Every Sunday, Redemption Hill Church participates in the Lord’s Table. There are theological convictions for this pattern. One reason is that the Lord’s Table is an ongoing remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 11:23-26). And a question I often receive from parents is, when should I allow my child to participate in communion? It’s a great question, and I appreciate it when parents take the time to attend to the spiritual development of their children.

The role of parents (especially fathers) in the spiritual development of their children can be summed up with one word: discipleship. – Shawn Powers

In what follows, I attempt to show the relationship between the discipleship of a child/youth and the sacraments of the church – baptism and the Lord’s Table. My desire is for parents to see the opportunities that lie in front of them to attend to the spiritual needs of their children. 

Laying the Foundation

Redemption Hill is baptistic and confessional. The combination of baptistic and confessional allows for a biblical and logical way to think about when a child should participate in baptism and the Lord’s Table. However, before getting into the process, I need to explain a few foundational convictions about both sacraments. 

Creadobaptism

There is a difference between paedobaptism and credobaptism. If a church holds to paedobaptism, that means they baptize infants. If a church is credobaptist, only those who profess faith in Christ are baptized. Redemption Hill is a credobaptist church. The theological position on baptism in a local church will inform the approach of communion. The credobaptist will point to various passages in the New Testament to affirm their position. They will also point out that there are no passages in the Bible affirming paedobaptism.

In contrast, the paedobaptist believes that New Testament baptism corresponds with Old Testament circumcision. The link between the two is from how a paedobaptist understands the nature of covenants. If you want to learn more about the rationale of paedobaptism, locate your favorite presbyterian friend. 

Open Communion

Redemption Hill Church practices Open Communion. Open Communion means that members and nonmembers may participate in the Lord’s Table. The only qualification for partaking is to be a professing follower of Jesus Christ. I know many pastors who take umbrage with this approach. However, I am hesitant to make a requirement not explicitly stated in Holy Scripture. For example, if my Presbyterian friend attends Redemption Hill and is a professing follower of Jesus Christ, they are welcome to participate in the Lord’s Table. The uniting factor between another Christian and me is not denominational status. It’s not what we believe about eschatology. It is not our view of Covenant Theology. But we are both in Christ. A person’s standing before the Lord Jesus as a justified sinner is preeminent. It says in 29.1 of Redemption Hill’s Confession of Faith, 

All saints are united to Jesus Christ, their head, by his Spirit, and faith, although they are not made one person with him, but do have fellowship in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory. They are united to one another in love. They have communion in each other’s gifts and graces and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, in an orderly way, as to bring about to their mutual good, both