Admission to Communion
It is with joy and sadness that we send our little ones to school for the first time.
Here at the Church of the Resurrection we like to support children in their growing years with our children’s programmes and invite them to participate more fully in church worship by receiving Holy Communion.
Mums and Dads learn more with their children as they are prepared for Admission to Communion. Children and their families meet with Fr Nicholas three times during the process of preparing for Admission to Communion: once to start the process and then half way along to ask any question that has arisen and then finally to ask more questions and to have a practical rehearsal.
Confirmation
When children have been baptised , it is with the understanding that the parents and godparents will nurture them in the faith and practice of the Church. When the young people are old enough to make a commitment of faith they are encouraged to do so. This is usually from about the age of sixteen. It is not uncommon for people much older to be confirmed as well.
The important thing about confirmation is that the person being confirmed should make the decision themselves. It is not appropriate for mum and dad or someone else to emotionally pressure them into being confirmed.
Here at the Church of the Resurrection in the Parish of Aspley Albany Creek we generally use a mentoring approach called Making Disciples. The confirmees meet with their mentors for 13 sessions prior to the confirmation. Even commencing this process should not make the confirmee feel obliged to be confirmed. Even to the day of confirmation it is up to them to decide.
The mentors are encouraged to see the process as a journey of exploration and reflection. The confirmee is encouraged to read Luke’s Gospel and each week the confirmee is encouraged to bring questions and reflections to their discussion. Week by week the confirmee and the mentor discuss various aspects of the Church’s faith.
As confirmation is a very important step in a person’s life the regional bishop celebrates and leads the worship on that day. It is always a joy to see the Church packed as parents and Godparents come once again to support and encourage this adult commitment of faith.
We expect that once someone has been confirmed that they will enter fully into the life of the Church: worshiping regularly; developing their personal prayer life; giving generously to the local Church and to the wider work of God; discovering and using their gifts in a variety of ways for the ongoing mission of the Church.