The beauty of starting church from scratch is that you get to re-invent everything. You are free to re-visit every core belief and practice and re-assess its validity or form.
Over the next few weeks at Upstream we are revisiting the whole idea of communion/the eucharist/ Lord’s Supper or whatever you choose to call it. We haven’t developed any set practices yet, or any immovable theological convictions in this area and our current expression is ad hoc at best. It seemed like time to try and nail this one down…
‘Good luck!’ I hear you say…
And that is kinda how it feels. Given that 2000 years of church history has led us to such a diversity of opinions I doubt we will be able to find the ‘right answer’, but I reckon we still need to determine what our position is and how we will express it. At the moment it is just either vague or a replica of what we have inherited, because we haven’t taken the time to explore it.
So today I began the crew on the task of asking some serious questions about communion. You might like to think them thru too, as I am guessing that many of us just take our current practice for granted and could use some deeper reflection.
Let me offer a few scenarios / issues to get you thinking. Please take some time to engage in the comments as I are trying to do some serious learning here.
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Last year when I was a guest speaker at the Anglican Training in Ministry intensive, a seminar for soon to be ordained clergy. I was there presenting ‘Forgey’ stuff, but over dinner the conversation turned to ‘the eucharist’ and I listened with curiosity. For some reason the folks were discussing how you estimate accurately the number of bits of bread and the amount of wine.
After a few minutes it dawned on me…
I thought out loud, ‘Oh of course, you guys believe the priest has to eat/drink whatever’s left don’t you?!’
‘And what about you?’ one woman asked…
‘Oh we just toss it out’, I said much to her horror.
‘But how can you?’ she asked genuinely concerned.
I went on to explain that we don’t see it as anything special, and she explained to me that once it had been ‘consecrated’, to her it was very special. I realised I was on touchy ground on this topic with Anglicans and my Baptist ‘remembrance/ordinance’ position was not ringing any bells for her.
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I remember growing up in my traditional Baptist church, where communion was always at the end of the service, so that those who ‘love and serve the Lord’ could be involved… but those who didn’t
were free to leave, or to observe.
I always felt for people who left. They seemed like second class citizens in that environment.
Either that or (like me) they were too young to take communion…
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Which leads to another question of when is a person old enough to take communion?
I have allowed my children to take communion ever since they have told me that they love Jesus. I think 3 was the age they were first able to verbalise that.
We explain it to them each time as the bread and wine come around, and while they dont get it all, they know they are considered ok to partake.
This would not have happened in the world I grew up in.
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So that’s the kids…
They have christian parents and a childlike faith… and in my opinion they qualify, but what about adults who are not Christians… Can they take communion if they want to remember Jesus?
At our Easter camp we went to Busselton with 5 families who would not see themselves as believers and we held a remembrance service on Good Friday. They joined us for it and as part it there was opportunity to take communion (bread and wine)
Around half of those who aren’t Christians took the bread and the wine.
Is that ok?…
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Of course if you see communion as a meal then it gets even trickier, especially if you don’t believe that non-believers should be able to take part. Do you then exclude them from the meal?
On what basis do you decide their worthiness of communion?
Are ‘strays’ allowed communion – those who have lost their way with faith?
Is this what Paul meant about eating in an unworthy manner?
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Of course this raises another question of when we are actually doing communion and when we are just having a feed together. Is every meal a communion meal? Or do we need to declare it as such?
Is it only communion if we use wine and unleavened bread – or grape juice and wafers in our ‘Baptist’ case?
Is pizza and beer legitimate for communion?
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Then there are the really tricky aspects, like should only men be allowed to serve communion (there has been plenty of church biffo over this one) and if they are serving then should they have to wear ties?!
Okay, so that was the 80’s but I’ll bet there are some places around today where you’d need to be wearing trousers and a tie to be able to serve communion… Some churches even insist that you have to be an ordained priest…
Then there’s the Salvos… who just don’t bother.
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I could go on, but the you get the idea. This is very shaky ground for making categorical statements, yet over the years thousands have died for their beliefs on this subject.
Hopefully we will get thru the next few weeks without any unnecessary deaths, but let’s not underestimate the significance of the topic. For some people this is critical and for others it somewhat peripheral.
As a Baptist by heritage I struggle to see the sacramental aspect of communion, in fact for me communion has often been a time of fairly strained boredom as I have zoned out and felt guilty about my disinterest. I doubt this was what Jesus intends, but I also doubt he intended for it to be the place for a second sermon and a ‘symbolic’ feast. As a kid I always wondered if the minister was a bit whacked when he spoke of the feast and we finished up with a smidgeon of a Jatz cracker and a little thimble of raspberry cordial. A feast?!…
The aim of today’s learning was to de-stabilise the views that we have inherited and to plant questions in the minds of those present, ultimately with a very practical objective – to figure out what we will do at
Anyway if you’re interested in the learning exercise here’s what we did:
1.We began by choosing a picture card to depict our experience of communion and then we shared why we chose that card.
2. From there I gave a short history of how communion has developed in the various traditions and what the different threads of belief are. We each reflected on our heritage and how we had been shaped.
3. We then turned to the gospel and 1 Cor to look at some biblical material.
The water grew murkier and murkier… This was the plan however!
4. So as we finished today I sent everyone off with a question to research and then report back on (5 mins max) next time we meet. The questions we are exploring are below:
1. When is communion ‘legitimate’ and when is it not?
2. What actually happens during communion? Is it a sacrament or an ordinance?
3. What is the main purpose/s of communion? How do we achieve them in what we do?
4. What form should communion take? Should it be a meal or a small cup of juice and a wafer of bread? Why?
5. Who is allowed to take communion? What guidelines are there?
6. Who can serve communion? Why do churches differ on this?
7. How often should a group celebrate communion?
8. Why has the form changed so much over the years? (meal – symbols)
9. What does it mean to take communion in an unworthy manner?
I love this kind of learning that really takes us back to some serious research and engagement with scripture and church history.
Woah man, big questions.
We emphasise communion as a table of grace, for sinners not the righteous, if I can put it in Jesus parlance. But, it doesn’t really make sense to me for a non-Christian to take it. We wouldn’t police it or anything, and I don’t think hell’s any hotter (place tongue in cheek) for an unbeliever who takes it than for one who doesn’t, but if it’s a ‘proclamation of the Lord’s death until he comes’… I don’t think it’s particularly meaningful if there’s not faith.
And I’m not really comfortable with the beer and pizza routine! But I couldn’t argue that one particularly well (done the bush ‘billy tea and damper’ scenario). I think it’s a matter of reverence more than relevance.
But hat off for trying to imbue this with a fresh sense of meaning. I think it’s vitally important that we do so.
Anyway, I’ll let others chime in on that one.
Wow. Are you diving into the deep stuff or what?
I like to go back to the first century and take communion practise from around the passover. It is both communion with GOD and each other.
In the gathering I lead we have communion with community meals, as individual couples or in our gathering times.
I have been reading up on this subject too. I think this is something we need to spend a little more time working on in the Church. There are some deep teachings here.
Have fun with this one mate
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Yeah fellas they are humungous question!
Isn’t that the fun of it though 🙂
And so much of what we do is actually shaped by our experience.
I identify with Alex’ reticence to go for beer and pizza, but I question whether that’s a theological reticence or a cultural one formed by an evangelical upbringing.
I will try and share the details of what we learn and decide, but like you say, it is a huge topic!
Bloody Anglicans! GP
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Having been raised a Catholic I often grappled with the concept of transubstantiation – particularly in the case of wine.
If the bread and wine ware transformed into the body and blood at consecration and there is a substantial quantity of wine remaining at the end, and the priest is required to polish it off; is his later conviction on drink driving charges a failure of faith on his part, or in the law for not recognising that it was not really wine after all?
Not a serious question – we can hardly expect a protestant police officer with an alcometer to understand the subtleties inherent in the mysteries.
I wonder how many priests have fallen victim to alcoholism simply as a consequence of their inability to accurately predict the quantities required each service?
I remember the furor that arose when some parishes started to experiment with non-standard hosts – i.e. not the wafers but actual baked bread with some substance to it.
Pizza and beer….why not? Jesus had roast lamb and four decent size glasses of wine.
Imagine this…a bunch of blokes sitting around eating pizza, drinking beer, and reflecting on their faith, discussing their ‘feet of clay’ and maybe even dreaming and praying for the kingdom of God to be advanced. Thats something I want to be a part of…..
But we would not do it on a Sunday morning service…but we would have ‘communion’ like this at a blokes weeked away.
While not Catholic, or Anglican…I do think something spiritual occurs at communion…we remember Christ…and I love the rythym of it.
So maybe the question would be ‘why not on Sunday?’
If it is quite legit then surely we should be free to do what has cultural resonance?…
call me sexist if you will….but I see pizza and beer as being typically a bloke thing…although I know plenty of women like the two products as well….and 1 Cor 8:12 When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
Thats why not on Sunday…not because Sunday AM is a sacred cow or anything.
I would have roast lamb and maybe even wine (keeping in mind weaker brother) on a sunday…in fact we have done the whole “love feast” thing before.
Its a good thing to process I reckon as it can so easily just become a tradition and all ’emotion’ or real cause can be lost.
Its something I have always struggled with and whenever I have lead communion I have always tried to do something different.
Some people get up in arms when I do, but thats just because different people have different views.
At my old baptist church we only ever had it every fortnight. One fortnight would be Sun AM and the next Sun PM. Kids could join and anyone else for that matter. I remember racing out after church to polish off the leftovers – now that was a feast!! Baptist’s use REAL bread not these little stale crackers.
Which reminds me, last year I was looking at the little cracker in my hand and there was a cockroach egg in it – I didnt join in with everyone that morning and kept on my Bible to remind myself to chat to the lady in charge of the communion supplies. We have also had to endure mouldy grape juice (yes its possible) and sometimes, its started to ferment. It is sick…Im all for the whole meal (like lunch or something)
I always reckon that pre-fermented grape juice keeps soooooo much better.
I wonder if there is such a thing as a ‘correct position’ on this one!?
In my church experience it has varied a bit in terms of timing and geometry. Sometimes we’ve gone for big bits of bread and full cups of juice. (and I’m often the one scoffing the leftover bread once it reaches the kitchen).
I reckon Churches of Christ people will have the best ideas – like Bapos they don’t require things to be done a special way, but they tend to do it every week, and so will have thought of lots of different angles. One day at a CoC we had a meal together and remembered Jesus, and that was communion. I think Jesus wanted the disciples to remember him every time they got together.
I would suggest not doing it the same way every time. The stuff in the Anglican prayer book is powerful, but I wouldn’t want to do it like that every month. Keep looking at Jesus from different angles.
I am back for a more substantial comment:
Surely any tradition needs to set Lord’s Supper/communion/eucharist/whatever in the context of the salvation history in which God gave it to us through Jesus.
The Passover meal is the backdrop against which Jesus applies the passover meal to himself. So Exodus 12 outlines the passover feast which Jesus applies to himself
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ” Then the people bowed down and worshiped
At the Last Supper, Jesus applies it to himself as he teaches his disciples that in his death he becomes the Passover Lamb. Luke 22 briefly records his words:
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Those who trust in the death of Jesus for their forgiveness have God’s judgement passover them. This ought to be the central point of any communion celebration hoowever you do it.
A lot of the falafel that church history has added to the Lord’s Supper has obscured the celebration of Christ as the Passover Lamb rather than highlighted it.
Any celebration of the Lord’s Supper /Communion/ whatever that fails to point you to the benefits of the death of Christ for us has failed as a symbol… Talk about what to eat, and what to drink, and how much, when, and where is largely irrelevant if the substitionary death of Christ is not the focus.
Paul is able to “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” 1 Cor 5.
To eat unworthily is to celebrate communion without refreshing your trust in the benefits of Jesus death for you. The Corinthians needed to be rebuked for shabby behaviour at the Lord’s Supper meals they shared togehter.
I’ll get off the soapbox
Gav the Anglican
I think it’s great that you have outlined the different traditions/history to your group and asked them to research and reflect on it further. Would that more follow your lead on this.
As for me, in addition to what Gav said, I would also say that for Bapos there is strong case why it’s “right” to use bread and wine due to what they symbolise and signify…:-)
And yes I would also argue for believer’s participating in communion only. Questions of at what age, or how the table is hedged veer more to adiaphora IMHO although I have known of church splits over that issue, particularly amongst Presbies (which is why I guess, they are so many Presby denominations…bit like Alphabet Soup)
Oops typos. Sorry.
Hamo,
Has you community come to any conclusions on this? I’d be interested to see a follow up post on how you ended up deciding what to do.
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