South Bend Christian Reformed Church, South Bend, Indiana

May 31, 2008

Synodical Committee on Faith Formation

Dear Committee Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to share our needs and opportunities about faith formation, particularly in respect to the Lord?s Supper and profession of faith. When Synod of 2006 gave (what we interpreted) as sanction to welcome children to the table, we immediately began a new process of preparation for those who had finished at least one year of Children and Worship (ages 5-7). Prior to 2006, children aged 10-12 were invited to a one-day retreat where they explored their readiness for participation in Holy Communion. Now we have a process described in the enclosures with this letter.

We fall on the side of being more concerned about ?discerning the body? by not excluding those who should be welcomed, than by fencing the table from the ?unworthy.? However, every invitation to come to the table mentions that those who love the Lord and have accepted salvation in Jesus Christ are welcome to join the feast. The elders trust that this is sufficient ?warning.? We participate in corporate confession and the passing of the peace prior to communion to make reconciliation part of the rite. That is the extent of the examination of ourselves, except for what the sermon might include on a particular Sunday.

The high school students had expressed frustration even previous to Synod 2006. They felt that they needed another, more adult expression of what their faith means to them as young adults. They wanted a deeper study to understand Holy Communion than they gained as children at the retreat. So plans were already in place for a yearlong mentoring program we call Credo. A short brochure describing the Credo program is included. Six high school students have participated in this program.

As for how we might deepen those practices, 1) we suggest a study guide for Len Vander Zee?s book on the sacraments with helpful discussion questions on both baptism and on Holy Communion. It would be a good for adults at our church to take a deeper look into what the Reformed faith teaches about the sacraments. 2) It would be helpful if the denomination would provide several acceptable models for leading children to the table and leading older children to and adult profession of faith.

Yours in Christ,

The Elders of South Bend CRC

Children at the Lord?s Table

The 2006 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church made a far-reaching decision regarding children?s participation at the Lord?s Table.   It declared, ?All baptized members? may be welcomed to the Lord?s Table ?on the basis of their full membership in the covenant community.?  This decision effectively separates participation in communion from Public Profession of Faith (hereafter: PP of F).  

This decision involves a change in doctrine and practice for the CRC.  Previously, only members who had made PP of F were welcome at the Lord?s Table.  But, the change is not as dramatic as it seems.  The CRC has been discussing the issue of children at the Lord?s Supper for many years, and Synodical study reports going back to the early 1990?s show that the church was of two minds.  On the one hand, there was an understanding that it?s important for the faith nurture of younger children for them to be welcome at the Lord?s Table.  On the other hand, some maintained that PP of F was necessary because it signaled that participants at Communion understood what Holy Communion meant, and thus would not come and ?eat and drink judgment to themselves? by ?not discerning the body.?  (I Cor. 11: 27-29) 

The CRC reached a classic compromise some years ago by urging churches to make it easier for younger children (with no specific age given) to make PP of F, and thus participate in the Lord?s Supper.  Up to that point in our denominational history, it was most common for youths to make PP of F in their late teenage years.  The recommendation for a more child-sensitive PP of F required a simpler, age-appropriate expression and understanding of the faith. Because we followed that recommendation, younger children (approximately ages 9-13) have attended one-day minister-led retreats to prepare them to make Public Profession of Faith. Many pre-teens have made PP of F here and were welcomed at the Lord?s Table. 

However, some parents and Brooke Peterson, our Youth Director became uncomfortable having this be the sole focus in children?s faith profession, since many of those same children seemed less confident in and articulate about their faith by their later teen years.  That?s why our new Credo program was launched this year.  The middle school and high school years are another rich time for spiritual formation of a deeper understanding, appreciation and expression of the faith. 

Now, with Synod?s 2006 decision, the elders have grappled with a new understanding of how we will welcome our children and youth to the Lord?s Table.  Theologically, it?s important to recognize that the argument from I Corinthians for ?discerning the body? is best interpreted as not demanding that an individual has an intellectual understanding of Communion (who of us really understands it?) but a discernment of the unity of believers around the table.  Yet, it is important to recognize that participants come to the Lord?s Supper in faith.  As Synod says, ?The essential question is: What is evidence of faith in a covenant member?  The very act of hearing the ?invitation? to communion and responding in faith by participating in an age-appropriate expression of knowing that communion is about being a part of a community that receives the gift of life from Jesus who said, ?Let the children come to me.?? *

The elders have adopted the following proposal:

Process for Welcoming Baptized Children to the Lord?s Table

In the light of these changes, Credo will be the program through which our older youth will be encouraged to make Public Profession of Faith.

*A paper written by Dr. Rylaarsdam, former SBCRC member and Professor of Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary provides biblical and historical background for Synod?s decision.  It is available on the information table. 

The Good Shepherd

And the Lord?s Supper

Bring the Good Shepherd and the Lord?s Supper tray to the children. Place the circle with the table on it next to the other green circle with the sheepfold, making sure they touch at one point. Silently touch the connecting point of the two circles for a moment. Sit quietly while you feel the story forming in you. Then say:

Once there was someone who said such amazing things about God and did such wonderful things that people began to follow him. But they didn?t know who he was. So one day they simply had to ask him, and he said,? I am the Good Shepherd.?

Touch the Good Shepherd.

?I put the safety of the sheep in front of my own safety. I would sacrifice myself if necessary to rescue them. I know each one of my sheep by name.?

Touch each sheep with a gentle stroking.

?And each of the sheep knows the sound of my voice. So when I call my sheep they hear my voice and follow me.?

Open the gate. Begin to move the Good Shepherd out of the gate with the sheep following.

?I go before the sheep to show them the way.?

Continue moving the sheep, with the Good Shepherd leading the way around the edge of the circle toward the point where the two circles touch. Do not hurry. There is a great deal of silence. Move the Good Shepherd, and then go back and move each sheep along. When the Shepherd and the sheep move across the point of contact between the circles, pause a second before crossing.

?I show my sheep the way to the good green grass.?

Bring the Shepherd and the sheep around the front of the table, moving them on the outer edge of the circle. When the sheep are all around the table, move the Shepherd forward. Then trace the edges of the table as you say:

This is the table of the Good Shepherd.

Open the basket with the plate and bread, and present the plate to the children, then place them it the table.

A special plate?

Pick up the cup and present it. Then put it on the table as you say,

?and a special cup are on this table.

Here the Good Shepherd feeds his sheep.

Gesture toward the table

On the night when he was handed over to be killed, Jesus explained that the Shepherd would be struck down and that his sheep would scatter to hide. But he promised that he would rise up and lead them to a victory feast of celebration.

 Pause. Sit back a moment.

         Many come to this joyful feast. They come from east?

Present as adult figure and exchange it for a sheep from the left side of the table.

         ?and west?

Present another adult figure and exchange it for a sheep from the right side of the table.

         ?and from the north and south.

Present the figure of the pastor and exchange it for the sheep opposite the Good Shepherd. Continue replacing every other sheep.

Pick up a child?s figure and present it and say:

         And the children come too.

Place the children between the adults. Pause a moment. Then remove the Good Shepherd figure, placing it in a basket.

The Good Shepherd is still with us, in the holy bread and the holy wine.

Elevate each as you name them.

And one of the people of God?

Pick up the pastor, who was opposite the Good Shepherd at the table, and set him in the place where the Shepherd was.

?called the celebrant, comes and says the very words of the Good Shepherd?and all the people share in his presence here.

Motion around the circle of people, bringing hour hands to point to the bread and wine. Sit back in silence for a moment. Then lift the bread and say:

         The words are, ?Take, Eat. This is my body, broken for you.?

Lay the bread down and lift the cup and say:

         ?And drink this, all of you. This is my blood, God?s new covenant promise poured out for the forgiveness of sins.?

Set down the cup.

         Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sacrifices himself for his sheep.

Point to the table.

         I wonder if you have ever been close to this table? ?

         I wonder if you have ever felt the Good Shepherd there with you? ?

         I wonder if you have ever heard the Shepherd call your name??.

         I wonder if you follow the Shepherd??

         I wonder if he feeds you??.

I wonder how it felt to be around the table and hear Jesus say, ?Take. Eat. This is my body broken for you??.

I wonder how the friends of Jesus felt eating the bread and drinking the wine??.

I wonder how they felt when Jesus died??.

I wonder how they felt when they heard that God raised Jesus again?

I wonder what people can come to this table??.

Interview of elder and pastor with child and parents.

Part 1                     

You children have learned some great songs during the song time after church school.

One of my favorites is this one:

?John 3:16

says, ?For God so loved the world,

he gave his only begotten son,

that whoever believes in him

will never die, but have eternal life.??

Jesus said this to tell us how God feels about the world and all the people in it.

And how is that?

Because he loves us he sent Jesus.

Jesus showed us how much God loves us.

He said amazing things and did wonderful things to show God?s love.

Can you remember any of the wonderful and amazing things Jesus did or said?

           Forgave sinners

           Healed sick

           Taught and told stories of God?s love

           Fed the hungry

           Welcomed children

Jesus did all these things to help people believe that God loved them.

One other thing he did got him into big trouble sometimes.

He ate meals with people.

That doesn?t sound like such a big deal, but in Jesus? time, eating with someone was a way of saying, ?You are my good friend and I want to be an important part of your life forever. We are just like family around one table. I am so happy that we are together.? Or, in other words: ?I love you.?

This might have been OK when he ate with his mother and brothers and sisters and dear friends, but Jesus welcomed all kinds of people around the table. Oh, the people he ate with! Sometimes there were: poor, sick, bad-smelling, sneaky, unfair, lying, cheating, ugly, hateful, proud or unhappy people. In other words, Jesus welcomed all kinds of people who wanted to come close to him and be part of God?s family. Jesus loves everybody. Nobody was turned away.

Jesus got in trouble for this because people thought he wasn?t being holy. Now that?s pretty funny to us, because we know that Jesus is the Son of God and never sinned even once! But they didn?t know that. They just thought he was letting sinful people get too close. They worked hard to keep sinful people AWAY! They thought God didn?t like sinners. They called Jesus a friend of sinners, and it was as if they had called him a dirty name.

But, am I a sinner?

Are you?

Jesus is happy to welcome us.

He invites us to come to his table and when we eat there it still means: ?I love you; we are family.?

Part 2 CWC The Good Shepherd and the Lord?s Supper (revised) see end of attachment

Part 3

When you children come up for a blessing at communion and the elder speaks in your ear, what does he or she say? What kind of things have you heard? They give a blessing. The blessing says exactly what the bread and the cup say: God loves you. God accepts you. God forgives all your sins and lives in you forever. Communion is a celebration of God?s love.

Now when people tell us with their words we are loved, that is one thing. But when they add something like a hug or a gift to their words, then their love becomes all the more real to us, doesn?t it? If your parents said they loved you, but they never showed it by giving you hugs or birthday presents, or by feeding you, and taking care of your needs, or by playing and having fun with you, after a while, their love wouldn?t seem real. We need love spoken in words, but we also need love that we can see is real. That why God gives us the sacraments. The water of baptism and the bread and cup make his words real to us. In sacraments we see his love and acceptance and salvation acted out.

In the Sacrament of Baptism God acts to identify the one baptized as being part of his family. How have you seen a child identified or marked during a baptism? How is that done? Baptism bonds us to Jesus and shows that we belong to him and all that he has done to redeem the world. Once we have been baptized, and marked as his own, we never need it again. Because once we are united with Christ, once we are his, we are always part of the people of Jesus Christ and the family of God.

But after someone becomes a part of God?s family how do their family ties, the bonds of love grow? How do we grow in love for one another? In all good relationships people tell one another that they care for them and love them. They give gifts, listen to each other, hug, and do nice things for one another. Our relationship with God grows in similar ways. We listen to God?s Word, talk to him in prayer, worship him, and we celebrate the sacraments, including Holy Communion. Communion is one important way God feeds and nourishes our trust and love to keep it strong.

In Holy Communion God shows us he loves us in a way that we can see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and feel. Just as we take in food to make our bodies strong and healthy we take in this spiritual meal to make our faith strong. Sometimes we call it a feast, even though we only get a little bit of bread and a tiny cup of juice. It is a feast, not because we fill up our stomachs, but because we feast on Jesus? love for his people. The bread and juice represent the body and blood of Jesus that were broken and spilled so that we could live forever with God. At Communion, Jesus is there, giving us himself and inviting us to receive him into our lives. And we are changed as we take Jesus? life into our own. This never stops, the mystery of how we change as Jesus comes to live in us. Through all our lives we will receive him in new and deeper ways.

How do you know if you?re ready for Communion? Don?t ask yourself if you know enough or if you?re good enough. Those are the wrong questions to ask. Ask if Jesus is in your heart and if you love him. You are ready when you trust and believe that Jesus loves you and forgives you and when you want Communion to help you feel that Christ is always in you, helping your faith grow. Communion is a gift of God by which we celebrate Christ?s love, forgiveness, salvation and his promise to always live in us.

Words you might hear:

Sacrament: A sacrament is a way that God comes close to us. Sacraments act out Christ?s salvation and cement the bond of union between God and us. Sacraments use common things: water, bread, wine--to help us see, taste, smell and feel God with us.

? In the Sacrament of Baptism God identifies us as his child, united with Christ.

? In the Sacrament of Holy Communion God nurtures our relationship, feeds our   faith, and reminds us of our identity.

Holy Communion: a sacrament that is called ?holy? because it describes something very close to God. Communion means to be close to and share with someone else. Because Jesus comes to us in this meal to feed our souls, we say we are ?in communion? together.

Lord?s Supper: a name for Holy Communion that reminds us that it is a meal in which    Christ himself is the host that feeds us.

Faith: our trust that Jesus Christ has saved us (and redeemed the world).

New Covenant: God?s promise to accept us forever because Jesus died for the sin of the world. It took the place of the old covenant God made with just Israelites when they left Egypt in the Exodus. In the Exodus, a Passover lamb was sacrificed so that death would not harm the people and they free to leave slavery and find the Promised Land. In the new covenant, Jesus was sacrificed so that death cannot harm us eternally, and we are free to begin a new life with God forever.

In Remembrance of Me: in Communion we remember what Jesus does to save his people.

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving: a prayer before Holy Communion that tells the story of the great things God has done to save his people through history. It always mentions Jesus who did the greatest and final work of salvation on the cross.

What to say when you receive the bread and cup: ?Amen? or ?Thanks be to God!?

We also give the children a copy of Daniel Erlander?s wonderful book called

A Place For You-My Holy Communion Book at the interview.

The Good Shepherd

And the Lord?s Supper

Bring the Good Shepherd and the Lord?s Supper tray to the children. Place the circle with the table on it next to the other green circle with the sheepfold, making sure they touch at one point. Silently touch the connecting point of the two circles for a moment. Sit quietly while you feel the story forming in you. Then say:

Once there was someone who said such amazing things about God and did such wonderful things that people began to follow him. But they didn?t know who he was. So one day they simply had to ask him, and he said,? I am the Good Shepherd.?

Touch the Good Shepherd.

?I put the safety of the sheep in front of my own safety. I would sacrifice myself if necessary to rescue them. I know each one of my sheep by name.?

Touch each sheep with a gentle stroking.

?And each of the sheep knows the sound of my voice. So when I call my sheep they hear my voice and follow me.?

Open the gate. Begin to move the Good Shepherd out of the gate with the sheep following.

         ?I go before the sheep to show them the way.?

Continue moving the sheep, with the Good Shepherd leading the way around the edge of the circle toward the point where the two circles touch. Do not hurry. There is a great deal of silence. Move the Good Shepherd, and then go back and move each sheep along. When the Shepherd and the sheep move across the point of contact between the circles, pause a second before crossing.

         ?I show my sheep the way to the good green grass.?

Bring the Shepherd and the sheep around the front of the table, moving them on the outer edge of the circle. When the sheep are all around the table, move the Shepherd forward. Then trace the edges of the table as you say:

         This is the table of the Good Shepherd.

Open the basket with the plate and bread, and present the plate to the children, then place them it the table.

         A special plate?

Pick up the cup and present it. Then put it on the table as you say,

?and a special cup are on this table.

Here the Good Shepherd feeds his sheep.

Gesture toward the table

On the night when he was handed over to be killed, Jesus explained that the Shepherd would be struck down and that his sheep would scatter to hide. But he promised that he would rise up and lead them to a victory feast of celebration.

 Pause. Sit back a moment.

             Many come to this joyful feast. They come from east?

Present as adult figure and exchange it for a sheep from the left side of the table.

             ?and west?

Present another adult figure and exchange it for a sheep from the right side of the table.

             ?and from the north and south.

Present the figure of the pastor and exchange it for the sheep opposite the Good Shepherd. Continue replacing every other sheep.

Pick up a child?s figure and present it and say:

             And the children come too.

Place the children between the adults. Pause a moment. Then remove the Good Shepherd figure, placing it in a basket.

The Good Shepherd is still with us, in the holy bread and the holy wine.

Elevate each as you name them.

And one of the people of God?

Pick up the pastor, who was opposite the Good Shepherd at the table, and set him in the place where the Shepherd was.

?called the celebrant, comes and says the very words of the Good Shepherd?and all the people share in his presence here.

Motion around the circle of people, bringing hour hands to point to the bread and wine. Sit back in silence for a moment. Then lift the bread and say:

             The words are, ?Take, Eat. This is my body, broken for you.?

Lay the bread down and lift the cup and say:

             ?And drink this, all of you. This is my blood, God?s new covenant promise poured out for the forgiveness of sins.?

Set down the cup.

             Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sacrifices himself for his sheep.

Point to the table.

             I wonder if you have ever been close to this table? ?

             I wonder if you have ever felt the Good Shepherd there with you? ?

             I wonder if you have ever heard the Shepherd call your name??.

             I wonder if you follow the Shepherd??

             I wonder if he feeds you??.

 I wonder how it felt to be around the table and hear Jesus say, ?Take. Eat. This is my body broken for you??.

I wonder how the friends of Jesus felt eating the bread and drinking the wine??.

I wonder how they felt when Jesus died??.

I wonder how they felt when they heard that God raised Jesus again?

I wonder what people can come to this table??.