Borderline age case of the Lord’s supper

[Burke Devlin]

We recently received a family into full communicant membership (I am being intentionally ambiguous). One parent anticipates the child of 10yrs coming to the Table after the session interviews/catechizes, etc.. I lean toward ten years old generally being too young, but the child under consideration may be the exception to the rule. From day one I did my upmost to moderate expectations w the parent on the issue while at the same time leaving the door open to the possibility that the child may be of years and ability to examine themselves (WCF Q/A 177). Something tells me the parent and child may not have heard the part about “moderating expectations” as clearly as I had hoped. We will see how things fall out. Anyone able to offer some nuanced insight on this situation?

 

[Charles Johnson]

My advice (granted, I'm not a pastor) would be to treat the child the same way you would an 18 year old. Interview the child, and if he cannot make a credible confession of faith, then refuse him communicant membership and explain why to him and his parents, and what steps he can take to strengthen his profession of faith, and the minimum amount of time before the session would be willing to interview him again.

 

[NaphtaliPress]

Just my personal opinion based on observation of 8-10 year olds I have seen admitted; if they are not paying attention to the sermon, able to be questioned by the parents about what they got out of it, and if the parents are not encouraging that but rather still letting them read their own stuff, fall asleep, etc., they are not mature enough for the Lord's Supper.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

We recently received a family into full communicant membership (I am being intentionally ambiguous). One parent anticipates the child of 10yrs coming to the Table after the session interviews/catechizes, etc.. I lean toward ten years old generally being too young, but the child under consideration may be the exception to the rule. From day one I did my upmost to moderate expectations w the parent on the issue while at the same time leaving the door open to the possibility that the child may be of years and ability to examine themselves (WCF Q/A 177). Something tells me the parent and child may not have heard the part about “moderating expectations” as clearly as I had hoped. We will see how things fall out. Anyone able to offer some nuanced insight on this situation?

The family is joining a Presbyterian church, vowing to mark and heed its discipline. It is the responsibility of the shepherds to guard both the table, and the well-being of the flock--both sheep and lambs. "They watch for your souls, as men who must give an account" to God for their conduct in office. Surely, it would not be too much for loving parents to recognize those whom God has given as gifts for their good, and their children's good, and to give deference to their judgment with respect to their child in this weighty matter.

In the long history of the church, it has never been otherwise. Not even in Israel of old was it purely an individual choice to partake of the altar and of the feasts of it, i.e. the Old Covenant sacraments. The priests were those guardians, both for the sake of the altar and for the safety of the congregation. They admitted, barred, and readmitted. "Show yourself to the priest." No parent undertook this task for his child. No unclean person was permitted to eat a single mouthful of sacrificial meat. "All who are clean may eat flesh, but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offerings while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people," Lev.7:19-20.

Self-examination was a requirement for each person who would partake. Yet, all adult males were duty-bound to appear 3X a year in Jerusalem for feasting. It is taken note of in Luke's Gospel, that at age 12yrs, Jesus accompanied his parents going up to Jerusalem for Passover. He went to the Temple--apparently it was expected he should go there--where he met with the teachers of the congregation. His examination was most impressive. Shouldn't those who were required to come up to the feasts demonstrate familiarity with the rules of the feast, and the ordinances of religion generally? One needed to know if he was clean, or not. Only once in Scripture is it noted that God showed special mercy to those unclean participants in the altar feasts, 2Chr.30:18-20. It was an unusual indulgence, given the strictness of the law seen in Lev.7.

Is sitting at the Lord's Table a matter of greater or lesser care in the NT when compared to the OT? Consider Mt.22:11-13. Paul writes in reference to the church at Corinth how carelessness of attendees on the Supper had brought them sickness and death. How severe should the Lord be with his ministers and guardians, if they are too casual in their care of his flock, for which he shed his own blood? Surely, a parent full of love and natural affection for his child, and even more solicitous for the child's spiritual health and development, is glad beyond words for pastors and elders who are kind, tenderhearted, and highly protective of the Savior's lambs, and the rest of the sheep, besides their ward on the Table itself.