Imagine a family gathered around the table
for supper. It can be in almost any country and in almost any century. It is a
special meal: candles are lit, food is enjoyed, wine is drunk and news is
shared.
Suddenly the youngest child turns to his
father. 'Why is tonight different from
other nights?' he asks. And, as the full moon shines through the window,
his father tells the story of how God delivered their ancestors from slavery
and led them over the Red Sea to the Promised Land.
Every Sunday we call to mind a similar
story in many churches - how Christ saved us from the slavery of sin through
his death and resurrection. We recall it during a meal, the meal he gave us on
the night he was betrayed when he promised to be present when we break bread
and remember him. One story flows from the other, but for me there is one flaw.
The Jews place a child in the centre. The party is not complete without him and
the story is told in response to his eager questions. How tragic that the
Western reformed tradition removed children from the Lord’s Table and told them
the story without the wonder and joy of meeting Jesus through his word and
sacrament.
When I was a children’s adviser, people
would ask me, 'Can we bring the
children to the Holy Communion service? How can we involve them?' The
early 1990s were the heyday of all-age worship. The Family Service was becoming
popular with churches encouraging congregational participation by presenting
the Bible though drama, music and visual aids in an exciting and relevant way.
At the same time, another group (of which I
was part) was finding ways of making the Eucharist truly inclusive. We took the
words of the service and the Bible readings and used sign and symbol, music and
drama, colour, light and movement to help people, whatever their age or stage
of faith to worship God with their whole selves. These services were the
forerunners of some of today’s best creative worship. Yet inclusiveness stopped
at the altar. Children were not allowed to receive Holy Communion.
But we have moved on! Today, children may
be admitted to Holy Communion before confirmation in the Church of England. It
is policy in the Methodist Church and common practice in the URC. Stress on the
importance of the manner of celebrating the service has encouraged worship that
is creative and accessible to all while retaining its sense of the presence of
God and beauty of holiness.
In my preparation course, Welcome to the Lord's Table, which is published by Barnabas,
I wrote that if children were present at Communion as communicants, it would
change the whole nature of the service. They would be present as of right,
rather than being allowed to come in. It was important to review the service
and see how it could relate to everyone: if it was not good enough for
children, it probably was not good enough for adults either! If children
were admitted to Holy Communion, it was as part of a continuous process that
led up to confirmation and beyond. Parents and church leaders need to help them
to grow in their faith and understanding of the significance of Holy Communion
as part of their nurture.
It was from this that the idea came for the
book Creative Communion. Churches need
to explore the service creatively and this involves the whole congregation.
Children who had been admitted to Holy Communion at an early age needed to grow
in their discernment of the sacrament and how to live it out in their daily
lives. My co-author, Tim Sledge, is one of the most creative ministers I know,
with wonderful flair and imagination. He suggested that, as the Lord made
himself known in a meal among friends, we should base the book on the theme of
meals and eating together.
Books are generally written in a continuous
stream, but Creative Communion is
designed in the shape of a letter ‘Y’! The stem explores the Eucharist as a
four-course meal with the basic ingredients enhanced by music, drama, colour
and movement according to the people present. It discusses the place of
children as part of the worshipping family, as communicants, and the
evangelistic angle of the service. The Jews keep an empty place to welcome the
stranger to the Passover table. How do Christians welcome the visitor, the
enquirer or those on the fringe of society to our meal?
The branches of the 'Y' are two sets of six workshops. Each session explores a part of the service
creatively. The all-age programme includes teaching and
practical activities, with time
for reflection and for planning how to incorporate some of the ideas into the
Sunday service. The course for children themselves, 'Food, glorious food', focuses on meals and includes
cooking, eating - an essential with young people - and time to discuss how to
live out this special service life in our daily lives at home and in school.
'Can we bring the children to the Holy Communion service? How can we
involve them?' These questions are still being
asked, but they are easier to answer today. Children can and should be present
at the service. Celebrating it creatively does much to give every person an
experience of the presence of God, and the youngest may share fully in the
Lord’s own meal.
Welcome to the Love Feast!
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