What about Communion?
If it wasn’t for the Pandemic, many of us would gather tonight to retell the story of the last supper (Jesus washing the disciples’ feet; sharing bread and wine; and then heading out to the Garden to pray ) in an interactive communion service, featuring foot/hand washing, communion, and then a silent vigil.
We’d then meet again, around a newly kindled campfire, on Easter morning, to hear the final part of the Easter Story, and to share bread and wine warmed on the fire.
While we cannot do these things in person this year, we have taken the essence of these gatherings, and put them online.
We come from different traditions here at Pathfinder Church. For those of us with an Anglican Background, physical bread and wine, consecrated and shared in person, doesn’t translate easily to online worship. But The Book of Common Prayer invites us to join in Spiritual Communion, affirming that if we offer ourselves in penitence and faith, giving thanks for the redemption won by Christ crucified, we may truly ‘eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ’, although we cannot receive the sacrament physically in ourselves.
For those coming from other traditions, it may be that the retelling of the story is key, and online participation with bread and wine is something your denomination is facilitating. As always, we encourage you to hold onto the practices that have shaped you, and to join in with what we offer however appropriate, confident that God can act in ways that far exceed our normal human expectations.
