Should they take the sacrament? I'm not sure there is any policy that they should not. In other words, I'm not aware of an explicit restriction. Otherwise you would see more parents preventing their unbaptized-children from taking the sacrament. However, the absence of a restriction doesn't affirm the practice.
Personally, I think its fine to let unbaptized children take the sacrament. They haven't made the baptismal covenant and therefore can't "renew" it. Basically, the sacrament has as much, or as little, meaning as we ascribe it. For instance, older unbaptized-children may understand the importance of the act and therefore participation can be a fulfilling form of worship. On the other hand, smaller children like mine probably look at it more like a mid-meeting snack with no edifying qualities.
I my mind it can be kind of misleading to call the sacrament a "renewal" of our baptismal covenant. I think it could also be called a renewal of our temple or priesthood covenants. Also, the term renew implies some kind of expiration date on a covenant and I think that's kind of a silly way to look at it. To me, most covenants boil down to the same basic principles. As a such, I like to look at the sacrament as a separate ordinance that is intrinsically linked to the other sacred covenants, but a peer rather a subordinate ordinance. Having said that, I think some children younger than 8 can understand the promises of the sacramental prayer and agree to them before they are baptized. It may even be a good practice to encourage them to do so.
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Should they take the sacrament? I'm not sure there is any policy that they should not. In other words, I'm not aware of an explicit restriction. Otherwise you would see more parents preventing their unbaptized-children from taking the sacrament. However, the absence of a restriction doesn't affirm the practice.
Personally, I think its fine to let unbaptized children take the sacrament. They haven't made the baptismal covenant and therefore can't "renew" it. Basically, the sacrament has as much, or as little, meaning as we ascribe it. For instance, older unbaptized-children may understand the importance of the act and therefore participation can be a fulfilling form of worship. On the other hand, smaller children like mine probably look at it more like a mid-meeting snack with no edifying qualities.
I my mind it can be kind of misleading to call the sacrament a "renewal" of our baptismal covenant. I think it could also be called a renewal of our temple or priesthood covenants. Also, the term renew implies some kind of expiration date on a covenant and I think that's kind of a silly way to look at it. To me, most covenants boil down to the same basic principles. As a such, I like to look at the sacrament as a separate ordinance that is intrinsically linked to the other sacred covenants, but a peer rather a subordinate ordinance. Having said that, I think some children younger than 8 can understand the promises of the sacramental prayer and agree to them before they are baptized. It may even be a good practice to encourage them to do so.
I could go on, but I think this is long enough.
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