Friday, 28 August 2009
Monday, 24 August 2009
Monday, 29 June 2009
The best I can do today - Children at Communion 705 words!
Children at Communion
Since Jesus said broke the bread and shared the wine saying ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ a bewildering array of different practices, customs and traditions have developed across the world for services of Holy Communion, Eucharist, Mass or the Lord’s Supper?
Should we use leaven or unleavened bread, a common cup or individual cups, who presides, what clothes should be won, where and how should it be done, who is allowed to receive what… and are children allowed to receive.
We might observe that Jesus could have made his intention much clearer… but in his wisdom chose not to do so.
The present debate began around 1950… when parishes started adopting Holy Communion as the regular pattern for Sunday worship. There have been conferences, reports and trials on welcoming children to Communion and parishes can opt to communicate children.
The question about children receiving isn’t one that some churches ever ask: churches where children have always been admitted to Communion on the same terms as adults.
‘The Last Supper’ was a celebration of the Passover… a celebration in which children would have shared. Exodus 12 says: ‘The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.’ And that those present at the Last Supper would, therefore, have understood the bread and the wine to be for children as well as for adults.
Many churches bless children when they come to the rail… others think it is more inclusive to give children a sweet or a grape… others would ask why? What is it about the bread and wine that makes it suitable for adults but unsuitable for children?
What are the sacraments signs of… belief, belonging or both. Many would say that baptism and Communion go together: baptism is said to be sign of ‘beginning to belong’ and Communion is the sign of ‘being in belonging’.
Whether baptized as an infant or as an adult… there is only one baptism… it isn’t something we do to ourselves… it is a means of grace done for us. If there is no difference… where is the logic in denying family members a share in the family meal? It amounts, some would say, to ex-communication! At the Youth Pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral on Easter Monday children were allowed to receive… what made that day suitable for healing and not others?
Is the desire to include children is merely pandering to social trends… where so many things are now considered family activities? Some would argue that children don’t understand… and there is a caution in 1 Corinthians 11:29 ‘anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.’ Others would ask: who does fully understand.
At infant baptism whose faith is at work: the faith of the infant, parents, god-parents, congregation, priest or Jesus Christ? What is different at Communion?
If children can receive… what is the role of confirmation? It is not a new question! Some would answer that instruction is still required and confirmation can mark the transition from relying on the promises said on your behalf as an infant to affirming the promises for yourself.
Some suggest children should wait until they are able to begin to understand the concept. Others note that conceptual thinking isn’t the same as spiritual development… and that trust develops at a very early age… is any age too early to learn trust at the Lord’s table?
Some would suggest that the ritual is important… that it is like a dinner party with the best china and it’s inappropriate for children to be present. Others would say that attitude is based on the presumption that Communion but it should be more like a Christmas meal… a meal for everyone in the family.
Some say that children joining the service at the Peace haven’t prepared properly for Communion. Others would respond that it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to think those things could be done in the children’s groups.
It isn’t hard to conceive of complex circumstances: If a Christian family takes their child’s best friend along should the un-baptized best friend be allow to receive?
Who would Jesus welcome to his table? Who will feast at the banquet in heaven?
Since Jesus said broke the bread and shared the wine saying ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ a bewildering array of different practices, customs and traditions have developed across the world for services of Holy Communion, Eucharist, Mass or the Lord’s Supper?
Should we use leaven or unleavened bread, a common cup or individual cups, who presides, what clothes should be won, where and how should it be done, who is allowed to receive what… and are children allowed to receive.
We might observe that Jesus could have made his intention much clearer… but in his wisdom chose not to do so.
The present debate began around 1950… when parishes started adopting Holy Communion as the regular pattern for Sunday worship. There have been conferences, reports and trials on welcoming children to Communion and parishes can opt to communicate children.
The question about children receiving isn’t one that some churches ever ask: churches where children have always been admitted to Communion on the same terms as adults.
‘The Last Supper’ was a celebration of the Passover… a celebration in which children would have shared. Exodus 12 says: ‘The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.’ And that those present at the Last Supper would, therefore, have understood the bread and the wine to be for children as well as for adults.
Many churches bless children when they come to the rail… others think it is more inclusive to give children a sweet or a grape… others would ask why? What is it about the bread and wine that makes it suitable for adults but unsuitable for children?
What are the sacraments signs of… belief, belonging or both. Many would say that baptism and Communion go together: baptism is said to be sign of ‘beginning to belong’ and Communion is the sign of ‘being in belonging’.
Whether baptized as an infant or as an adult… there is only one baptism… it isn’t something we do to ourselves… it is a means of grace done for us. If there is no difference… where is the logic in denying family members a share in the family meal? It amounts, some would say, to ex-communication! At the Youth Pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral on Easter Monday children were allowed to receive… what made that day suitable for healing and not others?
Is the desire to include children is merely pandering to social trends… where so many things are now considered family activities? Some would argue that children don’t understand… and there is a caution in 1 Corinthians 11:29 ‘anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.’ Others would ask: who does fully understand.
At infant baptism whose faith is at work: the faith of the infant, parents, god-parents, congregation, priest or Jesus Christ? What is different at Communion?
If children can receive… what is the role of confirmation? It is not a new question! Some would answer that instruction is still required and confirmation can mark the transition from relying on the promises said on your behalf as an infant to affirming the promises for yourself.
Some suggest children should wait until they are able to begin to understand the concept. Others note that conceptual thinking isn’t the same as spiritual development… and that trust develops at a very early age… is any age too early to learn trust at the Lord’s table?
Some would suggest that the ritual is important… that it is like a dinner party with the best china and it’s inappropriate for children to be present. Others would say that attitude is based on the presumption that Communion but it should be more like a Christmas meal… a meal for everyone in the family.
Some say that children joining the service at the Peace haven’t prepared properly for Communion. Others would respond that it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to think those things could be done in the children’s groups.
It isn’t hard to conceive of complex circumstances: If a Christian family takes their child’s best friend along should the un-baptized best friend be allow to receive?
Who would Jesus welcome to his table? Who will feast at the banquet in heaven?
Considered but beyond the scope of this presentation
History of Communion
The effect on our ecumenical partners
Fuller discussion of Baptism
Fuller discussion of Confirmation
The effect on our ecumenical partners
Fuller discussion of Baptism
Fuller discussion of Confirmation
Thursday, 25 June 2009
My invite to the blog just arrived and I'm here.
Have tried to post a video - but don't seem able to (I literally feel like someone's granny!!)
If all else fails, I shall bring it on a memory stick on wednesday, with some photos of church@4.
Also to follow, some bullet points for an outline of the context and issues we face at church@4 - as a way in to posing the questions/challenges for the project.
The intro stuff looks brilliant.
Hope everyone well - so sorry to not be with you last time. See you all wednesday.
Kx
Have tried to post a video - but don't seem able to (I literally feel like someone's granny!!)
If all else fails, I shall bring it on a memory stick on wednesday, with some photos of church@4.
Also to follow, some bullet points for an outline of the context and issues we face at church@4 - as a way in to posing the questions/challenges for the project.
The intro stuff looks brilliant.
Hope everyone well - so sorry to not be with you last time. See you all wednesday.
Kx
Intro
Fresh Expressions and the Eucharist in a cultural context.
In this second year of curacy, mission is our focus, and the subject matter for our presentation came about from issues that have risen in personal experience. In particular, the potential crunch points of how and if the Eucharist and Fresh Expressions can live in harmony. We will show with reference to a specific case study and two other incidences what issues have arisen, we will examine them biblically, and then suggest some potential solutions - and what other practitioners in this area are doing and saying in this context. We acknowledge that there will still be questions left open at the end of the presentation - not least of which in areas which we realise that this subject touches on but we have put outside the remit of this presentation.
We want to begin by stating how we define the terms we will be using.
What is mission?
The late South African Theologian David Bosch suggests that ‘the Christian faith is intrinsically missionary,’ yet he refuses to define ‘mission’ within too narrow a confine. Primarily he considers that the missio Dei is rooted in the ‘dynamic relationship between God and the world’ and within the reality of the Incarnation. If we are willing to accept this premise, we will then be working with the widest possible definition of Mission.
Mission is the revealing of God’s action and activity in the world, and as such it must be in Bosch’s phrase ‘multi-dimensional’.
What is the Eucharist?
There is an increasing recognition across the denominations that the Eucharist is the distinctive worshipping event for the Christian Church. Its central elements of bread broken and wine poured out witness powerfully to the reality of the human condition, and the incarnate love of Christ. Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper no.111 from the World Council of Churches identifies a number of characteristics of the Eucharist
The Eucharist as Thanksgiving to the Father
The Eucharist as Anamnesis or Memorial of Christ
The Eucharist as Invocation of the Spirit
The Eucharist as Communion of the Faithful
The Eucharist as Meal of the Kingdom
It is within this description that we place the Eucharist.
What is church?
The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines church as ‘the community of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. In the New Testament it is used in a limited sense for local communities and in a universal sense for all believers.” In the Anglican context, whilst agreeing with the Westminster Dictionary definition, for a church in the local community sense to be described correctly as church, it needs to be sacramental, in particular offering baptism and regular Eucharist. If there is no sacramental ministry, it could be argues that it is simply a group of Christians meeting to encourage each other - as Mike Volland of the Fresh Expression FEIG community in Gloucester says, there’s nothing wrong with that but it falls a little short of a fully orbed 'church'. Rowan Williams suggests that church is an event - a calling together, and when this calling together has happened, what follows is a set of acts and words that get us walking in step with Jesus. We pray his prayers, live his life, not as a matter of historical reconstruction but as a kind of singing in tune with his eternal relation with his Father. The sacraments of the Church are not there as mysterious rituals to deepen our sense of of group identity - though of course they do that among other things. They are there to us what story it is that defines the shape of our world, and to take us further on our journey, on our following out the Son’s journey. Something is needed to anchor what we are doing in what God is doing - in the event that is God’s actions, not ours. And the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, that I mentioned earlier, simply announce that here, as church, something is being done that isn’t our work.
What are Fresh Expressions:-
The official description of ‘fresh expressions” by the Fresh Expressions group is
"a form of church for our changing culture established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church.
• It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples.
It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context.”
Fresh Expressions of church have been described as being characterised by an absence of formal adherence to traditional patterns of church life, language, liturgy and places in which to meet. The movement is an attempt to make the Christian message relevant to people who are not already part of an established, or mature, expression of church. The people who are members of fresh expression groups seek to re-interpret what it is to be church and aim to create new ways of connecting with the communities among whom they live or work or socialise. The 2007 statistical returns from the Church of England reveal that several tens of thousands of people are involved in such groups attached to the Church of England.
However, The difficulty with what we have come to call ‘fresh expressions of church’ is that we may be ready only to dress up old structures in new clothes, calling ourselves Café Church or the New Monasticism, or Alternative Church but never really engaging with the changed realities which face us.
Within the limits of this presentation, we intend to confine our discussions very firmly within a particular context, a very real context. How would a Mission-shaped Eucharist ‘work’ in an informal and recently established church-plant, meeting in a local school, and with a worshipping congregation of people who are relatively new to the Christian faith?
In this second year of curacy, mission is our focus, and the subject matter for our presentation came about from issues that have risen in personal experience. In particular, the potential crunch points of how and if the Eucharist and Fresh Expressions can live in harmony. We will show with reference to a specific case study and two other incidences what issues have arisen, we will examine them biblically, and then suggest some potential solutions - and what other practitioners in this area are doing and saying in this context. We acknowledge that there will still be questions left open at the end of the presentation - not least of which in areas which we realise that this subject touches on but we have put outside the remit of this presentation.
We want to begin by stating how we define the terms we will be using.
What is mission?
The late South African Theologian David Bosch suggests that ‘the Christian faith is intrinsically missionary,’ yet he refuses to define ‘mission’ within too narrow a confine. Primarily he considers that the missio Dei is rooted in the ‘dynamic relationship between God and the world’ and within the reality of the Incarnation. If we are willing to accept this premise, we will then be working with the widest possible definition of Mission.
Mission is the revealing of God’s action and activity in the world, and as such it must be in Bosch’s phrase ‘multi-dimensional’.
What is the Eucharist?
There is an increasing recognition across the denominations that the Eucharist is the distinctive worshipping event for the Christian Church. Its central elements of bread broken and wine poured out witness powerfully to the reality of the human condition, and the incarnate love of Christ. Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper no.111 from the World Council of Churches identifies a number of characteristics of the Eucharist
The Eucharist as Thanksgiving to the Father
The Eucharist as Anamnesis or Memorial of Christ
The Eucharist as Invocation of the Spirit
The Eucharist as Communion of the Faithful
The Eucharist as Meal of the Kingdom
It is within this description that we place the Eucharist.
What is church?
The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines church as ‘the community of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. In the New Testament it is used in a limited sense for local communities and in a universal sense for all believers.” In the Anglican context, whilst agreeing with the Westminster Dictionary definition, for a church in the local community sense to be described correctly as church, it needs to be sacramental, in particular offering baptism and regular Eucharist. If there is no sacramental ministry, it could be argues that it is simply a group of Christians meeting to encourage each other - as Mike Volland of the Fresh Expression FEIG community in Gloucester says, there’s nothing wrong with that but it falls a little short of a fully orbed 'church'. Rowan Williams suggests that church is an event - a calling together, and when this calling together has happened, what follows is a set of acts and words that get us walking in step with Jesus. We pray his prayers, live his life, not as a matter of historical reconstruction but as a kind of singing in tune with his eternal relation with his Father. The sacraments of the Church are not there as mysterious rituals to deepen our sense of of group identity - though of course they do that among other things. They are there to us what story it is that defines the shape of our world, and to take us further on our journey, on our following out the Son’s journey. Something is needed to anchor what we are doing in what God is doing - in the event that is God’s actions, not ours. And the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, that I mentioned earlier, simply announce that here, as church, something is being done that isn’t our work.
What are Fresh Expressions:-
The official description of ‘fresh expressions” by the Fresh Expressions group is
"a form of church for our changing culture established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church.
• It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples.
It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context.”
Fresh Expressions of church have been described as being characterised by an absence of formal adherence to traditional patterns of church life, language, liturgy and places in which to meet. The movement is an attempt to make the Christian message relevant to people who are not already part of an established, or mature, expression of church. The people who are members of fresh expression groups seek to re-interpret what it is to be church and aim to create new ways of connecting with the communities among whom they live or work or socialise. The 2007 statistical returns from the Church of England reveal that several tens of thousands of people are involved in such groups attached to the Church of England.
However, The difficulty with what we have come to call ‘fresh expressions of church’ is that we may be ready only to dress up old structures in new clothes, calling ourselves Café Church or the New Monasticism, or Alternative Church but never really engaging with the changed realities which face us.
Within the limits of this presentation, we intend to confine our discussions very firmly within a particular context, a very real context. How would a Mission-shaped Eucharist ‘work’ in an informal and recently established church-plant, meeting in a local school, and with a worshipping congregation of people who are relatively new to the Christian faith?
An Aside
As an aside, and it may be worth including as an example of how awkward things can get if legality takes preference over everything else, this was the tongue firmly in cheek suggestion from one poster on Ship-of-fools in reference to the invitation to communion
Draw near with faith, members of the Church of England who have been confirmed in accordance with the rites of that Church or are ready and desirous to be so confirmed or who have been otherwise episcopally confirmed with unction or with the laying on of hands except as provided by Canon B16 [sc. notorious offenders]; baptized persons who are communicant members of other Churches which subscribe to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and who are in good standing in their own Church; any other baptized persons authorized to be admitted under regulations of the General Synod; and any baptized person in immediate danger of death (you may receive communion in your pew). Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which he gave for you, and his blood which he shed for you.
Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.
Anyone else is welcome to come forward for a blessing.
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