Children will join their families when we celebrate communion on September 9. This “family communion” is a tradition that goes back quite a way at COS, and the worship committee has decided to revive the practice in conjunction with our current bi-monthly baptism schedule. The children will leave the service as usual, but will return shortly after the sermon. At that point they’ll be invited forward to see the baptism, then return to their families to take part in the the whole communion liturgy.

We thought it would help the children if they experienced the same liturgy each time they took part in communion, so on September 9 we’ll try out a new “child-friendly” liturgy that we plan to use with each family communion service. This liturgy follows the same pattern as our seasonal liturgies, but uses simpler, more direct language. There is also newly composed music for various parts of the service.

Wouldn’t it be a great if you and your children sat down and read through the liturgy before September 9? It will help prepare your children for the service, and will initiate some good conversations about what we do in worship. As one person commented on an early draft, “saying things a little more literally has a wonderfully vivid, even startling effect.” Who knows? It may even give us adults new insight into liturgy.

You can download a PDF file of the family communion liturgy or the new music, including piano accompaniment and guitar chords.

Once we’ve experienced this new liturgy together on September 9, feel free to send your feedback to greg.scheer@coscrc.org. The worship committee will continue to evaluate the family communion worship service and liturgy in the coming months.