More ‘communion’ - please?

by Major Richard Munn

J

esus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19

We have celebrated Valentine’s Day. I am told that teachers were the recipients of the most cards and gifts. Husbands and wives celebrated love for each other. Young men and women took the opportunity to send a signal of interest – sometimes anonymously – to that special someone who makes their heart beat just that little more swiftly, and if all went well a spark of romance ignited into full blown ardor.

As any discerning suitor knows a candlelight dinner setting with exquisite food, soft music and unhurried service provides an admirable opportunity for closeness and intimacy. Such is the fabric of sweet romance!

Even removed from this idealized setting, the act of simply eating and drinking together provides genuine intimacy amongst people. Other social barriers are removed and relationships are strengthened. An invitation into someone’s home to eat is a special grace of kindness and hospitality.

Add to these dynamics the notion of a last meal together, and you have a pretty powerful event. The meal becomes even more meaningful. Close relationships become more intense. Lifetime memories are indelibly imprinted both during highly stylized final High School and College Graduation Banquets, and in the quiet family breakfast before a son goes off to war. Even a man facing execution is given the choice of his last meal.

It is in the drama and intimacy of such a setting that Jesus chooses to teach the disciples some his most important lessons. The result is a life changing closer communion between Jesus and the twelve. We can picture the scene; close friends sitting around a table in a home celebrating the annual Passover, stopping in the middle of a good meal to remember God’s saving act to the people of Israel in slavery – talking, laughing, giving thanks, singing and praying together.

Over the centuries, from this one event and the words of Jesus, quoted only in Luke, “Do this in remembrance of me,” has grown one of the central rituals, if not the central ritual, of the Christian Church – The Eucharist; the sacrament of the Last Supper; Mass.

It is a ritual much beloved by millions of Christians. From the wine and fresh bread used in the Pontifical High Mass in the cavernous austerity of St. Peter’s Cathedral – to Welch’s grape juice in a paper cup and Ritz crackers given to death row inmates by the visiting chaplain.

Some churches observe communion during every worship service – taking more precedence than any other part of worship. Others do so the first Sunday of the month; still others only once a year.

Some churches allow only baptized members to join in communion. Some allow only ordained male clergy to administer the Blessed Sacrament. Some believe passionately that ‘intinction’ is the only way to perform the ritual – dipping your bread in the shared cup. Others downplay the ritual – small nubs of cracker with minute thimbles of juice taken in the company of others suffice for them.

Into this cosmopolitan expression of faith enters The Salvation Army. If there is one genuine theological distinction of this Movement it is this; that Salvationists do not observe the sacraments as part of worship.

This is a cause of genuine celebration in some; and a cause of consternation in others. For some it is liberating and a point of attraction; for others it is disconcerting and is the singular feature that prohibits them from ever becoming a soldier.

I have met Salvationists who have joined our Movement from other traditions who rejoice in the freedom from ritual that was empty for them. I have talked to others who said they would join the Army, but they cannot abide the thought of surrendering communion. For them the church is communion. Do away with communion, they say, and you do away with the church.

One thing is certain – The Salvation Army as a denominational body is in the great minority in this matter. Only the Society of Friends – the Quakers – joins us in this. Were the body of Christ represented by a pie, we could not even cut a slice to show the percentage difference.

Born and raised in The Salvation Army I was never baptized; and I never took communion. It wasn’t until I was a young adult that the matter first faced me. I would look at my Seminary chapel program, scheduled three times a week, and inwardly groan when communion chapel was scheduled on a particular day. Once, as classes ended before chapel, my interest was piqued when a colleague student excitedly raced down to chapel, overtly enthused at ‘communion chapel.’ “Man, this is just what I need,” he intoned, “some communion!” I simply could not match the eagerness.

Around that time our Salvation Army band visited an Episcopal church for Sunday worship. As communion was observed, and passed around the bandsmen were all thrown into a theological tizzy – should we take part, shouldn’t we? Some did. Some didn’t. Far from being unifying – it mildly splintered the ensemble.

What are the issues involved?

‘Sacrament’ is one of those words that is important to Christians, and yet - like Trinity - is not in the Bible.

Sacraments represent an inward truth by outward symbols; outward signs of inward graces. They express spiritual faith – which can’t be physically seen – outwardly and symbolically. The Roman Catholic tradition has seven sacraments. The Protestant tradition has two – baptism and the Eucharist.

The point of mystery and intrigue is the relationship between the physical and the spiritual. For some the bread and wine simply evoke a memory – a remembrance of what the Lord Jesus Christ did at a special time in his ministry. For others to partake of the elements is mysteriously to partake of the body of Christ. For some the bread and the wine ‘become’ the body and shed blood of Christ. In communion Christ suffers again for our sins.

 

So, literally in the bread and the wine, by faith, the grace of Christ is mediated to the person who partakes. This is very powerful teaching. We can see why communion is so important to some people.

However, we’ve come a long way from the Luke text where a close group of friends in the faith, eating a meal with the master teacher they love, gather in a home, talking, giving thanks and praying together.

Does it appear from the text that Jesus is instituting a ceremony? A ritual? It seems to me that Jesus was particularly wary of religious officials who invested a lot of stock in outward ceremony. A ceremony can so easily become an end in itself, can’t it?

The meal in the upper room was fraught with spiritual meaning, and Jesus certainly intended it to be remembered as such. We should remember the meal. It just seems a long way from ‘the meal’ to a ‘ceremony,’ from a ‘home’ to a ’sanctuary,’ from ‘communion with friends’ to ‘communion given by male clergy only.’

I believe the Army stands for a more accurate interpretation of the New Testament. Salvationists are not ‘anti–sacramental’ but ‘non–sacramental,’ moving communion from the ‘High Altar only’ to the humble meal table; from the sanctuary and back into society. In so doing it may actually be closer to its origins. General Frederick Coutts said it well; “We believe in the Real Presence.” What we seek is not less communion, but more.

Bramwell Booth, second general of The Salvation Army, has written of his visitation to an elderly man he called ‘Old Cornish.’ He recalls that these humble meals with a simple man were communion in the deepest sense. Here with this converted drunkard, remorseful of his former drunken treatment of his wife, eating sacramental fried bacon and potatoes and drinking tea, Bramwell remembered that when they knelt down to pray Old Cornish was so uplifted it seemed that he was another man. Bramwell writes; “There came to me, in answer to those prayers…a new feeling of relationship to the souls of people, a directional impulse, impelling me to love and suffer for the sake of others. Again and again I have come down those old squeaking stairs feeling as though I walked on the wind, and have gone out to Mile End Waste to speak and pray with sinners in altogether a new and self–forgetting fashion.”

Salvationists are a practical group. The genius of the founders, William and Catherine Booth, was their pragmatism. ‘If it doesn’t work with real people, forgo it!’ ‘If they don’t know the church songs, put Christian words to the bar room songs they do know.’ ‘If they won’t ever go through the doors of a church, meet in the dance hall that they do know.’ ‘If the sacraments are not necessary to salvation, dispense with them.’ That essentially is the theology – shockingly practical.

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I’m in his hands: Total Youth Invasion

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Taking communion to ensure salvation is surely faulty thinking. “By grace you have been saved through faith,” wrote Paul to the Ephesians, not ‘by grace and communion you have been saved.’ Saving grace is mediated to us from Christ alone – not Christ and prescribed ceremony. ‘Christ is sufficient.’

Approaching the matter positively is important. Habitually emphasizing ‘anti’ or ‘non’ nomenclature is unhelpful; rather, it is preferable to place emphasis on the ‘immediacy of grace’ and the ’sufficiency of Christ.’ In so doing The Salvation Army serves as an important reminder to the rest of the Christian world. We have a genuine theological contribution to make – reminding communities of faith that ritual easily becomes an end in itself and that thousands of Christians lead vibrant and spiritual healthy lives without regularly taking communion. We enrich rather than diminish the Christian message.

General Paul Rader says: “We believe that the grace of Christ comes to us, not through the act of partaking of small pieces of bread or drinking small cups of grape juice or wine several times a year as it is given to us by certain accredited ministers of the gospel empowered to do so. We believe the saving and empowering grace of Christ is available to us here and now as we reach out in faith to him.”

“We would rather not squabble over who can take the communion and who can give it how often it can be offered and whether it should be bread or crackers, wine or juice, taken in seats or at the altar rail. Our concern is whether or not we know personal communion with the Lord: “Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life. Who comes to me will never go hungry. Who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)

The monk Brother Lawrence wrote that he felt as near to Christ when he was washing the greasy dishes in the monastery kitchen as ever he did at the Blessed Sacrament. Salvationists say ‘Amen!’ to that. We feel communion with Christ delivering food to needy families, visiting prisoners, serving a thanksgiving meal to the poor, or giving a simple gift to a comatose senior citizen in a nursing home. This has been called the sacrament of ‘the Good Samaritan.’ It is closer to the foot washing in the same upper room as recorded by John – though through the centuries absent as a ritual.

Sometimes it takes a child to provide perspective. The story is recorded of a London school boy at the turn of the century who was provided a ‘farthing’ breakfast at the local Salvation Army corps. Later in the day a school inspector questioned him: “Your people do not have the Lord’s Supper, do they?” “No sir,” replied the child. “Then what do they put in its place?” asked the inspector. “Farthing breakfasts for starving children, sir,” said the boy.

Salvationists use symbols as do other traditions. Flags, uniforms, the crest, enrollments, the mercy seat, a brass instrument and the red shield are but a few. We simply believe that grace comes from Christ alone, not through any symbol.

More ‘communion,’ please! Cherish the family meal as a place of grace and closeness. Use it as a time of prayer, communion and thanksgiving, not just a rote sentence prayer assigned to a child. Read scripture before or after the meal. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

More ‘communion,’ please! Extend invitations to others for distinctly Christian friendship and meals in your home. Pray and read scripture together on those occasions. Share intimately in each others lives. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

More ‘communion,’ please! Serve the needy, the outcast and the powerless. Clothe the naked, feed the hungry, house the homeless and visit the shut in. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

More ‘communion,’ please! Frequent the mercy seat when the opportunity arises. ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

Let’s have some communion!

Writer: Major Richard Munn is a fourth-generation Salvationist. Born in London, England, he spent the first 10 years of his life in the Congo where his parents were missionary teachers for The Salvation Army.

He graduated from St. Luke’s College, Exeter, with a Bachelor Degree in Education. During his student years, he participated in an exchange program through which he worked at The Salvation Army, Camp Wonderland, Sharon, Massachusetts. It was these summers with under-privileged children in Christian community that God used to effect new birth in Christ and a vision for ministry. It was at camp that he met Janet; they were married in 1980.

Major Munn graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary with a Masters in Divinity in 1985. Two years later he was commissioned and ordained as an officer in The Salvation Army.

Following corps work in Camden, New Jersey and youth ministry in Massachusetts, the Munns served as corps officers in Manchester, Connecticut and Divisional Leaders in Northern New England – for six years each respectively. They currently serve at the USA Eastern Territorial Headquarters – as Secretary for Program and Ambassador for Prayer and Spiritual Formation. Richard is the current Executive Officer for the New York Staff Band.

Throughout various ministry appointments Richard has regularly written for Good News, The War Cry, The Officer and The Journal of Aggressive Christianity. He has taught at Roots in the UK, Canada and Southern Territory, as well as On the Edge and the Aggressive Christianity Conference in Australia. He received a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in May 2004. His thesis assesses the egalitarian leadership model of The Salvation Army.

Major Munn is an aspiring theologian, a latent athlete, an avid cook, a backpacking enthusiast and a very keen first (not solo) cornet player. He and Janet have two young adult children, Nealson (21), currently studying at Oxford University, and Olivia (19), serving in Vancouver, BC with the 614 War College.

18 Comments to More ‘communion’ - please?

1. Major,

   You’ve summed up very consisely the Army’s stand on this issue and echoed what is in the hearts of many salvationists, myself included. Recently, I was talking with some young adults who frequent our home regularly for a meal observing the beginning of Sabbath and I pointed out that in the truest sense of the word, what takes place each Saturday evening at that meal is communion. Communion the way Christ instituted it at “the last supper” is meant to be fraught with fellowship and social interaction, thereby building upon the communal relationships and the faith relationship with Christ.

   Thank you for this piece.
Rob on March 16th, 2007

2. What eloquent words and diret teaching today. Compassionate use of the Bible and Church liturgy. Some others are not as gentle about their teaching as you - you are wise and caring.
   Jesus used his last meal as a teaching object lesson, redefining each movement with an explanation, similar to the manner young children are taught, with movements and actions which they can remember, recall. Insituting a new ritual, no. Being more clear and definative, yes!
Jessie Irwin on March 16th, 2007

3. Wonderful and inspiring - thank you
Matt Clifton on March 16th, 2007

4. Well said, Sir.
Matt K on March 16th, 2007

5. That was a wonderful read Major. Thank you for it. I met you this summer in Blue Island with the Band of Survivors, I hope you’ve been well since then! God bless.
Jonathan Taube on March 20th, 2007

6. Excellent. That’s sorted. Now I just need someone to explain Matthew 28:19 re baptising.
Grant on March 20th, 2007

7. Sorry, one more thing. Regarding “the words of Jesus, quoted only in Luke” see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, a letter which pre-dates Luke’s gospel.
Grant on March 20th, 2007

8. Richard,
   This is a kind and graceful piece but confusing at best.
   Besides a few glaring biblical oversights as outlined by Grant in his posts, I guess I’m unsure what you are trying to say.
   You’re right in that communion has nothing to do with our salvation. You’re also right in that communion is done very differently by many Christian traditions and has often been the source of controversy and division. And you may be right that that your model of communion may be a legitimate form of participating in the sacrament.
   However, are you saying that the Army actually does communion? If so, then why doesn’t the Army publicly state that it does communion and say that this is the form it takes in our church? Why is it that the Army stance is that we still don’t do communion if we actually do? Are you saying that your version of communion is the right way to do it and all others pale in comparison? Is the Army ever from the pulpit saying that we should do communion and that we should do it in the ways you’ve outlined? Do the majority of Salvationists even consider that a family meal can be communion? Never mind whether or not the majority of salvationists feed the hungry, welcome the stranger…
   I guess it seems that one minute you’re outlining why the army doesn’t participate in communion and the next minute you’re saying that we actually do. Which is it?
   I like your description of what communion can look like. My issue is that in practice, I don’t actually see that in most SA homes. I’ve never heard that preached from a pulpit, taught in Sunday School, or presented in Soldiers classes. We could do a lot for broader church unity if we admitted to the rest of the church that we do believe in the necessity of communion and that this is the form it takes in the Army.
   Dion
Dion on March 22nd, 2007

9. Richard, I enjoyed reading your article. The ‘communion’ you advocate sounds very much like that envisaged by the Spiritual Life Commission, which recommended that Salvationsts share more meals together, bringing the symbols of bread and wine into a wider and everyday context of ordinary life, and this I warmly support (a suggestion that to my knowledge has not been formally and officially acted upon by leadership in terms of encouraging and supporting this development in any meaningful way).

   But we are fundamentally missing the point! Even in everyday meals the early church deliberately focussed on the symbols of bread as the broken body and wine as the shed blood of Jesus. It’s not as if they just ate and drank and ignored the reality of what they were doing, and had vague spiritual fellowship and communion, and lots of happy thoughts about God. They allowed these symbols to deliver deep and powerful testimony to what Jesus has done for us. Of course no-one wants empty formalism, and of course we don’t want a theology of ’sacrament’ as some kind of mediated grace - but what an incredibly sad and lonely position is ours, that we continue to be defined by our protest, rather than growing up into the spiritual maturity of allowing these potent symbols to speak afresh to new generations - yes, stripped of unhelpful theology and practice, - but no! not banned and officers having appointments stripped and prevented from taking up certain positions of leadership, all because they read their Bibles! What poverty is ours at present. We have to do better than this. Please.

   I think ultimately Richard your unwillingness to say straightforwardly that these are Biblical symbols that we should be free to use and focus on as a symbol or testimony to the broken body of Jesus and a symbol or testimony to the shed blood of Jesus, as Christians have done since the Resurrection, in whatever setting or context, leaves your article, thoughtful though it is, somewhat in ‘no-man’s land’ and stripped of the very power and essence of what Jesus was trying to say to his disciples.

   Come on Salvationists - it’s time to come of age - we can do better!
David on March 23rd, 2007

10. Thanks for this thoughtful and civil article, Richard. I used to support fully the SA position, but the more I have reflected on it, I have come to see some significant problems with our stance.

    I think the “inward vs outward” thing is way overplayed. And it is ironic that Salvationists espouse a “wholistic” approach to ministry, and yet in our spirituality we are continuing to draw lines in the sand between inward and outward. God created us with bodies, and our worship should include bodily expressions of our faith. Of course communion can become “empty”, but we have simply substituted our own practices which are equally open to the same problem. So we aren’t any further ahead. We have soldiers who rely on their uniform (or their Eb horn) for salvation rather than communion.

    The point that sacraments are “not necessary” is valid, but so what? We do lots of things that are not necessary to salvation. This is not the point.

    The bottom line for me is that we don’t really have an answer to the Lord’s “do this in rememberance of me.” OK, so all service is sacramental. But Jesus didn’t say “do everything in rememberance of me.” He said “do this.” And Paul makes reference to “this cup” and “this bread”, a specific reference, not a general reference to “when you eat anything.” So what are we doing? As David and Dion point out, most Salvationists aren’t making their home meals into rememberances of our Lord. What is our answer to “do this”? The Spiritual Life Commission recommended using more related symbolism but nothing has been done, and our current General is actually coming out and saying we are prohibited from using sacramental symbols or “anything that could be mistaken for a sacrament”. So now we have come to the point of saying symbolism is OK but the biblical symbols from the last supper are taboo? Never mind that the eucharist is a long way from the simple meal of Jesus, the SA of today is a long way from the pragmatic decision of William Booth to stop the observance. We are really stretching to justify ourselves.
James on March 23rd, 2007

11. Do pardon me for using a Sunday school explanation. Every Covenant has a visual symbol. Something that people can see or do and they and the others will remember that God has a Covenant with His people: Rainbow, circumcision, Passover meal, Israel. And to me a command for public remembering of what Jesus done for me (not just “thank you for this food”) is a sign of a New Covenant in Him. If not by what I do then in this others will Know who I am. Most every religion thanks it’s deity for the food, but not the way we remember Jesus.
    And it’s been said before that there are Salvationists who don’t make their home meals sacramental, but every day I see Christians from all denominations who have no idea of what sacramental living is. Should we stop calling them Christians? I don’t think so.
    But dropping the idea of “my life must be Christ’s broken bread” just because some people have not a clue (or shame) is not an option to me.
Yuri on March 24th, 2007

12. Many thanks to the responders above. I appreciate the vigor.

    Ouch! on the glaring Corinthians omission. Of course I should have written that the Lukan passage is the only ‘gospel’ reference to ‘remembrance.’ But, the oversight is there for the whole, world to see.

    I do contest that the piece is ‘confusing.’ In fact, it is the simplicity of the central message that maybe its strongest attribute.

    Nothing new, of course, from a Salvationist perspective.

    General Frederick Coutts wrote: “Our non-observance of the sacraments is not due to any theological carelessness, a kind of slap-happy evangelism, which thinks it is of no consequence whether these have any place in our corporate life or not. This is a matter of utmost consequence.”

    Another approach is to look at the matter with the perspective provided by four pillars of the church - scripture, tradition, reason and experience.

    The scriptural basis is rooted in the conviction that Jesus Christ came to offer mankind new life in Him, and Him alone. It surely is a misinterpretation to believe that He would institute additional religious ritual.

    With regard to tradition The Salvation Army provides a distinctive and prophetic witness to the church. Salvationists stand as a reminder to the church that grace is mediated from Christ, not Christ and prescribed ceremony.

    Reason alone leads to the conclusion that observance of the sacraments is not a prerequisite to salvation. The Salvationist position enriches rather than diminishes the universality of the Christian message.

    The experience of Salvationists is that the daily mediation of grace is available without the use of traditional symbols. The conviction is that one should aim to make the whole of life sacramental.

    In my estimation the SA does rather well on 3 of these - scripture, reason and experience – with tradition as the weakest lens.

    Richard Munn
Richard Munn on March 24th, 2007

13. Richard, I hear what you are saying - believe me - I too have been raised in the SA without the tradition and depth of understanding of how this symbolism might be helpful. But I have two further points:
    1. Millions of Christians witness to their belief that the sacraments are not essential to salvation, not by how they avoid them, but by how they use them. The answer to wrong use has always been right use rather than disuse! Our protest is a historical legacy that is now anachronistic and uneccessary, with all major denominations including Roman Catholics believing that the sacraments are not ultimately essential to salvation.
    2. Why would we wish to be weak on one point out of four when we can be strong in all four?
David on March 25th, 2007

14. As I sat and read this article I found myself overjoyed at the simple explanation that was provided. However, I cannot get away from the fact that we are being led from a non-sacramental stance to one of anti-sacramentalism. Yet at the same time we have developed our own alternative sacraments!

    This Sunday we had 9 new soldiers enrolled at my corps and we praise the Lord for this. Yet as I sat there I could not escape the fact that the corps officer stood with a copy of the ‘Handbook of Ceremony’ in her hand and followed the set TSA requirements for swearing in soldiers. How is this any less symbolic than water baptism? How is this any less an Army sacrament than full immersion in water is a sacrament of other denominations?

    The reality is that despite sincere attempts to do otherwise The Salvation Army has built symbolism around many things. How is this any better than the symbolism that has been accepted, in a wide variety of forms, for millenia?

    As David says, why is it acceptable to be weak in tradition, whilst being strong in the Bible, reason and experience? Doesn’t this also suggest that maybe we are not as strong in reason as we’d like to think?
Graeme on March 26th, 2007

15. Wow, Enjoyable to read. Lacking a MAJOR connection. The Last Supper was not the root of Communion. Passover was, and still is, the beginning of Communion. Until you address Communion in its Jewish context, you fail to grasp the significance of event. Poor research leads to poor theology. I am a Salvationist in that no rite or ritual, other than true repentance and confession, are required to become a part of God’s family, army, Redeemed, whatever you wish to call it. In Jesus’ words, we are to remember Him, through this enduring act, one the Jews had no problem with for centuries, and an event we should continue to celebrate “til He come” with the fullest meaning that was added to Passover, when Jesus died and rose again. Celebrate Jesus in Communion!
Timothy Manchester on March 1st, 2009

16. I am often bemused by the fact that there are far too many articles (often written by Salvationists in my own experience) who do not have the slightest understanding of the significance of sacraments and their roots in the early Jewish context which was then reformed around Jesus and his followers and carried out by the vast majority of the Church for 2000 years. I would take the contradictory position of what the Author’s has stated regarding the SA strengths and weaknesses and suggest that on the point of the eucharist at least, we don’t know our Bibles, primarily the significance of the Exodus narrative, which means of course we have a poor understanding of why the eucharist is important. These then dovetail together to form a reasoned which is Biblically poor and mal-nourished, leaving us with a corporate worshipping experience that lacks a central act.

    My suggestion is that anyone who wants to grapple with sacramentology needs to study serious works of theology before they lambast it. Might I recommend 2 one hour lectures by the Bishop of Durham that can be found on the linked site below?:

    http://www.calvin.edu/worship/idis/theology/ntwright_sacraments.php

    I also believe that any argument which revolves around one key-verse (Luke) and discounts the rest of the Bible’s teaching on this subject as somehow inferior or not worth considering (as well as consequently implying that the key-verse from Luke itself isn’t worth considering!!!) is on very slippery ground indeed. I saw this kind of thing done with Phil Layton’s book, I saw similar weak arguments with the General’s lecture transcript in ‘The Officer’ magazine a few years ago. I think the only thing that has been proved by such works is that some in The Salvation Army like to simply gaze into the mirror at their own reflection, trying to guess that the world should be look like them rather than daring to spring open the windows and look out on a much rich, deeper landscape.
Craig on March 2nd, 2009

17. Very interesting reading.

    I have had many discussions about this with members of other curches, one in particular who almost bit my head off when I said we don’t do communion (as is practised by her church). Jesus said to do a lot of things, which is what Dion alluded to that as Christians (myself included) don’t always do.

    The report in Scripture does not have a set of directions, only to “do this in remembrance”. Considering how many directives were very explicitly set forth in the Old Testament (measurements, cloting, materials, etc.) this one verse seems to be a bit vague, therefore open to much more interpretation 2000 years later.

    I do agree that we are a sacramental Army, but in different ways than are traditionally accepted in other denominations. Unfortunately, many miss that, and make apologies for it.

    Deryck
Deryck N. Robertson on March 2nd, 2009

18. Hi,

    I know I’m late to this discussion - just saw it.

    When I was an Officer (and when asked since) I used to every Thursday before Easter put on a full ‘Seyder’ (Passover) feast and present at various points the Christian symblism etc. I used to invite the other churches to it as well. This is where the sacrament comes from. I would start by explaining the lead up to the Seyder, and then go though the seydar line by line in Hebrew then in English (as best I could) explaining what it meant to the Jews, and what it can mean to us. This was ALWAYS a revelation to those who participated - including those from staunchly sacremental denominations. many of them (and surprisingly often the priests) would come up to me and say they never fully understood the context of the sacrement and the meaning of it for us as Christians until that night. It’s one thing to talk about it accademically, it’s another entirely to participate in it.

    I must admit, my first year I had a lot of help with this. I had a number of friends who were Rabbis, and the wife of my CSM was a Jewess.

    The whole meal lasted a couple of hours, and the significance of the various parts of it - right down to how the lamb was cooked - was mind blowing. It still is for me everytime I think about it and I have led it quite a number of times.

    Theology can be so easily and profoundly explained through this. For me, it is something every Christian should partake in at least once, if for no other reason than to get a better - more accurate perspective of biblical ideas etc. It totally turns your head around on your understanding of your own faith as well.

    Yours in Christ,
    Graeme.
Graeme Randall on March 3rd, 2009

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