classes parents will recognize their critical role in teaching the faith to their children, and children recognize that their parents want them to be an active part of the church.
Some who come to these classes will already be receiving more thorough instruction in the faith, while others are just beginning to learn. Through these five weeks, students and parents will review the essentials of Baptism, the Apostles’ Creed (the faith given in Baptism), and the gifts received through the Lord’s Supper.
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