My primary concern in this article is with the Christian nurture of children. In particular, I would contend that one of the present deficiencies in the nurture of children within the Reformed tradition lies in the fact that we regard Holy Communion more as the goal of than the means to such nurture. There is, in my view, a clear case for admitting baptised children to Holy Communion, and it rests both upon the Reformed understanding of the Lord's Supper as a means of grace, and upon the growing realisation that the Christian nurture of children is no mere didactic matter but must be conducted within the whole life and worship of the church. Plainly though, the question of Christian nurture cannot be considered without reference to Christian initiation, debate about which in recent years has been much concerned with the doctrine of confirmation. I should make it clear, right at the start, that I do not intend to discuss the issue of infant versus believers' baptism, or to consider the place of the unbaptised child within the church. My question is simply: if a church practises infant baptism, is there any justification for excluding baptised children from the sacrament of Holy Communion?

Initiation practices vary from denomination to denomination. On the one hand there is the Baptist tradition of believers' baptism. But in those churches where infant baptism is not only practised, but is the norm, questions of subsequent initiation procedures are answered in differing ways.