Weekly Communion at Trinity

Here at Trinity we are excited to be a part of the renewal of Methodism in our day, as the Global Methodist Denomination seeks us return to scriptural Christianity and those things which first made the Methodist movement dynamic and transformative.  One element that Methodism has lost in our history (though present originally) is an appreciation and practice of weekly communion.  In fact, John Wesley says, “it is the duty of every Christian to receive the Lord's Supper as often as she/he can.” Thus, here at Trinity we would like to begin to include this ancient Christian practice in our worship service intentionally.

 To explain why we are doing this, let me give us a few basic understandings and definitions.  First, this practice can be called Holy Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper or Communion.  All these terms refer to the same practice.  Second, we know that Communion is a Means of Grace and a Sacrament.  The Means of Grace, defined by John Wesley, are signs, words or actions ordained and appointed by God to be the regular channels through which he conveys his grace to humans.  They are like funnels channeling grace onto us.  Some of these are prayer, reading scripture, acts of love and service and attending worship. 

A Sacrament is defined as an outward sign of an inward grace, or ordinary things and actions that communicate spiritual realities.[1]  We can’t fully understand what happens as we partake of Sacraments, which is why they are sometimes referred to as Holy Mysteries.  The two Sacraments of our Church are Baptism and Communion.  Through Baptism we are initiated into Christ’s church, incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit.  Through Communion we take physical bread and juice (ie. the elements) into our body to feed us.[2]  This represents the body and blood of Jesus and his death on our behalf on the cross; it represents the Gospel, the “good news.”  It shows us God’s Grace and nourishes us spiritually. The bread and juice are not actually Jesus’ body, but we believe Jesus is present in a spiritual sense every time we take the elements in order to feed our souls.  We all are spiritual beings and we need spiritual nourishment. 

So if we rightly understand Communion as a way in which God shows us grace or nourishes our spirits, the question is why don’t we do this more often?  I don’t know about you, but I need all the grace I can get!   Communion is a place where God’s presence comes down to us as heaven and earth collide.  This is a truly transformative moment where God meets humans and gives us grace.  Communion is an opportunity for us to be given spiritual gifts from God, so we ought to do it more often.

Christ-Centered

A big part of our vision is that we want our community to be Christ-centered.  To help ensure that our worship is Christ-centered, we are committed to preaching scripture and practicing Communion whenever we come together to worship.  This reflects Christian practice through the ages as the majority of Christian worship through history has included Word (scripture teaching) and Table (Communion).   Though we want to allow for freedom in the service (not get stuck doing the same thing repeatedly just for the sake of doing it), we do want to cling to the anchors of Word and Table.  This ensures that even if the teacher/preacher has a bad sermon, Jesus will still be offered, and the Gospel preached.  In receiving Communion every Sunday, we will see the physical symbols of Jesus as well as keep his message at the center of our worship.  Practicing Communion helps us be a Jesus-centered community.

Participatory and Responsive Worship

Another reason to practice Communion every week is that it offers a built in participatory and responsive time in our service.  Communion forces individuals in the congregation to get up and go through the act of receiving, eating and drinking and kneeling for prayer during communion.  This takes effort, and it allows us all to respond to God.  As the Word allows the congregation to listen and learn, the Table allows the congregation to respond with thanksgiving and praise.  Coming to the Table will help us as a congregation have the right time of reflection and response to what we have experienced and heard in the service.  Receiving communion weekly fits perfectly into our vision of participatory worship that sets the condition for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

FAQs

Does taking Communion more often diminish the importance?  Will it lose its significance?

This might be a fear among some people who are used to taking communion only once a month.  However, taking Communion often doesn’t diminish its importance any more than hugging our family frequently might diminish the importance of a physical embrace.  Instead, we should take advantage of the various Means of Grace by praying continually and reading scripture often for it is through these activities that God desires to shape and form us into the image of Christ.  Thus, it also does not make sense to limit our receiving of communion.  In my experience, the act of taking it once a week often increases people’s understanding and appreciation of this sacrament, so that they desire it more and more.

Why has it been our custom to take it monthly in most Methodist Churches?

This takes some conversation concerning the history of Methodism in America.  Methodists in America have always believed that we should take communion as often as possible.  In tension with that, we have also held to the belief that an ordained person must bless the elements.  In early Methodism they did not have enough ordained clergy to serve all the churches so the clergy would travel in circuits, often containing 20-30 churches.  This meant that Communion could be administered only when the clergy came through, which ended up with churches practicing it only once a month.  Then the practice was continued even when there were enough ordained clergy to go around. 

Resources for more info and quotes:

For those interested John Wesley’s sermon, ‘On the Duty of Constant Communion’ can be found here: https://www.wordsofwesley.com/libtext.cfm?srm=101.

Favorite Wesley Quote on Communion:

“As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty and leads us on to perfection. If, therefore, we have any regard for the plain command of Christ, if we desire the pardon of our sins, if we wish for strength to believe, to love and obey God, then we should neglect no opportunity of receiving the Lord's Supper; then we must never turn our backs on the feast which our Lord has prepared for us. We must neglect no occasion which the good providence of God affords us for this purpose. This is the true rule: So often are we to receive as God gives us opportunity. “

[1] Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2006), 70.

[2] United Methodist Hymnal, (1989) 39.