Family Communion

If you are new to taking communion as a family here are some helpful pointers to think about.

Being isolated at the moment means that we can not gather as a church community to share communion. While this may being some challenges in going about this virtually as a church fam- ily, it actually provides a real opportunity and pleasure to be able to do this as a family at home. I recognise that we may well be led through a virtual communion in one of our Sunday services fairly soon and so I wanted you to feel like your have had time to think about this in advance.

Firstly, keep it simple. Easter is a good time to chat to your children about what Easter means and to link in why use communion to remember what Jesus did. Your children are at different ages so use language that is appropriate for that and how sensitive they may be.

Frame it by linking to Christmas; something like this is when God’s amazing plan for us to have a close two way relationship started. Then say that Jesus lived on earth and showed and taught us how to live to help us to understand life better. He also showed us signs and wonders to show us he was God’s son. When the time was right he died. His body was broken so he could bridge the gap between us and God. He did this because he loves us so much.

Focus on one thing about communion. One concept is enough for children and one response too. For example, you could look at separation from God and then relationship restored, remem- brance, a chance to commit to something or to let something go, to say sorry or forgive . Think about hearts being in the right place.

There is no magic involved with the bread being his body and wine or juice being his blood. They are just symbols that Jesus gave us to help us remember the most important thing he did for us. Remember it’s not about having a snack !

Keep it fairly light and use the simple words “Jesus’ body broken for you” and “Jesus’ blood shed for you”