Children Professing Faith

One of the great stewardships God entrusts to His Church is the care of our covenant children and the nurture of their faith. At HPF, we consider our children non-communing members, meaning that they share in all the rights and privileges of the people of God, but are not yet admitted to participate in the Lord's Supper until they profess personal faith in Christ and an age-appropriate understanding of the Gospel and the Sacrament.

This determination is left to the parents of the child and the Session of the church. When parents feel their children are ready to make a profession of faith, they are invited to present their children to meet with Pastor Corby and an Elder or Care Team Member of their and their child's choosing. This meeting will simply be a comfortable conversation with a child and their parents to gauge the child's understanding of sin, who Jesus is, why he died on the cross, and how the Lord's Supper points us to this message.

It is one of our highest joys, both as parents and as a church body, to see our children profess faith and begin fully participating in the life of the church. If you have a child that you believe is ready to begin taking the Lord's Supper and become a fully communing member of Highland Park Fellowship, please fill out this form.

Post Script:

Here are a few notes to ponder while considering if your child is ready to make a profession of faith and come to the Lord’s Supper:

Behavior is not the primary factor for this determination. Desire is. Does your child want to come closer to Jesus and his church? Is he/she asking questions about the Bible, salvation, eternity, what happens at the Lord’s Supper, or around other things of God? All of us who are saved continue to struggle mightily against remaining sin. We should expect the same of our children.
Does he/she have some sense of becoming ‘displeased with ourself’ (as Heidelberg Catechism puts it) as an awareness of sin and need (see I Cor 11)?
Some questions to talk to your child about beforehand are
1. Who made you? How does he feel about you?
2. What is sin?
3. Why did Jesus die on the cross and rise on the first Easter? What did that do for us?
4. What kinds of things does pastor Corby say when we receive the Lord’s Supper together? What do you think that means?
Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19.14). We believe that Jesus is far more gracious in determining who receives his gift of salvation than any of us can imagine. We want to provide an avenue for our children to walk towards their Savior and not a road block that they must surmount in order to come to him.
The New City Catechism is a great resource if you are looking for some language around the questions above for your child.

Your name *

Email address *

Parents' names *

Are the parents church members? *

Name of church parents are members of (if not HPF)

Child's name *

Child's age *

Child's date of birth *

Has your child been baptized? *

If so, in what church did they receive baptism? *

Date of baptism (or best approximation) *

If your child has not been baptized, are you willing to have them baptized at HPF?

Briefly describe why you believe your child is ready to begin participating in the Lord's Supper *