some help C of E

[Valiant1]

We have decided to go to church we have chosen c of e and are having the children Cristened. i went to church till i was 17 then stopped we have started to attend on a sunday and are enjoying it. I have to leave early on a sunday and my husband went up for communion and was turned away! we have been looking up what communion means and can't find what we have to do before he can take communion. as i went from a child the Vicar said i can take it but don't want to yet untill my relationship is better . so what happens now what do we have to do before DH can take communion . thanks x

I think the standard in CofE churches is that you have to be confirmed before you can take communion - it's the adult sign of being a committed believer. He should have been given a blessing if they knew he wasn't confirmed, but I can see that would feel like being turned away if he wasn't expecting it. Sounds like the vicar hadn't really explained the situation to him there!

If you went to a CofE church till you were 17, then I'd guess you got confirmed, probably in your early teens? So you could take communion if you want to (in spite of the time in between when you've not been going).

If your husband wants to be a full member of the church, then the obvious choice would be for him to go to confirmation classes, to learn about what it all means and think through how he feels about it all, with a view to getting confirmed whenever they're next doing it (it gets done by the bishop so it has to be scheduled and each church usually gets a batch of people to do classes together). You could probably go to the classes too (though maybe that depends on babysitters?) and then you'd be able to think about what church means to you and why you're going back now, even though you wouldn't get confirmed at the end of the process.

Thank you that really helps. we are meeting with the vicar this week so will ask about classes x

He should have been given a blessing-they usually encourage even adults to do that. You need to be confirmed to take communion.Speak to the vicar is the best bet.

My DH just saw him at the school gate and asked about the next steps and he said about going on the Alpha course in the new year. am looking this up online x

An Alpha course is the best idea. It will show whether he actually wants to be confirmed.

There are C of E churches and C of E churches. The general rule is you should have been confirmed or a member of another Church where you take communion. So for instance the Church I belonged to as a teenager allowed you to take communion once you were Baptised, I was baptised as a teenager and became a communicant member. I regularily take communion at our local C of E Church, The Cathedral, and in the past at friends Churches of various denominations (Catholics are a bit funny about it, so I probably wouldn't there). The strict wording is that you are a "communicant" member of a Church in Communion with the Church of England.
However I have never known anyone be turned away from receiving Communion in any church I have been to. Although there is always an opportunity to have a blessing instead, and this is what children get.