Many thanks for Bill Tammeus’ column, “Sunday soteriology” (January 25). I agree with him completely about weekly Communion because of my recent service as Interim Pastor of Firelands Presbyterian Church in Port Clinton, Ohio.
A number of years ago that congregation, under the leadership of the Rev. Robert Butcher, began the practice of weekly Communion. They worked very carefully to help everyone understand why the Lord’s Supper should be a regular part of Sunday worship. Most members (but not all) accepted the change when it was begun. When I was interviewed for the interim position the search committee made it very clear to me that I was expected to continue that practice. I did, although I think I changed some of the ways it was carried out.
It was a challenge to me to plan for “Communion every Sunday” after nearly 40 years of celebrating it, at most, monthly. One of the issues was the length of my sermons and other parts of the service, but the congregation often assured me they didn’t mind going “a little over.” Even when we went “a lot over” they did not complain too much.
Weekly Communion requires many people’s involvement. Count how many are needed on the occasional Sundays your church probably celebrates it. But with thoughtful organization and oversight, and a willingness to be flexible, it can be done. And who can argue with the high level of regular worship attendance it encourages?
A drawback is that visitors may be taken by surprise because they don’t expect it in a Presbyterian Church. “Every Sunday is Communion Sunday” is not a Presbyterian habit, and I think Firelands Church has lost some potential new members over the years because of its practice. But the gains have been enormous. In combining regular Communion with intentional spiritual development and with vital mission commitment, Firelands Church has become the kind of church community many long to experience.
Moreover, the blessings for this minister were great and numerous. I came to rely on the fact that I was not alone up front, with not just one “reader,” but also with a significant representation of the saints leading the people in sacramental worship. It was very humbling as well as exhilarating to know that when I came to church many others would be there to lead worship with me.
Another large blessing for me came in how Communion each Sunday put my sermon and everything else I had said into perspective. If my words had been too divisive, too condemning, too self-righteous, too silly, too topical, too easy, too vague, too mushy, too predictable, too anything, our sharing the bread and wine somehow put them all in context and helped all of us – beginning with me – remember that despite what I may have said, we were still the body of Christ. Gathering around the table at his invitation often said what I had not said, to me and I suspect to the congregation as well. What we did each week at the Lord’s Table blessed me in ways the congregation hardly knew. Sometimes it was the blessing of forgiveness.
In my comments before Western Reserve Presbytery when I returned home, I shared that I knew I would miss weekly Communion. I was invited to consider worshipping at a church that celebrates Communion at an early service each Sunday. I am glad they do that, but I think all of us need to be able to celebrate it all the time. That is gospel.
K. Dean Myers
Orange Village, OH
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