-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Ward [mailto:mward@...] 
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 8:57 AM
To: faithandlife@...
Subject: RE: [FaithandLife] interesting link



First, at what age do you begin?

	As soon as they can eat the bread.

What do we do with Confirmation?

	It certainly loses none of its significance or importance. It ceases
to be a doorway to the Table. This might effect the "psychology of the
event" for us.  Rituals provide foci around which the motions of our lives
dance.  This only changes the steps a little but none of the substance of
confirmation's importance is compromised in any way I can discern.

Wayne+



Daniel+

Regarding paedocommunion.  I think a good argument for it can be made on the
basis of Patristic writings, and the theology of the Covenant.  Two pastoral
questions, though, which I'm sure you've run into if your church practices
paedocommunion:

  In some of the Orthodox churches, parents are given small spoons on the
birth of a child with which the priest ladles the consecrated wine into the
mouth of an infant; and in the Roman Church, first Communion is around age
seven (which seems to be a bit arbitrary to me, the East being more
consistent in their treatment of the sacrament).

Second,  which we've always viewed as a prerequisite to Communion?  Again,
at least in much of the East we seen consistency as a child is baptised and
confirmed in the same service (the priest administering confirmation), then
given Communion.

Just wondering.

MLW+



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