The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

The last meeting of the PCC was held on 12th July. During discussion of the agenda items, the Council

Congratulated the organisers of the Flower Festival for making it such a success
Heard that the window repairs and conservation, Stage 1, and the new Clergy Vestry were on track to finish on time
Heard that we will be asking the Licensing authorities for permission to extend the hours that the church can be used for public performances and will be exploring further use of the gallery
Received a report from the Treasurer about the works on 100A Frognal, the repairs needed at Dennington Park Mansions and the possible consequences of the deficit of the Pensions Trust on our contributions to the Common Fund
Received a report from the Children and Young People’s working party and approved details of the Holiday Club
Received a report from the Pastoral Care Committee, approved a new lift scheme and were informed about the new Befriending scheme
Received a report from the Deanery Synod and heard that John Willmer had been thanked and congratulated for 50 years of faithful service
Learnt about the policy on posters on the church railings
Congratulated Hampstead Parochial School on its successful OFSTED inspection
Congratulated our Treasurer, Inigo Woolf, for being awarded the British Empire Medal

The main business of the meeting was to reach a conclusion on the question of admitting children to Communion before Confirmation, which the PCC was committed to discussing as part of its commitment to the Children’s Charter. The topic had originally been presented to the PCC by the Revd Simon Atkinson (head of HPS). This had been followed by an open presentation to the Diocesan Synod by the Vicar of St. Mary’s Primrose Hill, where the scheme has been adopted, a meeting for parents, a course on communion for all the Junior Church groups and a discussion of this question in each group. Markus Malik took the chair for this item as the clergy had already expressed their opinions.

During a wide ranging and thoughtful discussion many points were raised in response to the two questions asked.

Q1 asked for agreement that Confirmation is a decision for life that should be made from an age when the issues at stake can be fully discussed and when the candidates can understand intellectually and emotionally the point of the questions being asked, and that confirmation is currently offered somewhat too early for this to happen as maturely as it should.

At present children are confirmed at about the age of 10 and therefore the preparation is more like instruction in a Junior Church class and does not answer the difficult questions that teenagers might ask. Great sensitivity is needed when making a decision about readiness for confirmation and it was recognised that waiting until a child is in his mid teens might mean that the pressures of exams and adverse peer pressure would lead to confirmation being postponed. This might, or might not, lead to confirmation in adulthood. Many teenagers take “time off” from church in any case, but those who had been confirmed might feel a greater pull to return when they are older. Reference was made to the Jewish Bar Mitzvah ceremony which does so much to make participants feel part of the Jewish community. Do we do enough to make confirmation feel like a similar rite of passage? If it was agreed that for most children, 10/11 is too young to make promises for life, would 14/15, the start of GCSE studies, be the right time? If so, the St. John’s group syllabus might naturally lead on to a Confirmation group.

Q2 asked for agreement that if we were to raise the normal age for confirmation, would exclusion from communion before confirmation become spiritually and communally more significant? Since baptism is the gate to full membership of the family of the church, and communion is an expression of the family coming together to receive the gift of a Christ centred life, would it be right, for children who so wish, to receive communion when they are old enough to take it seriously, at about the age of 7 and with suitable preparation?

During discussion it was emphasised that admission to communion is a demonstration of inclusion and full participation. It is a gift, while confirmation is a decision. If the decision was taken to proceed to earlier communion, a booklet about the process would be produced and would be followed up by discussion with any interested parents. There would then be a short course for the children. Those who had had experience of early admission to communion felt that it was a good and positive experience for both children and adults. They had not felt that it trivialised communion, as some had feared.

Because of the importance of this decision the Standing Committee had decided that the vote would be by secret ballot and that any change would require a two thirds majority in the PCC. Members who were unable to attend this meeting had been encouraged to send their votes in before the meeting.

The results of the vote, which included votes sent in before the meeting, were as follows:Q 1 (later confirmation, normally from age 15)   20 Yes, 9 No, 1 Abstention
Q2 (earlier admission to communion, normally from age 7) 22 Yes, 8 No

As both proposals had been carried by a vote of two thirds of the PCC in favour, the vicar will inform the Bishop and discuss the next steps to be taken.