Communion and Kids: 6 Reasons Children Should Wait to Partake

3. Wait for Significance

Even though our girls would have “qualified” for baptism and the Lord’s Supper at an earlier age, we believe waiting helped to impress on them the significance of these ordinances and the unspeakable privilege it is to participate in them.

4. Wait for Anticipation

Each time the tray passed them by, our girls could look forward to the day when they would join in this celebration. I believe this period of anticipation made their first and subsequent experiences at the Lord’s Table sweeter and more meaningful to them.

5. Wait for Memories

We wanted our girls to remember their first experience at the Lord’s Table. Memories of the first decade of our lives are often fuzzy at best. Therefore, it made sense for them to wait until a time when they would more likely remember the communion experience.

6. Wait for Maturity

Nothing is particularly significant about age 13. We could have picked 11, 12, or 14. Sally and I simply wanted to draw a clear line that would mark a definite transition into young adulthood and maturity. As arbitrary as it may seem, we see tremendous value in setting a tangible point to begin setting certain expectations and offering certain privileges. Hopefully now you understand why we chose to save the significance of communion for the other side of the line.

Even though we may ask our children to wait for a season before they fully participate in communion, it can still be a significant experience for them as preteens. We should not wait to teach them about the meaning of the celebration and how to examine themselves, confess their sins, and remember the Lord’s death until he comes.

My aim is not to have all our children going through the proper religious motions at the “perfect” time (whenever that is). My aim and earnest prayer is that our children will know the sweet fellowship with the living Christ and experience his life-changing, soul-satisfying work in their hearts. May the Lord use our efforts in preparing our children for his table to nudge them into closer fellowship with him.  

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