Children's Participation in our Worship

 

How To Help Serve Communion, Light the Candles, Ring the Bell

At Community of Hope

 

 

 

 

Serving Communion: (Children who serve communion should be 10 years old or older).

Remember that when we serve communion we are standing in Jesus’ place.  We are the hosts at Jesus’ table and it’s important that all the servers take that very seriously.

 

When the pastor invites the servers to come forward, come to the front of the sanctuary behind the table.  The pastor will hand you the bread, other people will hold the trays of cups and the chalice.  You will be the first person to begin serving communion on either the right or the left side of the table.  As you approach each person, you say “the body of Christ” or “the bread of life.”

 

Keep serving around the circle until everyone has been served and then return to the table to stand with the pastor until the next group of people comes forward.  Repeat the above.  When everyone in the congregation has been served, give your bread to the pastor.  Then you will be served communion.

 

After all the servers have been served, return to your seat.

 

Lighting the Candles (Children who light candles must be at least 6 years old).

Before Worship,

  1. Find the candle lighter and matches in the worship closet. 
  2. Sometime during the Prelude, have an adult light the candle lighter for you
  3. Walk carefully up the center aisle and around to the back of the Communion table.  There is a stool in the back so that you can reach the candles you are going to light.  Do not light a candle if it’s too tall for you to reach, let your parent light any candles you can’t easily reach.  Parents: please do not lift candles off their holders or bases, this can make things too tippy. 
  4. Blow the candle lighter out, put it on the table in the back of the sanctuary and go sit with your family.

After worship:

  1. When we start to sing the closing hymn, go get the candle lighter.
  2. Walk up the center aisle and put out all the candles. 
  3. Walk slowly to the back of the sanctuary and return the candle lighter to the worship cart.

 

Note for Parents: Before leaving worship on a Sunday when your child lights the candles, please be sure the candle lighter is in good working order for the next Sunday.  If the wick is low, there are extra wicks available on the top shelf of the row of shelves on the back wall of the closet in a red box.  Let Tisha know if you take the last wick from this box.  If the wick is stuck inside the tube, or the lighter isn’t working for some other reason, please notify Tisha or Tom. 

 

Ringing the Bell

  1. Find the bell on the cart in the closet so you can begin ringing it by 10:10. 
  2. Walk throughout the Shalom room ringing the bell constantly for a minute or two. 
  3. Return the bell to where you found it on the cart in the closet.