In the American Church, one of the unique features of presbyterianism is how we view our kids. In our understanding, the children of members of the church are, themselves, members of the local church. This doesn't mean that we believe that kids are saved by birth or by the faith of their parents, only that the children of believers are, in the Scriptures, part of God's covenant community. In our understanding, we consider them "non-communicant members" which is to say, members that are not yet permitted to participate in the Lord's Supper.
This is because of what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11.28, that we are to examine ourselves and be able to "discern the body" before we come to the Lord's Table. This simply means that someone is able to discern what the Body of Christ is (God's rescued people) and claim their place in it (thus self-examination). The real question is, how do our kids get to the place where they can claim those promises for themselves and affirm their personal faith in Jesus?
We want to help equip our parents to help their kids, no matter their age, to embrace the Gospel promises for themselves and come to the Lord's Table. To do this we are holding a "communicant's class" for parents. Instead of setting an age when we expect kids to come to the Table, we want to equip you, as parents who know your kids and spend the most time with them, to teach, disciple, and discern where your kids are at as best as you can. I will be team teaching this class with our Children's Ministry Director, my wife, so that we can cover both the theological underpinnings and the practical aspects of helping your kids embrace the faith, as well as share our own anecdotes from our parenting journey.
This class is not meant to be something you attend when you think your kids are ready to come to the Table. It is meant to equip you to help your kids become ready. We will talk about what coming to the Table means, why it matters, engaging your kids with the Gospel in consistent areas, what to look for to see that the Lord is at work in them, and what the process is for them coming to the Table for the first time.
Our first offering of this class will be Saturday, October 5, at 9:00 a.m. We’d love to see you there.