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First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. [1] It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church , Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (other ecclesiastical provinces of these denominations administer a congregant's First Communion ...
Infant communion is not the norm in the Lutheran Church. At most churches in the ELCA (as well as nearly 25% in the LCMS [2]), First Communion instruction is provided to baptized children generally between the ages of 6–8 and, after a relatively short period of catechetical instruction, the children are admitted to partake of the Eucharist. [3]
Luther's Small Catechism (German: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Office of the Keys and Confession and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
That was the origin of the widespread custom in parishes to organise the First Communion for children at 2nd grade and confirmation in middle or high school [clarification needed]. [33] The 1917 Code of Canon Law, while recommending that confirmation be delayed until about seven years of age, allowed it be given at an earlier age. [34]
Most other ELCA congregations offer First Communion instruction to children in the 5th or 6th grade (ages about 10-11). In other Lutheran churches, the person must have received confirmation before receiving the Eucharist.
Confirmation in the Lutheran Church is a public profession of faith prepared for by long and careful instruction. In English, it may also be referred to as "affirmation of baptism ", and is a mature and public reaffirmation of the faith which "marks the completion of the congregation's program of confirmation ministry".
In the 20th century, Roman Catholic children began to be admitted to communion some years before confirmation, with an annual First Communion service – a practice that was extended to some paedobaptist Protestant groups, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism–but since the Second Vatican Council, the withholding of confirmation to a later age ...
Historically, First Communion was delayed until after an individual had completed catechism classes and been confirmed, but gradually the timing of First Communion shifted so that it was administered before Confirmation rather than after, following the Roman Catholic tradition. In many Lutheran churches, the average age of first communion is ...