Alice Springs Lutheran Church celebrates first communions

by Pastor Ben Pfeiffer

Earlier this year we ran a first communion course at Alice Springs Lutheran Church. The course took place over six Sunday mornings after worship. We had seven students attend and each one brought along a parent or grandparent. This made for fruitful, intergenerational discussion, with one parent even sharing old photos of her own first communion.

The course concluded with a special service on Palm Sunday. The students took part in the traditional palm procession into the church, before coming forward for the ‘Rite of Admission’ to communion. It was great to see the joy and reverence on their faces as they joined the congregation to receive the body and blood of our Lord for the first time.

First communion is not just a rite of passage for young Lutheran Christians (although it is that, too) but it is an introduction to the most holy celebration we share as God’s people. I still remember my own First Communion and the sense that I was ‘growing up’ in my faith, as well as the joy in sharing this gift with the older members of the church.

We thank God for the seven young people who took part in this course: Freya Donaldson, Lurrawa Morton, Tilly and Summer Kimber, Lexi and Gus Goldsworthy and Luke Pfeiffer. It was a privilege to teach and guide them towards this special step in their life of faith.

The congregation enjoyed celebrating over a tea, coffee, milo and giant slab cake from Ollies’ Cake House here in Alice Springs!

Pastor Ben Pfeiffer is pastor at the Alice Springs Lutheran Church