Confirmation and children taking Holy Communion before Confirmation
What is confirmation? Confirmation is a special church service in which a person confirms the promises that were made when they were baptized. If you were baptized at a christening when you were a child, your parents and godparents made these promises on your behalf. As a young person or adult, you may be ready to affirm these promises for yourself and commit your life to following Jesus Christ.
At a confirmation service, you make these promises for yourself. Your friends and family as well as the local Christian community will be there to promise to support and pray for you. The local bishop will lay their hands on your head and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of your life.
Being confirmed is the traditional point at which a person joins in with other members of the Christian church in sharing in the bread and wine at Holy Communion service. So being confirmed means taking a further step in the Christian faith. As part of the preparation a member of the clergy team will help you either as an individual or with others who want to be confirmed in thinking what it is to be a Christian and looking at what the Communion service says.
Confirmation preparation usually happens every year, and consists of a series of roughly six weekly sessions. course of confirmation classes each year.
As a parish, we also admit baptised children to Holy Communion before confirmation. This is not to downplay the importance of confirmation, but is an acknowledgement that children are certainly able to understand the origin and specialness of sharing the bread and wine. A deeper understanding of the mystery of the sacrament is a lifetime’s work for all of us, and one that will never be complete however old we are. Children are certainly able to take Communion as seriously as adults do. The clergy team and parents and carers prepare the children for this.
For more information about adult and youth confirmation classes and children taking Communion before confirmation, contact the Parish Office or speak to a member of the clergy team.
Safeguarding
This parish is committed to the safeguarding, care and nurture of the children, young people and adults in our church community. The parish Safeguarding Policy can be seen here. Further information and contact details are on our Safeguarding page.
St. Mary's Amersham:
Church Street, Old Amersham, Bucks HP7 0DB
t: 01494 729380
e: stmarys.amersham@btconnect.com