The Communion Experience

I was talking with a colleague recently and we had one interesting conversation. He was telling me how his church went about doing communion. He explained how they observe it, how many people are involved in setting it up, and how long it takes. I too, then shared how the congregation where I serve practices it and I opened up such a can of worms.

I explained that we call the congregation up to the front of the church (they usually stand in a line) and where we serve communion by intinction (whereby you dip a piece of bread into the juice, which is always grape juice, before consuming the bread), which is a great way to do it and doesn't take nearly as long as passing it out on trays to the congregation in the pews. My friend thought that this was cool and this didn't bother my friend. I explained that we always recite responsively the communion liturgy together; my friend thought that was cool and this didn't bother him either. I explained that sometimes we gather around the communion table in a circle and I sometimes pass the bread while I go around holding the chalice. My friend thought that'd never work in his congregation but that was cool too.

I then explained that we offer an open communion table. I saw his eyebrow raise. I also said that during our invitation of the communion liturgy, I say,

"We have an open communion table whereby everyone is invited to participate with us in our communion experience. Regardless of the faith tradition you come with, we welcome you. It doesn't matter if you are a member of another United Church of Christ, or a member of another denomination. It doesn't even matter if you are Agnostic or an Athiest. You are welcome here. However, if you are a Christian, this meal means something special and we invite you to join with us as we break the bread and drink from the cup that Christ gives."

My friend freaked. He couldn't understand how we could allow "anyone" to participate in the meal. In his tradition, communion is reserved only for Christians and particularly members of his faith tradition. I explained that Jesus didn't exclude anyone and neither do we. I also said that the communion meal is an experience of our community as much as it is to the person who comes forward. How they interpret it personally is up to them--how our fellowship participates means that we want to invite everyone to celebrate life with us.

I am glad to be a member of the United Church of Christ that continually professes that, "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here." Our congregation does that over and over and over again. It's a message that needs to be told and retold--so that we never forget and those who worship with us can finally believe it (some are so stunned at first, that we have to say it over and over).

What do you think about an open communion table? Please share your thoughts, if you'd like. Even if we don't agree- it'd be nice to talk about it.