Weekly celebration of the Eucharist is an important thing for the Body of Christ. We spent a year working with the congregation talking about the change (We are Lutherans .. we dont like change! We do not celebrate communion at each service, but rather alternate week to week. 2. Of course, I'm open to other arguments here; but for the present, I'm not comfortable with the practice. At the heart of the Reformation was a practical renewal of preachingandsacrament as the divinely ordained means of grace and methods of drawing together the divine drama. Scottish Presbyterianism prior to the Westminster Assembly had a different hue than after the persecutions launched under Charles II. Frequent fellowship in the Lords Supper can be a great help toward this. Zachary Garris The Lord's Supper Zachary Garris. The church has never been so blessed with almost universal literacy and access to information.[1]. Several arguments against weekly communion emerged, including it feel less holy, it makes visitors uncomfortable or the liturgy makes people feel unworthy of communion. Roman Catholics also read and teach from the Bible. In the second place, what the Roman Catholic Church does or does not do is not the final standard of faith and practice. He explains, The Lords Table should have been spread at least once a week for the assembly of Christians, and the promises declared in it should feed us spiritually.. Why would any Christian not want this communion with Christ to be a part of every worship service? Seven Arguments Against Weekly CommunionRefuted In the Lords Supper, we truly commune with Jesus Christ. Frequency of Communion (PCA-BCO) | The Puritan Board (p. 90). The Lords Supper is said by the apostle Paul to be the communion of the body and blood of Christ (I Cor. At this, the Lutheran Churchs lowest theological point, the Sacrament was only celebrated four times a year so that members did not run what they considered the great risk of receiving it unworthily. Reformation Zion PublishingKnowingScripture.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. He is especially present in His church when that body gathers in His name. While Presbyterianism became known for infrequent communion, the Westminster Assembly took a very different line. The rarity with which communion was received was occasioned more by a spirit of rigorism than by indifference on the part of the faithful. The elders of Oak Hills have decided to transition our observance of the Lords Supper from a monthly occurrence to a weekly occurrence. XV, p. 512): Q. It is my purpose here not to prescribe the entire liturgy of Communion but to argue that this sacrament is an element a necessary act in theordinaryworship service. Sacraments Articles - Knowing Scripture - Bible, Theology, Resources Do you not more often need so great a help to knit your heart more closely unto the people of God in greater affection and love for them? In fact, the church in which I was reared provided the sacrament of the Lords Supper only four times a year. Weekly Communion Too Common? - The Lutheran Witness Magazine Seven Arguments Against Weekly CommunionRefuted Daniel Hoffman The Lord's Supper Every argument that I've ever heard against weekly communion is vapid at best. 7. 2. Do you not often need so great a help to put you in remembrance of your Lord Jesus? A Case Against Online Communion - JPSERRANO 4. Its shape originated in Geneva and was brought to Scotland by Knox, who spent much of the Marian exile there. Then we all rise together and pray, and , as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings,according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distributionto each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. We want to be careful to not burn out our volunteers. Think about it. However, in the beginning it was not so. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Yes, how could we have memorial for the One who not only lives Himself but is our very life? I used the Touchpoint articles in the past two weeks to unpack what Scripture and our doctrinal confession says about the significance of communion (you can read those here and here). This is why men like John Calvin, who were undeniably strong advocates of the centrality of the preached word, could also advocate weekly observance of the Supper. In defense of this perspective, its proponents often enlist Calvin as one of their own. Senior minister of the Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, and author ofThe Family Worship Book,When Grace Comes Home, andWhen Grace Transforms, in his guide to Reformed worship entitledLeading in Worship(p. 6): The Reformers claimed to be doing nothing more or less than reviving the worship instituted by the Apostles. Weekly communion service will be a blessing to those who volunteer with our children. . This practice continued for the first several centuries of the churchs existence. 11:18ff). We do not stop meeting regularly or preaching regularly or praying regularly just because these things have become mere routines for many people, and we should not hesitate top observe the Lords Supper on a weekly basis simply because it too may become routine for some. I thought it well written to describe the reasons for making the change, and perhaps useful for other congregations who are interested in moving towards every Sunday communion. Weekly communion runs the risk of becoming mechanical or a vain routine. Yet, Deddens' section on the Lord's Supper does not specify weekly Supper but suggests a "frequent" practice that, against the opening sentences of his section, does not necessarily lead to weekly communion but only to a frequency greater than the "four to six times a year common in many Reformed churches". It is not surprising that in the churches which hold this view there is little concern for the sacrament. But it is not quite explicit in this passage either. Typically, the ministry of Holy Communion in most Reformed, Presbyterian, Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist bodies includes a number of common elements derived from the ancient church. Now granted, the frequency with which Roman Catholics practice the Eucharist is driven in part by their theology of it, which makes it out to be a kind of magical medicine, in that partakers are thought to physically ingest the incarnate body and blood of Jesus. Pastor Mark Elliott And having it 1x month seems totally fine to me. Cramner insisted on frequent, at least weekly, communion. 6. Puritan pastor and theologian, in a treatise in catechism format entitled A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God and Discipline of the Churches of the New Testament published in 1667 (The Works of John OwenVol. Or is there not too great an alienation of your heart and affection from them? Everything we do weekly in worship, from preaching to prayer, from singing to giving offerings, can become a meaningless routine. 72r, v, on the taking of the Lords Supper it is stated, It will be common to all churches that,unless grave cause demands otherwise,the Lords Supper will be taken only on Sundays (my italics, indicating a section in Cramners own handwriting.) So I do not mean to say that the practice of non-weekly communion is sinful or necessarily implies unfaithfulness. Is He as much in your thoughts as He deserves to be? (7) What will my children do? John Dube | July 13, 2021 Why do some abstain? The answer may surprise you! The primary Reformed objection to weekly communion is that it is not specifically commanded anywhere in the New Testament. 9. APPEAL TO THE WHOLE MAN. A Push For More-Frequent Practices Of Communion - The North Texas The bulletin redesign is helpful for this in giving us space to provide explanations for what we do. However, if it is, alongside the preached Word, a means of grace and a mark of the church if, in other words, The Holy Spirit creates faith by the preaching of the holy gospel and confirms it by the use of the holy sacraments (Heidelberg 61), our spiritual food and drink and a participation in the blood of Christ (I Cor. There have been long periods of Roman Catholic church history in which participation in the Eucharist by the laity was in fact quite rare, it being thought that the most important thing was for the priest to partake, and the people in the pews could be content to watch, or perhaps to receive the bread only, and not the wine. because we are worried that it will no longer be special. We call this good news the Gospel. Others will fear that it will turn into a form of legalism by making members feel that they must come forward to the altar every time the Lords Supper is offered. . Zachary Garris. I have known many evangelical churches where it was observed once a month. A detailed study of this subject is not, however, within the purview of this book. Three Arguments for Weekly Communion - The Gospel Coalition (TGC) Here is the article written by our pastor from our April 2011 church newsletter; mailed out to all congregation members prior to the change. Thankfully that is no longer the case, but if it were, what then? . Of course not. In Acts 2 it was a regular feature of church life. Instead, what we find in the New Testament are descriptive texts telling us what the early church actually did, and in these descriptive texts the Lords Supper is considered to be as much a part of regular worship as preaching, teaching, or praying. But the ordinary faultiness of our imperfect hearts, that are apt to gr9ow customary and dull, is no good reason why it should be seldom;and more than why other special duties of worship and church communion should be seldom. This objection seems plausible only if both the written word and the visible word are misunderstood. They would have morning prayer for a few weeks, and then a Holy Communion once a month or so. Just as we come to church in order to hear about what Christ accomplished for us by His obedient suffering and death, so we come to receive with our lips that same Christ who comes to us in His own true body and blood. This is a helpful sermon that discusses frequency of the Lord's Supper. So, we aim to do two things for our visitors on Sunday mornings: 1. 1. Do you not often need to be put in remembrance of Gods displeasure against it, the hatred that He bears unto it, and the dreadful effects and results thereof; and is not this done more powerfully in the Lords Supper? For instance, in the section Concerning the Celebration of Divine Officers, chapter 3, fol. We establish memorials today, but they are only for those who have died. Do they become routine and mindless as a result? For these, along with Holy Baptism, are the means of grace by which Christ has chosen to save us. The response of one of his members was, Well, just be careful not to have it too often! Such an attitude indicates a belief that there is something in the act itself which produces certain consequences which might be lost with frequent performance. No; we should be thankful for truth and Christ-directed piety wherever we find it. The whole Christ is really ministered in the sacrament. For worship is where God gives us these gifts in His Word and Sacraments. Thus, if you seriously consider your own frequent wants, and often reflect upon your frequent need of this ordinance, you will see sufficient reason for your frequent participation in so frequently needful an ordinance. This could hardly fail to suggest that there is something in the sacrament itself, perhaps some supernatural virtue, which is good for one month, or for three months, and will sustain the believer that long, but might be harmful if received more often. But Adam Hunter has well said, It is not in the Sacraments that confidence should be placed, but only in the God who gives grace to them. Sometimes. Scripture reading and study. If the Lords Supper is a seal of the promises of the gospel, it cannot possible detract from that gospel. It is a reminder and warning that we can take any of Gods means of grace for granted. There is no binding requirement. On the Lords own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure.In the writings of Justin Martyr (ca. Its the other way around. In the biblical case given to us of abuse of the Lords Supper (1 Corinthians 11), Paul did not tell the Corinthians to correct the abuse by practicing it less frequently or to downplay its importance. We are also concerned with how to continue to fit in the childrens message. Is it enough to have some occasional thoughts of Christ, or should you not more solemnly dwell in your meditations upon Him? We have visitors on a regular basis at Oak Hills and we pray that God would use us to introduce people to Christ and saving faith. The previous day it was required that communicants gather with the minister to examine their consciences and explore their faith. Genesis, Men and Women. The Lords Supper touches on Christian love, hospitality, church unity, the death of Christ, the coming of Christ, the biblical theology of memorials, biblical theology of bread, of wine, of sacrifice, of the body, of Christian fellowship, of Jesus eating with sinners, of what the cross does to human social distinctions, the Passover and the exodus, the intersection of the physical and spiritual, etc. To make the basic point up front: Every argument that Ive ever heard against weekly communion is vapid at best. Is it not a shame and sin that you are no more engaged in praising God, and in rejoicing in Him for such privileges that were procured by the blood of His only Son and your dearest Lord? First, there is the dismissal. Calvin devotes several sections of his Institutes to the argument for weekly communion (4.17.44-46). 3. The church at Troas met each week for the express purpose to break bread (Acts 20:7). We can easily fall into a routine of going through the motions in any of these activities. The non-weekly position should bear the burden of proof. "Quite the contrary, partaking of the Lord's . Certainly it can be misused, and there has been no shortage of superstitious abuses in the history of the church, but this is not a matter of frequency, and the difference between practicing it weekly, or every other week, or monthly, will make no difference in this regard. An old argument against frequent communion (familiarity breeds contempt) deserves short shrift. 57-60): The New Testament does not give us a binding statement as to how often the Lords Supper should be held. God is doing us a far greater service when we come to church. This recognition was certainly true at the time of the Reformation. For them, as Old argues, the writings of the Fathers were read as witnesses to the purer forms of worship of the ancient church. The Fathers were valued because they could confirm a usage which had been established by Scripture. Consequently, when they argued from Scripture for a given reform, they were able to demonstrate through extensive citations of ancient sources both the early church was the model upon which their work was based, and that the medieval liturgy had departed from this earlier tradition. Do you love them as you should? All contributed content represents the views of the contributor and does not necessarily represent the views of KnowingScripture.com. 256-259): Perhaps nothing is needed in the evangelical churches of our country more today than a theology of the sacraments. In fact, this ingrained tradition is the only thing preventing the Reformed churches from finally achieving the goal of such early Reformers as Calvin by returning to the ancient Christian practice of weekly communion. Also, if someone is serving our children downstairs on the first Sunday of a month, they will not have the chance to receive communion for two months. We can misunderstand communion whether we observe it weekly or monthly or quarterly or annually. It is common during a communion celebration that pastors say the bread is Jesus body, broken for you. But is broken the correct word to use? Arguments for and against communion every week? - Reddit - Dive into Reformers such as Calvin and Bucer called for a return to the early practice of the church. Belief or practice that is purely reactionary will almost certainly result in belief and practice that is ultimately warped, misguided, or even harmful. Arguments for and against communion every week? First, weekly observance of the Lords Supper was the practice of the early Christian church, but his was before the rise of what could properly b e called Roman Catholicism.In fact, with the rise of Roman Catholicism, infrequent communion became the normal practice. You can also subscribe without commenting. I hope you are thankful to belong to such a church. But God in His grace . In 1 Corinthians 11:17-20, though, Paul seems to speak in a way that assumes the Lords Supper was something done (or attempted anyway) every time the church in Corinth came together (When you come together, it is not the Lords supper that you eat). Neal said. COMMENTS FOR THIS POST HAVE BEEN DISABLED. i would argue: The Elders are responsible for making sure that their flock is personally and spiritually able to take communion as the defenders of the table. By the time religious liberty was granted, with the accession of William of Orange and Mary in 1688, infrequent communion had become part of the tradition. 10. The earliest testimony we have concerning the practice of the church points to a weekly observance of the Eucharist. Thats why Oak Hills, as a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, follows a careful order of how to serve communion. Catholic Daily Mass - Daily TV Mass - June 22, 2023 - Facebook I am thankful to serve a congregation in our more secular times which still recognizes the biblical importance of the Lords Supper and treasures its Gospel reassurance. God wants to give us a double portion of His love and grace for us in Christ in worship centered on His preached Word and distributed Supper of forgiveness. Nevertheless, we could not consider the conduct of the worship services in which the Lords Supper is observed without mentioning some of the erroneous ideas held by Christians which have contributed to various abuses in the administration of the sacrament. First, it is never given as an argument against weekly preaching, or weekly prayer, or song. It is not difficult to understand why Calvin desired weekly celebration of the Lords Supper. Most Presbyterian and Reformed churches observe the Supper on a monthly or quarterly basis, but there are others that observe it more or less frequently. It is first of all a memorial and proclamation of the death of Christ for his people before God the Father (1 Corinthians 11:24-26), and is also a means of marking out or even constituting the unity of the body of Christ and its head (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). Senior minister of Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware and visiting professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, in his recently published bookThe Lords Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread, (pp. The Didache (ca. Director of curriculum development for Ligonier Ministries and assistant editor of Tabletalk magazine, in a recent book entitledGiven For You: Reclaiming Calvins Doctrine of the Lords Supper(pp. The second argues that if we use the sacrament too often, we will not value it. There are some, for example, that observe the Supper on an annual basis. The method by which the risen Lord holds spiritual communion with His own and imparts to them the grace of spiritual nurture with the symbols of the supper we cannot fully know. Abuse or misunderstanding of the sacrament, however, does not require us to avoid weekly observance. One thing we do know, and that is the extent to which it was held in the primitive church as recorded in Acts. We are indebted to those who serve us and our families by caring for our children while we worship. I. Do we have to receive the Sacrament of the Altar weekly? This would be easy, since everything in the Bible ties into it in some way. When I am asked if I believe in having weekly communion, I reply, "Not quite. in some churches, the so-called "fencing of the table" militates against the very purposes for which the sacraments were instituted. However, while the example of the early church is a guide, it cannot bind us, any more than their disposal of personal propertyrequiresus to do likewise. Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation (Matthew 26:41). Do you not often need the means of spiritual warmth and quickenings? In the reform of ecclesiastical law he introduced in 1552, he clearly specified this. 157-159): A regular feature of the assembly (Acts 2:46), the breaking of the bread, was Jesus first act at the resurrection day service with his disciples when they recognized their risen Lord (Luke 24:30-31). But this objection would apply just as easily to everything else that is done in a Christian worship service. The Blessings of Weekly Communion - Confessing the Faith One Article at We could also say that we should have a sermon only monthly or even quarterly! We ask for your love, your prayers, and your patience as we work through these details to get them right. . However, the degree to which the church desires it is a reliable gauge of how eagerly it wants Christ. Some object that the frequent celebration of the Lords Supper would obscure the centrality of the preaching of the work. Seven Arguments Against Weekly CommunionRefuted, Book Review: Beyond Authority and Submission (Miller), A Christmas Devotion from IsaiahUzziah, Ahaz, and King Jesus.
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