A Wider Welcome at the Table

In my sermon on Sunday, I announced a change we are making to the way we share Communion. For once, the decision has nothing to do with COVID. Instead, the change came from asking the question, Who is allowed to receive communion at St. Mark? 

In the ELCA, we say that all baptized Christians are welcome at the table, but such a wide statement is not reflected in most congregations’ practices. I have worked at or been a member of five different Lutheran churches in my adult life. Each one had different rules about how old a baptized person needed to be in order to receive the bread and the wine. Requirements range from attending three classes in fourth grade, to going through the entire middle-school Confirmation program, to the simple one class in first grade we have had here.

There is a reason for this inconsistency— our scriptures and historical documents simply do not discuss the age of first communion. Jesus never said anything about who can participate in the Lord’s Supper and when, but he did say that to welcome a child is the same as welcoming God’s own self. In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he says that we should consider the the body of Christ— meaning the community— and never exclude any member. Martin Luther makes the case that one doesn’t need to come with knowledge or intellect about what is happening and why, but rather with the trust that Christ is present and that this mercy is for us.

All this is to say that your pastors at St. Mark will no longer put an age requirement on the Lord’s Supper. As soon as a child reaches out their hand in faith, they can receive that bread of life and cup of salvation. Parents and guardians will want to discuss this option with their young children who have yet to receive their first communion. Pastor Katrina and I are both available to talk about this with any families who are ready to take this step.

Of course, we will still have special classes about Communion for our children. Learning about the Eucharist is a life-long endeavor. We do well to find every occasion to teach our children, our youth, and our adults about what this meal is all about, so that we might trust even more that Christ prepares this meal for each of us, for the forgiveness of sin.

All of us rely on God. We are all equal and worthy of this sustaining and holy meal. May we all come to the table trusting that the gift of forgiveness is present and available for every one of us.

Peace, 

Pastor Chad McKenna