The Water and the Wine

"The Water and the Wine": A Contribution to the Debate on Children and Holy Communion by Roger Beckwith and Andrew Daunton-Fear

What age should children or young people be when they are first able to take communion?

This question has been 'settled' in different ways at different times in the history of the church, and yet today in the Church of England it is as contentious an issue as ever.

The historic Anglican pattern was established at the Reformation. The infants of professing Christian parents were baptised, and they were confirmed by the bishop at the 'age of discretion' (about 12 to 15 years), after a course of instruction on the lines of the Prayer Book Catechism.

Over the past half-century, this pattern has been increasingly questioned. A House of Bishops report in 1996 set guidelines for the admission of baptised children to communion before confirmation, and an estimated 9 per cent of UK Anglican churches now permit this new practice.

This booklet makes a substantial case, both theological and practical, for the traditional pattern. It explores the Jewish, New Testament, Early Church and Reformation background, and considers related pastoral issues.

First Published 2005: 84 pages

ISBN: 0 946307 54 7

EAN: 9780946307548

Price: £4.50

Other booklets by the same author:

LS02 The ASB Rite A Communion - A Way Forward

LS09 Confessing the Faith in the Church of England Today

LS20/21 The Thirty-Nine Articles: their Place and Use Today

LS22 How We Got Our Prayer Book

LB01 The Church of England: What it is, and What it Stands For

LB02 Praying With Understanding: Explanations of Words and Passages in the Book of Common Prayer

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