Do This In Remembrance of Me
LM was dedicated in a church in Illinois when he was 18 months old. We moved to Pennsylvania when he was two and during the next two years, we never attended a church service as a family. When I moved out, LM and I attended a local Methodist church where children were to be seen and not heard. After buying our home, we started looking for a new church closer to home and visited various churches over the next couple of years, attending an inter-denominational church for the longest span during that time. Calvary was a huge church, one that had a separate service for children to attend during church (one of the reasons we finally left). Over the summer, LM attends church with both sets of Grandparents, enjoying the differences in contemporary services versus very traditional.
We have recently found a local church that we feel very much at home at and while I have been attending for a few months now, LM has only been attending for about a month (since his return home from the summer).
This morning, when LM joined me in the sanctuary for church after we both enjoyed our separate Sunday School classes, I leaned over to explain how this church practices the tradition of Communion. It wasn’t until the moment when LM said, “This’ll be a first” that I realized he’s NEVER participated in Communion. Having been attending a separate children’s service since he was old enough to acknowledge his belief in Christ, and not being baptized to participate at his grandparent’s more traditional church, LM has never been in a service where he is encouraged as a believer to participate. I quickly and quietly explained the process at our church and reiterated that in my beliefs, baptism is not a requirement of salvation (nor to participate in the Sacraments) but as declaration of your beliefs. I told him if he was comfortable with it, he was welcome to participate, but to really focus on the sermon and on the tradition of the Lord’s Table.
The guest Pastor did an incredible job of explaining the significance, the lessons, the requirements and the meaning. When we bowed our heads in prayer I was overwhelmed with what it feels like as a parent to witness my child expressing his faith in this manner.
As the bread was passed, LM leaned over and said, “I thought there was wine, too” and I explained that it will come next but that it’s usually just grape juice, representing the wine. He looked remarkably relieved at that and sat with focus and attention on the verses that were shared in between.
And it was there, in the pew this morning, sitting next to my 10 year old son, that we shared the Sacraments of Christ together for the first time.
I know his faith will be tested as he grows older and that his faith will evolve from a very innocent, untesting childlike belief into something entrenched (I pray!) through experience and testing but it is really something to watch my child grow in his walk with the Lord and to be excited about the services and lessons.
What a sweet moment we shared this morning.
We have recently found a local church that we feel very much at home at and while I have been attending for a few months now, LM has only been attending for about a month (since his return home from the summer).
This morning, when LM joined me in the sanctuary for church after we both enjoyed our separate Sunday School classes, I leaned over to explain how this church practices the tradition of Communion. It wasn’t until the moment when LM said, “This’ll be a first” that I realized he’s NEVER participated in Communion. Having been attending a separate children’s service since he was old enough to acknowledge his belief in Christ, and not being baptized to participate at his grandparent’s more traditional church, LM has never been in a service where he is encouraged as a believer to participate. I quickly and quietly explained the process at our church and reiterated that in my beliefs, baptism is not a requirement of salvation (nor to participate in the Sacraments) but as declaration of your beliefs. I told him if he was comfortable with it, he was welcome to participate, but to really focus on the sermon and on the tradition of the Lord’s Table.
The guest Pastor did an incredible job of explaining the significance, the lessons, the requirements and the meaning. When we bowed our heads in prayer I was overwhelmed with what it feels like as a parent to witness my child expressing his faith in this manner.
As the bread was passed, LM leaned over and said, “I thought there was wine, too” and I explained that it will come next but that it’s usually just grape juice, representing the wine. He looked remarkably relieved at that and sat with focus and attention on the verses that were shared in between.
And it was there, in the pew this morning, sitting next to my 10 year old son, that we shared the Sacraments of Christ together for the first time.
I know his faith will be tested as he grows older and that his faith will evolve from a very innocent, untesting childlike belief into something entrenched (I pray!) through experience and testing but it is really something to watch my child grow in his walk with the Lord and to be excited about the services and lessons.
What a sweet moment we shared this morning.
Comments
it's wonderful you take such an active part in his religious journey.