Communion Course for Children

Children and Holy Communion

At St Sebastian’s Church we admit children to Holy Communion before Confirmation.  We believe that those who are baptised are part of the family of God and should be able to share in the family meal when they are able to appreciate it.

We follow guidelines laid down by the Diocese of Oxford, and the criteria for admission to Holy Communion agreed by our PCC are as follows:

To be eligible to be admitted to Holy Communion in St Sebastian’s a child should:

• him/herself be keen to receive Holy Communion
• be baptised
• be aged 7 years or over
• be regular at worship
• be ready to attend a preparation course before admission.

At least one of his or her parents should:

• consent to the child being admitted to Holy Communion
• be baptised and be a regular communicant member of St Sebastian’s Church.

We admit children to Holy Communion every other year.  Courses will be advertised in the notice sheet.  Our most recent course resulted in 20 children being admitted to Holy Communion on Easter Sunday (or soon afterwards).  You can contact the Parish Office for more information, or talk to Amy Vogel, our Family and Youth Pastor.

If you think your child might be interested, please talk together about how he or she feels about taking Holy Communion.  You have a very important role to play in discussing this with your child, but in the end the decision must be theirs.