First Communion & Confirmation

First Communion

At St Mary’s, we are very happy to prepare children to receive Holy Communion. According to the Diocese of Ely’s guidance, children who would like to be admitted to Holy Communion need to have the full support of their parents, and spend a few weeks preparing for this important event by learning more about their faith in a small group, and specifically talking about what receiving the bread (and wine) of Holy Communion (or Mass, or the Eucharist) will mean to them.
 
Some young people, when they first become communicants, prefer only to receive the bread; this is completely fine and can be discussed during the preparation period. Children are usually aged 7 or older when they take this important step in their lives.
 

Confirmation

Confirmation is the opportunity for people to say publicly for themselves that they accept the Christian faith into which they were baptised. It is also the occasion on which they receive a very special blessing from a bishop, who represents the wider church beyond our own congregation. The bishop prays for the candidates to be spiritually strengthened (‘confirmed’) by God’s Holy Spirit, and lays hands on their heads. As well as opening themselves to this special blessing of the Holy Spirit, the confirmed person acquires the full responsibilities of being a member of the church, an ‘adult Christian’ in the Anglican tradition.
 
Until recently, in the Church of England, confirmation was received by teenagers, or even children, and after that they received Holy Communion for the first time, but because young people may now receive Communion before they are confirmed this takes some of the pressure away from being confirmed while still quite young. Confirmation can be left till later, when the candidate is an adult, or on the threshold of adult life, and would like to commit their life to Christ and seek his strengthening in a mature way.
 
We usually advertise the opportunity for Confirmation preparation once a year - in 2024 we will be inviting candidates to be confirmed at Ely Cathedral on 24th November - and welcome enquiries about it at any time. As with First Communions, preparation takes place through learning and discussion in age-appropriate ways in small groups. All are welcome. Please contact us if you would like to know more.