Early Communion
At Christ Church, all baptized people are welcome to receive communion. We offer Early Communion classes for our first and second graders to develop a deeper understanding of the Eucharist.
Ten themes have been selected for interpreting the liturgy with the children during our 10 week Early Communion classes.
- Special meals – to help children connect the Eucharist with joyous meals they know; to understand Communion as a real, but special meal; to learn the biblical origin of the Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper and to become familiar with the responses used.
- God Gives ~ to help children feel the wonder at God’s creation and assurance that God cares about them; to receive these gifts joyously; to begin to understand thanksgiving in the liturgy.
- Remembering~ for children to explore what it means to remember their past, to understand biblical stories as a way of remembering our past as people of God, and to begin to find meaning in the Scripture lessons during the service.
- Forgiving ~ so that children will explore their feelings about doing wrong and being forgiven; they will begin to learn and understand the prayer of confession and how it can be helpful.
- Caring~ to explore what it means to pray for others; to understand what this means for them; to study the prayers of petition in the liturgy.
- Belonging ~ so that children begin to understand baptism as a way of belonging to the Church, and to learn why we have a Creed. They will begin to memorize the primary sentences of the Nicene Creed.
- Giving and Sharing ~ to understand the meaning of offering as it is used in the Liturgy and to explore feelings about giving. The children will learn the meaning of the “peace”.
- Thanksgiving ~ for them to think about the meaning of the Sanctus and the prayer of consecration, to learn the responses, and to become aware of the joyous feelings this part of the Eucharist represents.
- Communion ~ For the children to understand what it means to receive Holy Communion and to feel comfortable as they do so, learning to pray through this act.
- Living the Good News ~ Children will look at the conclusion to the Eucharist and see what it means to be “sent forth” to live as a Christian each day.
Throughout the weeks of fun and interactive lessons, God will continue to reveal meaning as each person faithfully participates in the liturgy. We welcome all families to have their baptized first and second graders join us in this faithful experience! We believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of our church and one of our five sacramental rites.
Confirmation
At Christ Church, all baptized people are welcome to receive communion. We offer Early Communion classes for our first and second graders to develop a deeper understanding of the Eucharist. Later, we offer Confirmation classes for our seventh, eighth and ninth graders to renew their baptismal vows.
Six themes have been selected for interpreting the liturgy with the children during our nine month Confirmation classes. These themes are taught over class times interspersed with: overnight experiences at St. John the Divine in NYC, as well as our own church, service projects at the WARM Center, our community Halloween Party, our Christmas Bazaar, serving at church suppers, community building activities and more.
The themes include:
- I Believe: Living the Creed
- Teaching, Fellowship, Bread and PrayersR
- esist, Repent and Return
- By Word and Example
- Seek and Serve
- Into the World in Witness
Throughout the weeks of fun and interactive lessons, God will continue to reveal meaning as each person faithfully participates in the liturgy. We welcome all families to have their baptized teens join us in this faithful experience! We believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of our church and one of our five sacramental rites.