Holy Communion

With this past Sunday being World Communion Sunday, we looked back to some of the founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for their thoughts on communion.

In AD 54 a little community of believers at Corinth was urged by the apostle Paul to rekindle the spirit and essence of the supper instituted by Jesus. Paul’s compelling description of the Lord’s Supper enshrined it as the most sacred tradition of the church. In the late spring of 1811, a little community of believers at Brush run, urged by Thomas Campbell, rekindled the spirit and origin of the Lord’s Supper. As they sought to restore the essence of the New Testament church, the practice of holy communion became the central element of worship. Baptism is understood to be the starting point for the Christian journey, the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, is that rite that nourishes the disciple along their journey of faith. While baptism initiates one into the covenant community, when the community gathers at the (Communion) Table, the covenant is renewed. In our homes, the table is a place where the family gathers, but, in Christian community, it is also a place of hospitality where the nations are invited to share in table fellowship. Although this act of worship is called by a variety of names, each name helps define what happens at the Table. Thus, we gather to remember the life and ministry, the death and resurrection of Jesus, but we also gather to share in fellowship with Christ whose presence is revealed to us in breaking of bread (Luke 24:28-34). As Alexander Campbell affirms in a posting in the Millennial Harbinger near the end of his life: “In the Lord’s supper especially does God commune with his sons and daughters, and they with him. This, to the living Christian, is a banquet of love” (Compend of Alexander Campbell’s Theology, p. 186). Thus, this is not simply a somber meal of remembrance, but a joyous banquet. 

Rev. Jann Osborn