The Holy Communion is for Christians who have been baptized. In the Lutheran Church, all who have gone to the confession school and have been confirmed can receive the Holy Communion This is how it is sured that the partakers understand the meaning of the Holy Communion and know the difference between the Holy Communion and normal eating and drinking. Also children who have been taught so may partake the Holy Communion with their parents or godparents. And everyone can come to the altar to be blessed.

Sometimes it might feel difficult to take the Holy Communion. One might feel like he/she is not good enough - that one should be better and stronger in faith. That is not how it should be. The Holy Communion is not about our goodness or only for those people who succeed in life. Quite the opposite - the Holy Communion is for those who need forgiveness. In the Holy Communion, the Friend and Redeemer has mercy on those who have failed.

The Bible warns us: "For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Corinthians 11:29). Some of those to whom this warning was given at one time celebrated the Lord's Supper without realizing that they had taken it. There was much eating and drinking, some might have been drunk, and the communion bread and wine were eaten and drunk along with other things without being noticed. Paul writes that who partakes the Holy Communion and does not think it is the body of Christ, will eat and drink to his own perdition. The warning has sometimes been misunderstood to mean that it prohibits those who are not good enough or whose faith is not strong from coming to Communion. But this is not the case.

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
(1 Corinthians 11:26, ESV)