Last night we had some new friends over to eat dinner with us. They are members here at Elmwood CoC. During dinner I was asked, “If I could change one thing at Elmwood what would it be?” He promised there was no hidden agenda in this question. He was just starting a conversation.
My first answer was that just moving here has been such a breath of fresh air for me (no offense to any of my Greenwood Park readers) that I don’t need to change anything. This is such a different church from where I came from. I have been given freedoms here that I would have never been given in Bowling Green. I have the freedom to use all sorts of sermon aids (videos, dramas, dramatic readings, etc…). I have the freedom to rearrange the “order of worship” at just about any time. I have the freedom, along with everyone else, to express worship in different ways while we sing (clap, lift my hands, etc…). Just moving here has been change enough for me.
But, I knew that is not what he wanted so I gave him another answer as well. I told him I would do away with the standard, individualistic mode of practicing communion in the big Sunday morning gathering, and I would move communion to our LIFE Groups where it can be practiced more intimately and relationally. I don’t anticipate this happening anytime soon, but I would love to hear if any of you know of churches who have tried this? Am I just a crazy liberal?
Great post.
Excellent blog.
Keep up the great posts brother.
I hope you had a great earth day!
You and I have discussed this, but for others I’ll post here also. Since leaving GP we have begun attending a smaller congregation that, among other things, practices a communion similar to what you are proposing. They are small enough to do it on Sunday mornings, and because they meet in a school they have enough space.
After worshiping they move to sit around tables. Each table has a bottle of grape juice (the unfermented kind, btw) and a basket of unleavened bread. Someone gives a communion talk and some suggested discussion questions, and then while eating bread and drinking the juice (regular portions of both, mind you) we discuss what it means to be a part of the body of Christ, whether it is sharing struggles or joys or merely our thoughts on a particular scripture.
I have found that this provides a format in which you can be real with one another, grow closer to others, and encourage and be encouraged – kinda’ what I envision the early church doing. It is much more personal and meaningful than the “pinch and pass” method we are used to, and “communion” is more than just a part of the service. It is central to our time together, and I actually look forward to it. Plus…you get a whole cup of juice and a whole piece of bread.
Hi Gilbert,
We met while my daughter Sarah Bird, was in labor. To answer your question, while we were Life Group leaders (which Mark and I did for over 16 years!) there were many times when we had communion as a part of our Life Group. What started out as preparing for those who hadn’t attended on Sunday A.M., turned into a close time of communing in our small group. We do that often in our small group here in Atlanta also. Another thing that we did was not to pass the communion, but we went to a table in the back of the room and served ourselves. I have also participated in small groups where one or two people “serve” you as you come forward.
Communion is personal, and I think that it has become somewhat of a ritual or habit in the Sunday services. Bringing it down to the small group would bring it back into the style of Jesus’ “first” communion with his disciples.
Sorry I rambled so much. I enjoy your blog as well as your wife’s.
I don’t know whether it is fortunate or unfortunate that our communion practices will likely not be changed any time soon. I suppose I find myself pondering if communion is limited to one day, or one time, every 7 days. I have not drawn this conclusion from my readings of the early church. I see many advantages to the sharing of communion as part of our worship service. Sure I wish it could be more intimate, but during service my communion is about my relationship with Jesus, not necessarily with my brothers and sisters. Maybe I have an altered way of looking at this because I have not experienced anything different. I could see advantages to implementing both forms of communion. Is this wrong? Am I missing the point entirely?
Hey Stephanie,
Thanks for your comments. I would suggest that your used of “my” is not communion language. You said, “My communion is about my relationship with Jesus, not with my brothers and sisters.” I understand what you are saying and where you are coming from, because I have been there. But I believe that this “my” language is exactly what Paul was so upset about in 1 Corinthians 11 when he talks about communion. Read verses 17-34 closely and notice the context. He is upset because there are “divisions” and they aren’t “sharing with others.” They are in a hurry to eat their own meals, without considering their brothers and sisters. They had made communion a “my meal” rather than an “our meal.” So Paul goes on to say that if you take this meal in “an unworthy manner” and without “recognizing the body of the Lord” then they are sinning. My personal belief is that the “unworthy manner” is taking communion without considering the “body of the Lord” which is the church, according to the context of 1 Corinthians.
Sorry, that was way long but I felt it needed an explanation. That is why I would make communion more relational and intimate, because in the large gathering on Sundays it is too easy to think only in terms or “me” and not “us.”