The Eucharist is an Act of the Whole Church

I asked my District Superintendent to identify local United Methodist churches which celebrate Holy Communion every Lord’s Day as John Wesley expected and as our General Conference encourages. The best that she could offer is a UMC congregation that “serves” communion in a "brief" activity in a different part of the campus between its two principal "worship" activities. Communion is literally a footnote in the weekly order of worship, wedged into the schedule, for those who might want that kind of thing. 

No thanks.

What this congregation is offering is communion as a option in the church’s cafeteria of activities, communion as one of its many services to religious consumers, communion as a private means of personal spiritual enrichment, communion in a closet out of sight of the larger congregation. This totally misses the meaning of Holy Communion and misleads the congregation on the nature of the sacrament.

In 2004, The United Methodist Church adopted This Holy Mystery as its official statement of faith on Holy Communion. The document has been readopted at every subsequent General Conference. In it, the church asserts that:

The complete pattern of Christian worship for the Lord’s Day is Word and Table—the gospel is proclaimed in both Word and sacrament. Word and Table are not in competition; rather they complement each other so as to constitute a whole service of worship. Their separation diminishes the fullness of life in the Spirit offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

The entire Lord’s Day service is the Holy Eucharist, an offering of praise and thanksgiving, not just the bread and wine part. Word and sacrament are inseparable.

Communion is not an optional add-on that you choose to enhance your experience, like an on-shore excursion on a cruise. Holy Communion is the main course, not a dessert offering. (And yes, that was a rather abrupt shift in metaphors.).

Additionally, the Holy Eucharist is an offering praise and thanksgiving for Christ’s saving acts by the whole body of believers or it is not the sacrament instituted by our Lord.

Our church also affirms that:

Holy Communion is Eucharist, an act of thanksgiving. ... Holy Communion is the communion of the church—the gathered community of the faithful, both local and universal. While deeply meaningful to the individuals participating, the sacrament is much more than a personal event. ... The whole assembly actively celebrates Holy Communion. All who are baptized into the body of Christ Jesus become servants and ministers within that body, which is the church. The members are claimed by God as a royal priesthood, God’s own people (1 Peter 2:9). ... Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. ... In the Great Thanksgiving, the church prays: “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us.”

Communion in a closet fall short of this standard.

Popular posts from this blog

The Beatitudes and Wesleyan Piety

Of the 44 sermons John Wesley wrote to be doctrinal standards for the Methodists in England, 13 were expositions of the Sermon on the Mount, which Wesley believed prescribed the practice of true religion. Three sermons were on the Beatitudes. Wesley interpreted the Beatitudes within the framework of 18th century evangelical piety, specifically the Wesleyan understanding of full salvation. To be fair, Wesley’s approach to the Beatitudes had a long history. The Church has commonly interpreted them in terms of personal piety and individual salvation.  Wesley did recognize some of the eschatological aspects of the Beatitudes. Those who find comfort in clinging fully to the promises of God will still mourn “the sins and miseries of mankind. They ‘weep with them that weep.’” The meek will not only inherit life oriented around God in heaven, they will also inherit the promise of Revelation, “the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” God will acknowledge the peacemakers to be ...
Read more

On the Installation of a Pastor

2 Timothy 4:1-5 Timothy was not a pastor of a local congregation, but rather Paul’s apostolic legate. He was Paul’s representative in the oversight of the churches that Paul founded. Still, much of what Paul has to say is applicable to the pastor we are installing today.  For the Pastor So, to the new pastor, the apostle says this. Preach the word. Teach the faith. Evangelize the world. Do the work of ministry, a word whose basic meaning in Greek is service.  Preach. Teach. Evangelize. Serve. These might be called global tasks of ministry. They would be included in any list of pastoral responsibilities, and I have no doubt that your new pastor excels in them But Paul reminds Timothy that preaching, teaching, evangelizing, and serving are not abstract tasks that one can do by oneself. One does not preach to the wind or teach an empty classroom. There are people on the other end of our preaching, teaching, evangelizing and serving. In the words of Jesus. The whol...
Read more

Agree to Disagree

Image
What would it look like for Christians to agree to disagree in a manner consistent with what John Wesley called " The Catholic Spirit "? Let me begin with a small experience with the Catholic Church. The Corpus Christi Procession My wife and I stopped downtown for lunch after chapel on Sunday. On the way out of the city after lunch we had to stop the car to allow the passing of a Catholic parade in honor of Christ's transubstantial presence in the Holy Eucharist. The procession celebrated the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi , or the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . As the procession passed by us, I hopped out of the car and grabbed these photos with my cell phone. A cross-bearer leads the procession. Beneath the canopy, a monstrance contains the consecrated host, the "substance" of which Catholics believe has become the body of Christ. The bearer of the monstrance is wearing a humeral veil so that he doesn't have to touch the ...
Read more