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?
Monday, 29 June 2009
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.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Responses
With one more to come following a phone conversation I hope to have tomorrow, these are the responses to our 4 questions from 3 Fresh expressions practioners.
Does an Anglican fresh expression need to be celebrating the
Eucharist to be Anglican?
Eucharist within a fresh expression?
developing your own?
Does an Anglican fresh expression need to be celebrating the
Eucharist to be Anglican?
- Yes eventually -but I would say it needs to be having communion and baptism to be a church. This does not mean a fresh expression has to be doing this from day one but eventually to be fully fledged churches it would need to be having the sacraments.
- The authentic mark of any Christian Community is the celebration of the Eucharist, whether established or emergent. However, not necessarily all the time (although at ****** it is our primary reason for existing)
- Yes. Absolutely. Well, if it is to be church, at any rate. If there is no sacramental ministry, one could argue that it is simply a group of Christians meeting to encourage each other - nothing wrong with that but it falls a little short of a fully orbed 'church'.
Eucharist within a fresh expression?
- Making it accessible to people liturgically and in practice, making it inclusive while being aware that it can be done in a dishonouring way.Wesleys view of communion as an converting ordinance, Communion for children. It's worth looking at some chapters in Mission shaped questions and Mass Culture by Pete Ward and new fresh expressions in the sacramental tradition.
- To be authentic to the community from which it springs and to be authentic to the tradition and continuity. The Mass is a unique missionary tool and a wonderful opportunity to explore a Gospel of inclusion and engagement
- he Eucharist is stuffed full of evangelistic possibility. To ignore this is tragic. In a culture that is very competent at reading signs and symbols it is sheer stupidity for the church to miss the opportunity for evangelistic engagement and genuine transformation offered by encouraging people to be regularly engaged in a eucharist. if you want to grow your church celebrate the eucharist regularly (and creatively) The challenge is in the creativity and in genuinely including everyone in the prep.
- passed on question
- I don't give a stuff about legality: I celebrate the Mass with dignity, authenticity and validity. The restrictions of Common Worship are nonsense. FE Round Table 5 is currently exploring with the Liturgical Commission the possibilities of a much freer liturgy based upon shape and rubric rather than words. The toolkit that was intended in Common Worship has become a straightjacket and Order Three needs to allow much more creativity by specifying the essential elements (epiclesis, institution, anaphora) rather than the actual words used. This is why "A Service of the Word with Holy Communion" is an inadequate legal solution. The Liturgical Commission and the HOB are a bit Pharisaical on this really.
- You need a bishop who holds in creative tension an understanding of the reality of the missional situation we face in the UK and who also has a high regard for Anglican sacramental ministry. Such bishops are rare but they do exist (we have one in ******) They give permission and remind us of the importance of what we are doing..
developing your own?
- Not really at present but the liturgical commission are working on it
- And why do you think someone else has to do it for you? For goodness sake, get out there and be creative! A Fresh Expression is not the pulling of a stock resouce from a shelf (Alpha course, anyone?), but an exercise in inculturation, in responding to the needs of your community and not the setting up of another boring cafe church - this is Fresh Expression without thinking. ******** springs from working with young people, who then sought to find spiritual expression in "that good stuff you do with the bread and the wine, Farv" where it meets the MTV generation. If you think that other people's resources make a Fresh Expression, then you need to go back to reading "Mission-shaped Church".
- pioneers have to do their own digging. common worship and BCP are good starting places. its all about context. music, setting, etc etc. there are stacks of resources. you have to go and find them...
Thursday, 18 June 2009
opening slide talky bit first try, what is church blurb needs a little bit more.
Fresh Expressions and the Eucharist in a cultural context:
Introduction
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.
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 regular Eucharist.
Fresh Expressions and the Eucharist in a cultural context:
Introduction
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.
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 regular Eucharist.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Evangelistic Eucharist.
This Pioneer minister at St Michael Le Belfry is doing some stuff we may find relevant.
http://selvaratnam.org/2007/01/16/evangelistic-eucharist/
http://selvaratnam.org/2007/01/16/evangelistic-eucharist/
Monday, 1 June 2009
Notes from discussion on 6th May 2009
We may want to have just one (or two) presenters – to keep it more slick and together and less disjointed. Simon (in his absence!) was suggested.
We’re going to frame the presentation in terms of a ‘mind map’ with the context/case study at the centre, with satellite issues & questions branching off. At the beginning, we also need to define terms at beginning and say what we’re including and what we’re leaving out. (definitions from Ren on eucharist in James White p213 (World Council of Churches); def of ‘fresh expression’ from Stephen Croft p9 in mission shaped questions book)
We feel like we’re pointing at the elephant in the room!!! Are we asking the questions that “the church” would rather we weren’t asking?
Our starting point is the case study of Church@4 and the quote from Bishop Graham “For any fresh expression to be Anglican it must be Eucharistic”
Our ‘end point’ could be to pose the two big questions: Who presides? Who receives? (PLUS: Where are the liturgical tools?)
Allan is going to look at: Acts 15 – the church facing a problem it hadn’t encountered before. Link this in with p33 in mission shaped church questions and quotes on ‘playing fast and loose’ with canons. Also include video clip from tubestation and the challenges they face.
“Find out what God is doing and join in”
Kathryn: Set the scene. Some pictures and some video and background and challenges faced by Church@4. Also to chase up Graham Cray for an interview. Also to sort out video from tubestation.
Luke: Who receives? What happens with children receiving before communion? Bring in the ‘fudge’ of the arch bishop and the Easter Monday Youth Pilgrimage.
Ren: begin working on the introduction – to define terms of reference / scope & structure of project and to then define terminology
Remember: Importance of linking back each section into the context of case study and beginning from it – to show how each ‘section’ derives from case study and feed back into it
Questions to ask Bishop Graham (and possibly George Lings and Mark Rusell)
· Does an Anglican fresh expression need to be celebrating the Eucharist to be Anglican
· What are the challenges & opportunities faced when celebrating the Eucharist within a fresh expression? How can clergy work ‘legally’ – what are the challenges?
· Can you give us any examples of a Fresh Expressions that have successfully introduced the Eucharist?
· How are the FX team (or anyone else) resourcing churches with appropriate liturgies or tools to develop their own?
Continuation of planning on 20th May
Order of Presentation:
- Intro
- Case study of Church@4 – background & issues
- Pose the problems more universally
- Acts 15
- Look at tubestations probs
- Easter mon youth pilgrimage
- Children at communion
- Graham Cray et al.
- Concl. – we’re left with wider questions to explore
Out of this and running throughout , are some common ‘threads’ of questions which will emerge as our conclusion (we’ll refer to these during)
For the next KCME we’ll each come having done what’s agreed (above)
Simon will work on putting it all together.
We might hand out some fudge bars!!!
_____________________________________________
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