CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
Religion is an activity, something we do. It is the part of our lives that we devote to God and is enhanced by worshiping in community. Children have a natural, evolving relationship to God. Our religious life not only cultivates the child’s inborn reverence for the Spirit, The Christian Community offers a nourishing and supportive extension of family life.
Baptism
In the Christian Community only children are Baptised. Baptism receives the child like a seed into the community of those who are aware of the healing power of Christ. The community promises to carry this child within itself and to nourish the child’s relationship with God. Becoming a ‘Christian’, however, does not occur until a free choice is made as an adult.
The Pre-School Child
For the very young, religion takes place mostly within the family setting: at bedtime, grace for meals, children’s fairy-tales and stories with nature a child’s natural openness and reverence.
Celebration of Festivals
The festivals of the Christian Year are celebrated for all ages, with a special emphasis on marking the religious year for the children.
The Children’s Service
With their entry into first class at the age of 7, the children are ready to participate in the Sunday service for children. At the beginning of the children’s service each child is greeted at the door. Prayers are spoken in unison. The child’s senses are engaged through images, the warmth of the surroundings, the colours and flowers, while words, purposely not dramatic or overwhelming, gently encourage each young soul to seek the divine. The content emphasizes the importance of learning the great lesson of earthly life: that Christ is love’s teacher in life’s learning and working.
Religious instruction
Religious Instruction begins at age 7. Up to about the age of nine, the emphasis is on God the Father, as illustrated through fairy- tales, legends, stories that show the divine wisdom in nature and through the Old Testament history. Then the emphasis moves to the Son God and the New Testament. And then on to the Spirit, that is, how the divine works in individual destinies. In the Sunday Service for Children, the heart gently awakens the will to worship God. In religious instruction, the heart gently awakens the head to understand the working of God. They complement and balance one another, developing the child’s religious life from both sides, in a way that will enable him or her later to make a free but informed choice about religion as an adult.
Confirmation
Confirmation at the age of 14 is both a culmination and a new beginning. The seed of the young person’s religious life, which has been surrounded and nourished by the community, is released into life. For the first time, the young person attends The Act of Consecration of Man as an independent human being and receives his/her first Communion. After this, attendance is their own choice.
Engaging Activities
As well as the more formalised aspects of religious life such as the childrens service and religious instruction, we also have music, crafts, art, storytelling and a programme of other activities.
Childrens and Youth Camps
The Christian Community organizes camps and conferences for children and young people annually. These include children's camps in the UK and international youth camps that change venue annually. People from Irish congregations have travelled to childrens and youth camps over the years, engaging with a wider community of young people and having a lot of fun!
As well as the more formalised aspects of religious life such as the childrens service and religious instruction, we also have music, crafts, art, storytelling and a programme of other activities.
Childrens and Youth Camps
The Christian Community organizes camps and conferences for children and young people annually. These include children's camps in the UK and international youth camps that change venue annually. People from Irish congregations have travelled to childrens and youth camps over the years, engaging with a wider community of young people and having a lot of fun!