As we approach Holy Week, and specifically Maundy Thursday, I thought it would be time to talk about Communion at Neffsville. Some of you may have noticed that we have been celebrating Communion a little more often than in the past. In fact, we have partaken of the bread and the cup seven times in each of the past two years. This slight uptick in frequency is in sharp contrast, particularly to a couple of years ago, when, largely because of the pandemic, we rarely celebrated Communion at all. The increased frequency is also intentional, as the hope is to make Communion more of a staple of our worship life, as opposed to an occasional event. I have received feedback from some people stating that they are concerned that the increased frequency will lead to Communion losing its meaning and being less “special”. This is understandable given the history of Communion within the Mennonite church, particularly here at Neffsville.

There was a time when Communion at NMC was always paired with the ritual of Foot-washing. These two acts were inextricably linked. At that time, Communion was observed only twice a year. Sometime over the past 50 years, however, those two acts were separated, and we only observe Foot-washing now once a year on Maundy Thursday (except for the COVID years). At some point, the church settled upon the schedule of celebrating Communion four times a year: Maundy Thursday, 1^st Sunday in October (World Communion Sunday), and two other times a year.

Of course, the notion of partaking of the bread and the cup four times a year would have been absurd to our brothers and sisters in the first millennium of the church. That is because for most of the first 1500 years of the Christian church, Communion was THE WAY Christians responded to the hearing of the word of God in worship. They responded to hearing from Jesus by remembering his sacrifice through the sacred act, symbolically taking his body and blood. It was also the place in worship where the presence of God was most acutely experienced. As the climax of the worship service shifted after the Protestant Reformation from Communion to the preached word of God, the frequency and, in some cases, the importance of Communion diminished greatly. For both practical and theological reasons, Communion observance varied in the Protestant church from weekly, to once a month, to once a quarter, or even only once a year. Today, most Mennonite churches celebrate anywhere from once a quarter to once a month.

I believe a strong case can be made for us to recapture the intent of the early church, regarding Communion as a common, essential way to respond to the word of God. I am not suggesting that we observe weekly. However, I do suggest that if we are intentional about how we observe this sacred act, we can do so both with greater frequency AND increased meaning. This can be done by broadening our understanding of Communion through the four terms used throughout the church for it: The Eucharist, The Table, Communion, and The Lord’s Supper. Each of these terms invoke a different meaning and focus, an idea I first encountered through pastor, professor, and author Dr. Constance Cherry.

The word “Eucharist” means “Thanksgiving”. It recalls Paul’s words in I Cor. 10:16-17, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” Using the term “The Table” harkens back to the Parable of the Banquet in Luke 14, to which we are all invited to feast with our Lord, Jesus Christ. The word “Communion”, a term only found in King James Version of the bible in relation to the sacred act (I Cor. 10:16), reminds us that we partake in this sacred act together as a body. Finally, “The Lord’s Supper” recalls Paul in I Cor. 11 when he quotes Jesus in the Upper Room with his disciples in John 13, as we remember Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for our us. I believe that if we can observe Communion with the understanding of these four different themes, our worship will be enriched and deepened, no matter how often we partake.