Some ideas for exploring

communion with children

Compiled by Jane Tibbs, Children’s Adviser for the Diocese of Bath and Wells

The Family meal

We all belong to families with patents, perhaps brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins. And when we get together as a family, we often have meals.

Everyday family mealsSharing food together is a way of expressing closeness. We must eat to live. When we eat together, we blend our lives together, and we show that we care for each other by making sure that everybody present has something to eat.

How many times does your family eat together? Are there times when some family members are missing? Are the meals different when someone is missing?

Special family mealsSince food is necessary to us, we use it to celebrate special occasions.

What special occasions does your family celebrate with a big meal?

What foods are used at those special meals?

The church’s family mealWhen we were baptized, we became part of a new family, the church. This is a very big family. All baptized Christians, all over the world, are our brothers and sisters.

As members of God’s chosen family, the church, we show God’s love to our own natural families, to friends, and to those we meet at school and in our neighbourhood. We pray for each other and help each other out when needed. We worship together. And we join in the church’s family meal, the Eucharist.

In the family meal of the Eucharist, Jesus shares his life with us, and our lives are drawn into his. As we draw closer to Jesus, we draw closer to each other, because Jesus loves every one of us.

Bread and Wine

The special food of the Eucharist

At your special family meals there are often special foods. For example, does your family have a turkey at Christmas and at birthdays is there usually a birthday cake?

The Eucharist too has its special food: bread and wine. Through them, Jesus shares his life with us.

BreadBread is a simple basic food. It takes away our hunger and gives us strength to live. Bread is made from grain. God gives the seed, the sunshine and the rain to make the grain grow. The farmer grows the grain and harvests it. The grain is ground into flour. The baker mixes the flour with yeast and water to make loaves of bread. Our daily bread is the work of many people.

Have you ever baked a loaf of bread? How is it done? Make a list of all the people involved in making a loaf of bread

and getting it to your table

WineWine helps to mark a celebration. Wine is made from grapes. God also gives the seed, the sunshine and the rain to make the grapes grow. Vine growers grow the grapes, harvest them and press the juice to make wine. Wine, like bread, is the work of many people.

Have you ever seen wine being made? How is it done?

Why bread and wine?Why do you think Jesus chose bread and wine as the special foods of the Eucharist?Take a moment to think of some answers….

Here are some suggested answers. How many of them did you think of? Did you think of any others?

Bread and wine were both common in the place where Jesus lived

Bread is a simple, basic food, needed for nourishment Wine is a sign of celebration Both bread and wine represent the work of God and the work

of human beings. They represent people working together with God for good

For many centuries before Jesus, Jewish people had used bread and wine at their special meals

Where it all began: The Last Supper

At the Passover, Jewish people remember how God spared them from a punishment that was laid on their enemies. At the Passover meal, families and friends give thanks to God for “passing over them”. The first Eucharist was a Jewish Passover meal shared by Jesus and his friends on the night before Jesus died. We call this the Last Supper, and we remember it each year on Maundy Thursday, a few days before Easter.

What happened at the Last Supper?On Jesus’ instructions, his friends prepared the Passover meal at a house in Jerusalem in an upper room on the second floor of the house.

During the meal, Jesus said that one of the disciples would betray him to the Roman authorities. In the story written by both Matthew and Luke, Jesus told Judas that he would be the one who would betray him.

As the leader at the meal, Jesus did what the head of a Jewish would do. He took bread, gave thanks to God, broke it and gave it to the others. But as he did so, he said a new and startling thing: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus again did what the head of a Jewish family would do. He took a cup of wine, gave thanks to God and gave it to the others. But again he said something new and surprising: “Drink this, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”

The Last Supper and Jesus’ deathAfter the meal, Jesus and his friends went out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus wanted to pray. In the middle of the night, he was arrested by Roman soldiers and put on trial. The next day, the day we call Good Friday, Jesus was put to death on a cross.

Jesus’ life had been spent teaching us that God loves us. If God loves all of us, it follows that we must love each other. This is what Jesus taught. But the authorities mistrusted him because his message seemed to undermine their power. Eventually he was faced with a choice: stop teaching and living his message of love for all, or face arrest by the jealous authorities. In real life, he willingly gave his body and blood to show how much he cares for us.

After Jesus rose from the dead at Easter, his followers did as he told them to do. They continued to share bread and wine, which Jesus had called his body and blood. In this way they continually remembered Jesus and his generous death, so that he was always close to them. Christians have done this ever since.

In the Bible there are four stories of the Last Supper that are alike. They are in Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.

You can read a slightly different version of the story in the gospel of John, chapters 13 to 17.

Setting the Table

The Eucharist is the family meal of the Christian church. When your family has a special meal to celebrate a birthday or Christmas, you prepare by setting the table with your best tablecloth and china. When we get ready to celebrate the Eucharist, we also set the table with special dishes and linens.

Before the Eucharist, the altar (the big table at the front of the church) is covered with a linen cloth. Sometimes we call this the fair linen which means beautiful linen.

On or near the altar are placed the special dishes to hold the bread and wine.

The chalice is a large cup that holds the wine. Sometimes it is made of silver, and sometimes it is made of pottery.

The paten is a small plate that holds the bread.

On top of the paten rests the pall which is a small square of solid material that is covered in linen.

A cloth called the purificator is often placed over the chalice. It is used for wiping the rim of the chalice when people are receiving communion. Another cloth called the corporal is often placed on the pall. At the altar, the priest first spreads the corporal, and then sets the chalice and paten on it.

Sometimes, when they are not in use, the chalice and paten are covered with a veil in the colour of the season. On top of everything is placed the burse, also in the colour of the season. The burse opens like a book. Inside it, the corporal is kept carefully folded.

All these dishes are spread out in preparation for receiving the bread and wine.

The bread may be a small loaf or bun, or it may be small individual wafers. The wine is kept in a bottle called a cruet and poured into the chalice at the offertory.

Can you name all the special things used when setting the table for the Eucharist?

These are all the special Eucharistic vessels

Pall

Paten

Host

Purificator

Chalice

Corporal

Burse

Corporal

Veil

The Service

This is the shape of the Eucharist in Common Worship

The GatheringThe people are greeted in words that help us to remember our purpose in gathering. There may be an opening hymn and the Gloria may be sung.

In the Prayers of Penitence we tell God that we are sorry for what we have done wrong, and we hear the words of the priest who assures us that God forgives our sins.

The Collect of the Day is a prayer that “collects” up the prayers of the whole congregation.

The Liturgy of the WordThere may be a reading from the Old Testament about the story of the people of Israel. There may be a psalm, one of the ancient hymns of Israel, said or sung too. There will be a reading from one of the Epistles, or letters, sent to the early Christians. And then everyone stands to hear a story about Jesus from one of the four Gospels.

In the sermon, or homily, the preacher helps us to explore the readings, to understand their meaning for our lives today.

We proclaim our Christian faith by saying the creed together, which is a statement of faith.

Prayers of IntercessionTogether, we pray for the church, for the world, for ourselves, for people who are in need, and for people who have died.

The Liturgy of the SacramentIn the Peace we greet one another with a handshake or a hug as a sign that we are all children of God and part of one family, the church.

The altar, or table, are prepared and members of the congregation bring gifts of bread and wine to the altar, along with gifts of money.

In the Eucharistic prayer, the priest tells the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, including the story of the Last Supper. We ask God to send his Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine so that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.

We end this part of the service by saying together the prayer that jesus taught us, the Lord’s Prayer.

Breaking the Bread and CommunionThe bread is broken so that it can be shared with all. We come to the altar as fellow Christians to receive God’s gifts of bread and wine.

Prayers after Communion and the DismissalAfter the prayers, we are sent out into the world to love and help other people, and to tell others the good news of how God loves them.

Passing the Peace

The priest says, “The Peace of the Lord be always with you,” and we reply, “And also with you!”

Passing the peace is a very old custom, one used by the early Christians. We shake hands or hug those around us, and say to them, “Peace,” or “The Peace of the Lord”. They reply, “Peace,” or “and also with you.” We are saying to others, “Hello. I’m glad we’re part of the same family, the church. May God bless you.” They reply to us, “I wish the same for you.”

Jesus taught us that, since God loves all of us, we must love each other. That means we must treat each other with respect and generosity. Giving a sign of peace to others reminds us that we are united in trying to follow Jesus.

God loves us so much that he gave us Jesus, his Son, to die for us. And Jesus was willing to continue teaching the message about God’s love, even though it meant that he would be killed. His death shows how much he loves us.

The Offertory and the Great Thanksgiving

When we share the bread and wine with others in our church family, we draw closer to them. To show that we are one with each other, we often use one loaf of bread. We drink from one cup of wine. This reminds us that we are united with other Christians in the one body of Christ, which is the church.

We bring the bread and wine to the altar at the offertory. The bread and wine, and also our gifts of money, represent our daily lives and our daily work. We bring to God all that we are and all that we do. In receiving them from us, God receives our whole selves.

Of course, we can give nothing to God that God did not make! In making offerings to God, we are bringing them back to God with thanksgiving for all that we are and all that we have.

A prayer used in some churches when the bread and wine are offered says:

Blessed are you, Lord God, Creator of all things. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the Bread of life.

Blessed are you, Lord God, Creator of all things. Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our Spiritual Drink.

What we offer to God, God returns to us with blessing. We receive back from God the bread and wine, now blessed as the body and blood of God’s Son, to strengthen us to do God’s work.

Coming to Communion

We come quietly to the front of the church to receive the bread and wine.

We usually cup our hands together as if we are making a cradle to receive the bread, the body of Christ, and raise them to our mouth to eat it. Some people make the sign of the cross before they receive the bread and wine.

We drink a small sip from the cup of wine, the blood of Christ. Or we dip the piece of bread into the wine.

After we receive the bread and wine, we can say, “Amen” as a way of thanking God for this great gift.

We can receive communion either kneeling or standing. When we kneel, it is a sign of respect for God. When we stand, it is a sign of thanksgiving to God for God’s great gifts to us. If you are small it is a good idea to stand so that you can receive the bread and wine easily.

After we receive communion, we go quietly back to our places. We sit or kneel, and say thank you to God.

Anyone who is baptized may now receive communion in our church. Sometimes there are classes for children to help them understand what is happening in the Eucharist. Perhaps you are getting ready to make your first communion. That is a very special day, when you first share in the family meal of the church.

Sending Out

When the Eucharist ends, we are sent back into the world outside the church building. We are told. “Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.” We reply, “In the name of Christ. Amen!” or “Thanks be to God!”

God sends us out, strengthened by the Eucharist, to tell others about God’s love. God wants us to try to make things better in our world – to help others, to make the world a safe place for everyone, to bring justice and fair play, to be peacemakers.

This is not easy to do. We need God’s help. We need the help of other members of our church family. We come back to church each week to receive strength to do God’s will.

Communion all around the world

Christians all around the world meet together each week to celebrate the Eucharist. People of all nations, all races, all ages share this family meal. They meet in churches and in homes and schools. The bread and wine are brought to people who are sick in hospital or at home when they are not able to attend the church service.

The Eucharist can be a happy celebration, for a birthday or a wedding or a special event. It can be a more quiet celebration when we are sick or sad. It is a service for beginnings – a new job, a new year, a new baby. It is a service for endings – saying goodbye, coming to the end of a year, a funeral at the end of an earthly life.

There may be hundreds of people at a communion service in a big church or hall. There may be only two or three people in a quiet room. But we know that we are taking part in something that is bigger than the people gathered there.

When we come to the Eucharist, we are taking part in something Christians have done for almost 2000 years, as a way of bringing

Jesus and the new life close to us. We are joining with millions of Christians all around the world.

The Eucharist is a Sacrament

Jesus was a great teacher. He talked to people about things they could see and hear – the flowers of the field, the birds in the air – to tell people about God’s love for them. Once he picked up some mud and put it on a blind man’s eyes to make him see again. Jesus was very comfortable with ordinary things, and he used to help us learn to understand ourselves and our relationship to God.

A sacrament uses something quite ordinary – something we can see and touch – to bring God’s special gifts to us. In baptism, we use water to bring God’s gift of new life to us. In the Eucharist, we use bread and wine to bring God’s grace and love among us.

The Catechism defines a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace”. In other words, something we can see and touch changes the way we live our lives. It makes us value God’s world, and everything and everyone in it. We are called to

prevent suffering and destruction, to care for our world, and to help others who are in need, as Jesus did.

In the Eucharist we can see the priest take the bread and wine and we can hear the words of the prayers. But through the bread and wine and the prayers something happens that we cannot see. The bread and wine are transformed by God’s Spirit into a way of sharing God’s love for us. They bring the death and resurrection of Jesus very close to us.

The sacraments invite us to use all our senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, movement – in the worship of God. We can see the actions at the altar. We can smell the candles and the flowers, hear the music and the prayers, touch and taste the bread and wine. We move about the church, and stand and kneel for worship. The sacraments remind us that God speaks to us through everyday things.

Names for the Family Meal

Christians call this service by many different names. Each name helps us to understand more about the meaning of this sacrament.

The Eucharist is a Greek word meaning thanksgiving. We give thanks to God for God’s great gift of new life, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Supper reminds us that this is the Christian family meal. Jesus shared the Last Supper with his disciples, the night

before he died, and asked us to continue to meet together to share this meal.

The Holy Communion tells us that receiving the bread and wine – the body and blood of Christ – brings us into communion with God and each other. In other words, it brings us closer to God and to each other. We share this sacrament with other people in the Christian community.

The mass is a name that comes from the Latin phrase, Ite, missa est. This means, Go! You have been sent. When Latin was used in church for several hundred years, these words were said at the end of each service. We come to the Eucharist to be strengthened, so that we can go out and help others and tell them the good news that God loves them. We still use the name mass, particularly at Christmas, which means Christ mass.

Eucharist wordsearch

R E T H A N K S E F P U T C E

O U S V L K L C G C R A R R UQ C I P E N I W O L A Y T H IZ H W E R L E M H S Y L Z E GX A W A A I M C R E E D K E NY R P H K U E S R Y R M C C FA I C T N C G S U U G A N I BA S M I K L C F T T E S H V FI T O X O F J H B P C S X R AD N Y R O T R E F F O N H E HI A I S F R E P P U S Y A S RD A E U P B E Y H N M O A S AR Y T R E K N G L N T G Q M TY V Y A B H D Z B A S G S C LT V D H U V U T R S S L L F A

ALTAR BREAD CHALICE COMMUNION

CREED EUCHARIST GLORIA HYMN

MASS OFFERTORY PATEN PEACE

PRAYER PRIEST SANCTUS SERVICE

SUPPER THANKS WINE

Here are some activity ideas

I

If you already receive communion,

find out the date on whichyou made your first communion

Draw a picture of yourchurch family.

Include people of all ages

Read the story of the Last Supper

in the Bible.Imagine you are a child at that Supper and write a story about

what it was like.

Draw a picture of some of the things you are thankful for

Learn a grace to say before a meal and say it with your family

if you can

If you have servers at your Eucharist service, ask them

what they do

Write your own activities in these!

Tell, or write, about a special meal that you have shared with

others – it could be for a birthday, anniversary, holiday or

other event

Make an invitation card to ask someone to come to the

Eucharist

Can you make a cross shaped book mark?