One of the most significant changes in
our current prayer book involved the removal of the rubric requiring
confirmation before admission to communion and the inclusion of the
statement that “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the
Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body, the Church.” (p.298)
These changes represent a radical departure from the theology and
practice under which most of us were raised, which regarded
confirmation as a “completion” of baptism and the “ticket” to Holy
Communion. Such changes can be disconcerting and a few words of
explanation are clearly in order.
There are compelling theological, historical and pastoral reasons
for the change allowing baptized children to receive the communion.
The theological issue is very simple. Baptism is the complete
sacrament of initiation of an individual by water and the Holy
Spirit into Christ’s Body, the Church. There is no holding back on
the blessings of the Holy Spirit (i.e. until confirmation) if we are
to consider our sacrament of baptism to be Christian. Even John the
Baptist considered the gift of the Holy Spirit to be the essential
difference between his own and Jesus’ baptism. At the same time, if
baptism is the complete rite of initiation into the church, then we
have no right to deny any of the spiritual privileges of Christian
life to any of the church’s members. That is especially true of the
reception of communion, the other great sacrament of the church by
which Christians are nurtured throughout the rest of their earthly
lives.
It makes no difference that many of those baptized are infants or
young children, for scripture makes it quite clear that children of
believing parents are brought under the providence of God’s grace
and are considered members of the community of faith. The practice
of the early church supported this theological understanding as all
candidates for baptism (including infants) were baptized with water,
chrismated (confirmed) and administered communion by their bishop at
the same service.
To understand our current situation, we must understand what
happened historically. As the church began to grow rapidly in the
early centuries, the bishops delegated the authority to baptize to
the priests of their dioceses. In the Christian east, they also
delegated the authority to chrismate (confirm), but in the west, the
confirmation was reserved for the next visit by the bishop as a way
of affirming his chief pastoral responsibility within the diocese.
In the meantime, those who had been baptized received communion as
full members of the household of faith. As the centuries progressed
the time between baptisms and confirmation gradually lengthened, and
fewer parents brought their children for confirmation.
In the 13th century, an Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham,
tried to remedy the situation by issuing a decree that only those
who had been confirmed could receive communion. This decree became a
rubric in the English prayer books, and in the American prayer books
through the 1928 revision. The current changes in practice represent
a return to the original and historic practice of the church. The
practice under which many of us were raised is a relatively late
development and peculiar to the English and some protestant
churches. It may have encouraged confirmation, but it lessened the
significance of baptism.
Beyond the theology and history, there are weighty pastoral reasons
for giving communion to baptized children. A frequent objection is
that children don’t understand what it’s all about. As Prayer Book
Studies 18 stated, however:
Psychologists have helped us to see that there is a level of
understanding - vital for growth into maturity - that is non-verbal
and non-rational. We now know that this unconscious level responds
to reality as it is conveyed by means of symbolic forms and actions.
We know that such an unconscious response begins at birth, if not
earlier.
The Rev. Louis Weil, professor of liturgics at Nashota House has put
it this way:
Children experience much that they cannot verbally articulate. We do
not delay the first bath until the child understands hygiene, nor do
we require knowledge of nutrition prior to the first meal. The child
experiences many baths and many meals - - really experiences them -
- and at the most basic human level apprehends their meaning through
the experience.
Another Christian has commented succinctly, “Children may not
understand the Holy Communion, but they certainly understand
acceptance and rejection.”
What we as adults need to understand is that all our intellectual
articulations about this sacrament are but feeble human attempts to
comprehend the basic mystery of God’s unconditional loving
acceptance of us, God’s children. Reception of the sacrament by
those among us who don’t “understand” as we “understand” should
serve as a reminder to us that we must always experience grace
before we can TALK truly about it.
A level of understanding appropriate to an individual’s age and
experience is the important issue, and that calls for ongoing
education in sacramental theology from an early age, both at home
and by incorporation into the Church School curriculum at every
level.
One good indication that the time has come for the child to begin
receiving regularly is when they ask, “Why can’t I have some too?”
by The Rev. Ronald S. Fisher
A Return of the Original & Historic
Practice