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The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist 1

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The Presence of Christ in the Eucharist 1 THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST 1 International Commission for Dialogue Between Disciples of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church Indianapolis, Indiana, USA December 6, 2005 William Tabbernee Disciples of Christ The Disciples of Christ constitutes a prime example of the denominations which sprang up on the North American frontier soon after the founding of the United States. Today there are 3,000,000 Disciples of Christ members world wide 2 or twice this number if including the various churches which have the same historic roots but have united with other churches or have an independent organization. Early Disciples leaders did not set out to establish another church. To the contrary, they believed they were involved in a “second Reformation,” a “Restoration” of the essence of Christianity which the church had lost since New Testament times and not fully recovered through the Reformation. Naively, but passionately, they argued that restoring “New Testament Christianity” would result both in Christian unity and in successful evangelization. According to them, Christian disunity must have a cause and Christian unity must have a plan to overcome the Churches’ disunity. The failure of the churches to continue to live in accordance with the “pattern” for Christian faith and practice as set out in the New Testament was the cause of their disunity. The plan for bringing about Christian unity was (simply!) to restore the New Testament pattern of Christian faith and practice which, once restored, would be so obvious that all churches would unite on its basis. In turn, Christianity united on the basis of the New Testament would be so compelling that non-Christians, too, would confess Christ. 3 The common thread binding together the goals of restoration, Christian unity, and evangelization was the emphasis on the importance of the Eucharist for Christian life and witness by each of the early leaders of the movement. They “restored” the Eucharist to its central place in Christian worship by celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, rather than monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually as practiced by the Protestant denominations from which they dissented. Weekly Eucharist and the great emphasis placed on this sacrament has remained one of the distinctive characteristics of the Disciples of Christ. The formal union in 1832 between two groups of North-American Christians marks the founding of the Disciples of Christ, although various roots of the Disciples movement predates the year 1800. The men who led their respective groups into union at Lexington, Kentucky, on January 1, 1832, were Barton Warren Stone (1772–1844) and Thomas (1763–1854) and Alexander Campbell (1788–1866). Each, during the process of leaving the Presbyterian Church, had been confronted with significant issues relating to the Eucharist, ultimately motivating them to ensure that the church they were restoring made the Eucharist central to its life and witness. Significantly, the historic union meeting in Lexington concluded with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Barton Warren Stone Barton Stone 4 was ordained in 1798. In the same year, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian . Church in North America called its churches to set aside time for fasting, repentance, and prayer in order to redeem the frontier from what it perceived to be its sinful condition. In response, these churches arranged annual “camp meetings.” Many attendees traveled considerable distances and were accommodated in tents. Saturdays were devoted to fasting and prayer in small groups. Sermons were preached on Saturday evenings by visiting evangelists and on the next morning by local clergy. The focus of the camp meetings, however, was on the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on the Sunday, and these retreats became known as “Communions.” Only those with “communion tokens” (declaring their “worthiness to partake”) could actually receive communion. For most, it was the only time in the year that they did. During 1800, a fervent revivalism spread through the camp meetings. B.W. Stone organized one at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in August, 1801. 5 This became the largest and most famous of all such meetings. It is estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 attended, 1,000 to 3,000 were converted, and 800 to 1,000 received communion. All of the latter were Presbyterians with communion tokens. Hundreds of Methodists or Baptists, who were also present, had to be content with (non- eucharistic) prayer and hymn-services conducted by their own clergy. That the thousands of people who were united spiritually by their common experience of religious revival during a camp meeting known as “The Communion” at Cane Ridge in 1801 could not be united around the Lord’s Table at that same meeting made a profound impression on Stone. Within three years, he and some of the other Presbyterian ministers present had formed a separate presbytery. Soon they dissolved even that presbytery. To Stone and his fellow ministers, the recent revivals were evidence that God was the God of all Christians, that divisions among Christians were sinful, and that they were participating in a period of history which would see the whole world converted to Christ and the Church united. Henceforth, the congregations which Stone and his colleagues served would be known only as “Christian” churches. They would practice a simple, Bible-based Christianity, and, unlike at Cane Ridge, they would not exclude any baptized Christian from receiving communion. Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell belonged to the Anti-Burgher, Seceder, Presbyterian Church. He, like Stone, was ordained in 1798. While ministering in his native Northern Ireland, he tried to promote unity among the various divisions of his church, both branches of which had in 1799 split further into “Old Lights” and “New Lights.” In 1807, he emigrated to North America. Campbell arrived in Pittsburgh in 1807 and was appointed by the Seceder Associate Synod of North America to serve churches in S.W. Pennsylvania. Within a year, however, he was charged with teaching that there was no warrant for insisting that people subscribe to all items of denominational “creeds” before being admitted to communion. During his heresy trial, he argued that nothing should be made a term of communion which is not as old as the New Testament. According to Campbell, post-Reformation summaries of Christian doctrine and ecclesial practice, such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, were useful teaching documents, but they should not fence in the Lord’s Table. 6 Not surprisingly, Campbell was formally deposed as a minister of the Seceder Presbyterian Church in April, 1810, and his authority to administer the sacraments revoked. He subsequently applied to the Pittsburgh Synod of the main Presbyterian Church for ordained ministerial standing, but his application was rejected. On May 4, 1811, the Christian Association of Washington, originally a non-ecclesial society organized to promote Christian unity, constituted itself a church with Thomas Campbell as elder. The next day being Sunday, the newly-formed “Christian” (rather than “Presbyterian”) congregation celebrated the Lord’s Supper. Seeking to practice and model New Testament Christianity, they partook of the Lord’s Supper weekly thenceforth. Alexander Campbell Alexander Campbell, his mother, and Alexander’s six younger siblings had been reunited with Thomas Campbell for only a little more than eighteen months when Alexander was licensed to preach by the newly established church. The congregation quickly built a “meeting house” at Brush Run, Pennsylvania, and it was there that Alexander was ordained on New Year’s Day, 1812. On the voyage to North America to join Thomas Campbell, the family had been shipwrecked off the coast of Scotland. This interrupted their journey for almost a year during which Alexander studied at Glasgow University. His ministerial education was continued in Pennsylvania under the direction of his father. In time, Alexander would become the intellectual leader of the new movement. His Christian System contains a well argued case for the Disciples’ practice of “breaking the loaf” at each Sunday worship. 7 Alexander’s own views on the matter were formulated not only by his father’s stand against unwarranted tests of fellowship as prerequisites for communion but by two experiences during his time in Glasgow. Following their shipwreck, the Campbells had received hospitality from Greville Ewing (1767–1841), a former Presbyterian minister in charge of a seminary established by Robert (1764–1842) and James Haldane (1768–1851). The Haldanes were also former Presbyterians who had formed independent churches. They promoted congregational autonomy and weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper as required by New Testament precedent. James Haldane’s then recently published book, A View of the Social Worship and Ordinances Observed by the First Christians ,8 which Alexander Campbell read and discussed with Ewing, made a great impression on the young student. The second experience occurred toward the end of Alexander Campbell’s stay in Glasgow. This experience further influenced Alexander’s views on the Eucharist. At the time of the regular, quarterly “communion season” of the Anti-burgher Seceder Presbyterian Church, he had attended the compulsory preparatory services, been examined and “found worthy,” and had received his communion token. At the communion service itself, when it came time to receive the sacrament, he held back until the last moment before going forward only to deposit his metal token and withdraw without partaking of the elements. Thus, he silently protested against what he had come to view as unbiblical and unnecessarily complicated restrictions placed on participation in the Lord’s Supper. Disciples’ Understanding of the Eucharist Although Alexander Campbell frequently emphasized the commemorative aspect of the Lord’s Supper, 9 Disciples, from very early in the movement, have also stressed that the Lord’s Supper is far more than a memorial.
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