When someone takes communion for the first time, it is a joyous occasion. While St. Philip’s ultimately leaves the timing of a child’s first communion to their parents, we are happy to partner with them in various ways to help them make this decision. One of those ways is in our First Communion Class, which we offer at least once a year.

Last Sunday, after completing provided curriculum at home, seven children and their parents joined Dorothy Lancaster and me to learn more about what Holy Communion is and how to actually do it (after first fueling up with pizza in the Parish Hall).

To understand what Communion is, we traced the story of the world by looking at five meals:

Meal #1: The Meal in the Garden (Genesis 3)

Adam and Eve were told they could eat of any tree, except for one tree - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin (turning from God and not listening to him) came into the world and spread to all through the act of eating the wrong meal.

Meal #2: The Passover Meal (Exodus 12)

God’s people ended up enslaved in Egypt, and God rescued them. And as he rescued them he gave them a meal called the Passover Meal to have them remember and celebrate God’s great rescue from Egypt.

Meal #3: The Last Supper (Luke 22:14-20)

On the night before Jesus died, he was celebrating the Passover meal. This is known as the Last Supper with his disciples. But Jesus took the Passover meal and did something amazing: he said it was really about himself. He took the Passover meal and turned it into a new meal for his followers. It was to be a meal in which they celebrate and remember God’s ultimate rescue mission where Jesus died and rose again defeating Satan, sin, and death.

Meal #4: The Church’s Meal (known as the Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion/Holy Eucharist)

The Church celebrates Holy Communion because of what Jesus said at the Last Supper. This special meal is a sacrament, which is an outward and visible sign of something that we cannot see but is nevertheless real and true. That reality is that God loves us by giving his son for us. At Holy Communion, we don’t just hear this good news with our ears and remember it in our minds. We also see, smell, touch, and taste it. Jesus gave his followers this meal so that they might receive strength and encouragement. It is not a meal for perfect people; it is a meal for those who know they need Jesus. And when we come with empty hands to his Table, he feeds our bodies with bread and wine and our souls with his very own body and blood. At this meal, we receive the strength we need to continue to follow Jesus in all our lives.

Meal #5: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-10)

The Bible does not tell us much about heaven, but it does tell us this: that it will be a place of great joy and feasting. Holy Communion not only looks back at what Jesus did, but it also looks forward to the destiny of all Christians, where we will be united with Jesus face to face and join our voices with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven in praise to God. When we come to the Lord’s Table, we aren’t going alone. It is almost like what happens when Lucy goes into the wardrobe and into Narnia. At Communion, we are spiritually united with Jesus and all the saints who have gone before us. We get a glimpse of our eternal destiny every time we go to the Lord’s Table––that one day we will be with the Lord face to face, singing his praises with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven, around his wonderful banquet table in heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

After this, children were invited into the altar area for a different perspective than they normally get. They were able to see the different colored veils and burses (which cover the elements on the altar) which correspond to the different seasons of the Church year. They practiced holding a chalice (cup) and paten (the small plate which holds the bread). They ate some unconsecrated wafers (one child said, “This is great! It tastes just like paper!”). And they were instructed on how to kneel and receive communion either by eating and  drinking or intinction (dipping). At the end, parents were given some ‘homework”! They were encouraged to go line by line and explain what all the words mean which we hear and say before we go to the Lord’s Table.

If this is something you would like to do with your own child, please reach out either to Dorothy or me, and we would be happy to set up a date in the near future!

Dorothy Lancaster: dlancaster@stphilipschurchsc.org, (854) 429-1940

Justin Hare: jhare@stphilipschurchsc.org, (854) 429-1937