Worldwide Communion
06/10/24 02:00
One of the joys of our four years of seminary education was being immersed not only in the study of theology and practical ministry, but also living in Christian Community. In those days, Chicago Theological Seminary was housed in a large building with a tower. There were two formal chapels in the building and we had some deeply meaningful times of worship with our classmates. CTS drew students from around the world with special relationships with a few countries. We had close friends and classmates from Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, and other countries as well as students from many different states. CTS has always been a fairly small school, but then as now hosted a very diverse student population. Our worship experiences were not limited to our own seminary, however. Hyde Park was home to the Chicago Cluster of Theological Schools, a consortium that had emerged from the previous federated theological faculties. We could cross register and take classes at the other schools in the cluster including the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Catholic Theological Union, Jesuit School of Theology at Chicago, Meadville Lombard Theological School, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, McCormick Theological Seminary and several other schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Students from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary also cross-registered and came down from the northern suburbs of the city to attend classes. And we all worshiped together.
The celebration of communion was a connecting point. Not only did we study the history and traditions of the church and its liturgies, we experienced sharing the bread and cup with classmates from around the world from a wide variety of different theological and liturgical traditions. We shared the sacrament with Catholic priests and Unitarian ministers, with Lutheran and Episcopal and Presbyterian and Methodist and Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and Reformed colleagues.
Throughout our active careers the first Sunday of October was a deeply meaningful day for us as we celebrated Worldwide Communion Sunday with Christians around the world. It had direct emotional impact on us as we remembered our Australian and South African colleagues with whom we had celebrated during our seminary years in Chicago and thought of them serving their congregations. Sharing communion brought to mind our Baptist colleagues working in rural communities in Illinois and our Catholic colleagues serving congregations in Boston and Rome and our colleagues from other denominations serving in a wide variety of settings from hospital, military and law enforcement chaplaincies to large urban congregations to small rural and isolated congregations. We felt connected to Christians around the world even though our careers began in two very small and isolated congregations in Southwestern North Dakota. Our nearest United Church of Christ colleagues were 40 miles away and we formed friendships with colleagues who served Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Assembly of God, and other denominations.
On Worldwide Communion Sunday we felt connected to all of those people. We also felt our connection with those who had gone before us. We told the stories of the saints of the saints of the history of the church and we listened to the stories of the saints of the congregations we served. We remembered those who had died and at whose funerals we had officiated. And we felt connected in the simple sharing of bread and the cup.
As we served different congregations in different settings we recalled the other congregations where we had worshiped and shared communion. And in each place the liturgy brought to our mind those in the future who will celebrate the sacrament long after our time on this earth has come to its end.
This world is full of divisions and desperately in need of connections. Today as we share communion at our church in Bellingham, Washington, we will be especially mindful of those who celebrate in dire circumstances. Beirut, Lebanon is ten hours ahead of us on the clock, so many faithful Christians there will have already shared communion when we get to our service. They woke up this morning after what the BBC called the “Worst night so far in Beirut” as Israel carried out strikes against Hezbollah which was firing rockets into northern Israel. One year after the deadly Hamas strike against Israel the war is spreading far beyond the initial strikes in Gaza. Peace seems impossible as tens of thousands of innocents have been killed and their survivors blend grief with hatred and a desire for revenge. Faithful Christians paused in Beirut today and shared the bread and the cup with words ancient and meaningful.
Mozambique, Africa is an hour behind Beirut. There Christians celebrated communion in the midst of political instability as independence era leaders bow out of leadership.
Our colleagues in Japan and Australia will be sleeping early tomorrow morning when we get to church today in our country, but they will have celebrated communion with words of institution and prayers of consecration that we would recognize because they have been drawn from our shared history.
Matthew’s Gospel ends with the commissioning of disciples. Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . .” More than two thousand years later there are Christian disciples in all of the nations of the world. Worldwide communion is being celebrated on every continent. And we are connected to those people through our shared sacrament.
One of the things I did during my career as a pastor was to write hundreds of responsive liturgies for the sharing of communion. I saw it as one of my roles to put the ancient words of institution and consecration into the mouths of lay members of the congregation. There is a long history in the church of understanding sacrament as not the province of officiating clergy, but being a direct connection between God and individual believers. I tried to give those believers the words of history and tradition as together we celebrated a sacrament that will be passed down to our great grandchildren and beyond.
Now I am old and retired. But I am eager to approach the communion table in our church today. There will be a bite of bread - not enough to satisfy, but just a taste. There will be a drop of juice and with those elements connection with so many others around the world throughout all of history. In the bread and cup we will touch one another and be renewed.
May this day be holy and blessed for you.
The celebration of communion was a connecting point. Not only did we study the history and traditions of the church and its liturgies, we experienced sharing the bread and cup with classmates from around the world from a wide variety of different theological and liturgical traditions. We shared the sacrament with Catholic priests and Unitarian ministers, with Lutheran and Episcopal and Presbyterian and Methodist and Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and Reformed colleagues.
Throughout our active careers the first Sunday of October was a deeply meaningful day for us as we celebrated Worldwide Communion Sunday with Christians around the world. It had direct emotional impact on us as we remembered our Australian and South African colleagues with whom we had celebrated during our seminary years in Chicago and thought of them serving their congregations. Sharing communion brought to mind our Baptist colleagues working in rural communities in Illinois and our Catholic colleagues serving congregations in Boston and Rome and our colleagues from other denominations serving in a wide variety of settings from hospital, military and law enforcement chaplaincies to large urban congregations to small rural and isolated congregations. We felt connected to Christians around the world even though our careers began in two very small and isolated congregations in Southwestern North Dakota. Our nearest United Church of Christ colleagues were 40 miles away and we formed friendships with colleagues who served Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Assembly of God, and other denominations.
On Worldwide Communion Sunday we felt connected to all of those people. We also felt our connection with those who had gone before us. We told the stories of the saints of the saints of the history of the church and we listened to the stories of the saints of the congregations we served. We remembered those who had died and at whose funerals we had officiated. And we felt connected in the simple sharing of bread and the cup.
As we served different congregations in different settings we recalled the other congregations where we had worshiped and shared communion. And in each place the liturgy brought to our mind those in the future who will celebrate the sacrament long after our time on this earth has come to its end.
This world is full of divisions and desperately in need of connections. Today as we share communion at our church in Bellingham, Washington, we will be especially mindful of those who celebrate in dire circumstances. Beirut, Lebanon is ten hours ahead of us on the clock, so many faithful Christians there will have already shared communion when we get to our service. They woke up this morning after what the BBC called the “Worst night so far in Beirut” as Israel carried out strikes against Hezbollah which was firing rockets into northern Israel. One year after the deadly Hamas strike against Israel the war is spreading far beyond the initial strikes in Gaza. Peace seems impossible as tens of thousands of innocents have been killed and their survivors blend grief with hatred and a desire for revenge. Faithful Christians paused in Beirut today and shared the bread and the cup with words ancient and meaningful.
Mozambique, Africa is an hour behind Beirut. There Christians celebrated communion in the midst of political instability as independence era leaders bow out of leadership.
Our colleagues in Japan and Australia will be sleeping early tomorrow morning when we get to church today in our country, but they will have celebrated communion with words of institution and prayers of consecration that we would recognize because they have been drawn from our shared history.
Matthew’s Gospel ends with the commissioning of disciples. Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . .” More than two thousand years later there are Christian disciples in all of the nations of the world. Worldwide communion is being celebrated on every continent. And we are connected to those people through our shared sacrament.
One of the things I did during my career as a pastor was to write hundreds of responsive liturgies for the sharing of communion. I saw it as one of my roles to put the ancient words of institution and consecration into the mouths of lay members of the congregation. There is a long history in the church of understanding sacrament as not the province of officiating clergy, but being a direct connection between God and individual believers. I tried to give those believers the words of history and tradition as together we celebrated a sacrament that will be passed down to our great grandchildren and beyond.
Now I am old and retired. But I am eager to approach the communion table in our church today. There will be a bite of bread - not enough to satisfy, but just a taste. There will be a drop of juice and with those elements connection with so many others around the world throughout all of history. In the bread and cup we will touch one another and be renewed.
May this day be holy and blessed for you.
