When was the last time your whole congregation discussed the significance of Holy Communion? If it’s been a while, or if you’ve been looking for a new first communion curriculum, you may want to check out the new line of resources Augsburg Fortress has published based on Daniel Erlander’s beloved book A Place for You. While the original A Place for You book is designed for children, parents, and teachers, the new suite of resources has communion-related instructional content for every age, from early childhood to adult.

Feedback from church professionals like you informed Augsburg Fortress that many churches were building first communion curricula around a single resource, such as A Place for You. The new A Place for You Leader Sourcebook makes planning for first communion classes much easier by providing a curriculum based on a resource many churches were already using. The leader sourcebook includes early childhood and elementary lessons about communion, which can be used either as communion preparation or as further learning for kids who are already communing. There are also a youth/adult session, a self-study resource, and seven mini Bible studies for youth and adults. For the whole church, there is material for an intergenerational event, 12 prayer stations, and a new litany for Holy Communion.

The new animated A Place for You videos are an integral part of the lessons found in the leader sourcebook. There’s also a new interactive edition of the original A Place for You book, featuring 12 additional pages of interactive content where kids can draw, write, and wonder about Holy Communion. Lastly, the A Place for You, Little One board book introduces young children to communion in a language and images that are accessible to them.

Whether your church has a highly structured ethic surrounding communion, featuring weeks of classes for a specific age group designed to prepare them for their first communion, or whether your church is more open about communion and allows even young children to commune, there is benefit to exploring communion as a congregation. Communion is one of only two sacraments Martin Luther retained when he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, and most of us could stand to learn and reflect more regarding its significance. Communion connects us to Jesus and his death for us on the cross, as well as uniting us with Christians across time, geography, and tradition, and it is worth delving deeper into the significance of this sacrament.