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This Holy Mystery: a United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion Was Adopted by the 2004 General Conference of the United Methodist Church

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This Holy Mystery: a United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion Was Adopted by the 2004 General Conference of the United Methodist Church This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion was adopted by the 2004 General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Copyright © 2003, 2004 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. This paper may be printed, copied, distributed, or otherwise used for nonprofit education by individuals, local congregations, and agencies of The United Methodist Church with the inclusion of the copyright citation. It may not be used for profit or republication without prior permission. This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion Table of Contents Note: The Table of Contents was not part of the paper adopted by The General Conference, but is added for convenience. PART ONE: THERE IS MORE TO THE MYSTERY 2 Names of the Sacrament 3 Background 4 United Methodist Heritage 5 Early Methodism 5 Evangelical and United Brethren 5 American Methodism 5 Grace and the Means of Grace 6 The Theology of the Sacraments 7 The Meaning of Holy Communion 8 Toward a Richer Sacramental Life 9 PART TWO: CHRIST IS HERE—EXPERIENCING THE MYSTERY 11 The Presence of Christ 11 Christ Is Calling You 13 Invitation to the Lord’s Table 13 The Issue of “Unworthiness” 17 The Basic Pattern of Worship: A Service of Word and Table 18 The Gathered Community 20 The Whole Assembly 20 The Prayer of Great Thanksgiving 20 The Community Extends Itself 22 The Ritual of the Church 23 Servants at the Table 25 Presiding Ministers: Elders and Licensed Local Pastors 25 Assisting Ministers: Deacons and Laity 27 Setting the Table 28 The Holy Communion Table 28 The Communion Elements 29 Hygiene and Table Setting 32 Extending the Table 33 Holy Communion and Evangelism 33 Holy Communion and Ethical Christian Discipleship 35 Holy Communion and the Unity of the Church 36 APPENDICES Committee Members 40 Notes About the Document 40 The Petition to Adopt This Holy Mystery 41 1 This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion was adopted by the 2004 General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Copyright © 2003, 2004 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. This paper may be printed, copied, distributed, or otherwise used for nonprofit education by individuals, local congregations, and agencies of The United Methodist Church with the inclusion of the copyright citation. It may not be used for profit or republication without prior permission. PART ONE: THERE IS MORE TO THE MYSTERY The story is told of a little girl whose parents had taken her forward to receive Holy Communion. Disappointed with the small piece of bread she was given to dip in the cup, the child cried loudly, “I want more! I want more!” While embarrassing to her parents and amusing to the pastor and congregation, this little girl’s cry accurately expresses the feelings of many contemporary United Methodist people. We want more! We want more than we are receiving from the sacrament of Holy Communion as it is practiced in our churches. According to the results of a survey conducted by the General Board of Discipleship prior to the 2000 General Conference, there is a strong sense of the importance of Holy Communion in the life of individual Christians and of the church. Unfortunately, there is at least an equally strong sense of the absence of any meaningful understanding of Eucharistic theology and practice. United Methodists recognize that grace and spiritual power are available to them in the sacrament, but too often they do not feel enabled to receive these gifts and apply them in their lives. Many laypeople complain of sloppy practice, questionable theology, and lack of teaching and guidance. Both clergy and laity recognize the crucial need for better education of pastors in sacramental theology and practice. The concern for improved education is coupled with a call for accountability. Bishops, district superintendents, and other annual conference and general church authorities are urged to prepare their pastors better and to hold them accountable for their sacramental theology, practice, and teaching. Many of the people surveyed are plainly resentful of the lack of leadership they believe they are receiving in these areas. These results are troubling and must provoke the church to reexamination and recommitment. These results are also exciting and challenging! They reveal a deep hunger for the riches of divine grace made available to us through Holy Communion, for real communion with Jesus Christ and with Christian people. They show that United Methodists want our faith to be enlivened and made more relevant to our daily lives. How can our church best respond to the wonderful hunger of its people for “this holy mystery” (“A Service of Word and Table I,” BOW; page 39)? United Methodists share with many other Christians an increased interest in the study and celebration of the sacraments. For the last several decades we have been actively seeking to recover and revitalize appreciation of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Our current services of the Baptismal Covenant and Word and Table are the fruit of a long process of development that began in the 1960’s and culminated in their adoption by the 1984 General Conference and publication in The United Methodist Hymnal approved in 1988. The change in location of these sacramental rituals from the back to the front of the Hymnal is an intentional expression of their significance in the life of the community of faith. In 1996 the General Conference approved By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism as an official interpretive and teaching document for 2 This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion was adopted by the 2004 General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Copyright © 2003, 2004 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. This paper may be printed, copied, distributed, or otherwise used for nonprofit education by individuals, local congregations, and agencies of The United Methodist Church with the inclusion of the copyright citation. It may not be used for profit or republication without prior permission. the church. This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion is submitted to the 2004 General Conference with the same purpose. Both of these documents reflect United Methodism’s efforts to reclaim its sacramental heritage and to be in accord with ecumenical movements in sacramental theology and practice. This Holy Mystery is characterized by the effort to avoid rigidity on the one hand and indifference on the other. Neither extreme is true to our heritage nor faithful to the Spirit who leads the church forward in the work of making disciples living toward the new creation. The document is made up of two main parts. The expository introduction titled “Part One: There Is More to the Mystery” describes the document’s development and provides grounding in historical tradition and sacramental theology. “Part Two: Christ Is Here: Experiencing the Mystery ” is organized by principles. Under each principle, “Background” provides an explanation for the principle, while “Practice” provides guidelines for applying the principle. The principles make assertions that are truthful and doctrinally clear. They honor the historic and ecumenical center of the Christian church’s theology and practice. The committee has endeavored to explain in the “Background” sections how the principles are rooted in the theology and practice of Christians past and present, particularly United Methodist Christians. In the “Practice” sections we have applied the principles to contemporary sacramental practices of the church in the various contexts of United Methodism. The church is always universal and particular, catholic and local, united and diverse. United Methodists vary geographically, racially, and culturally. This Holy Mystery invites United Methodists to share common understandings while allowing for appropriate, faithful applications. Some United Methodist practices differ from those of other Christian traditions. Being truthful about these differences recognizes our ties and responsibility to the wider church while claiming God’s work in leading us to affirm distinctive understandings and practices. Both within our own United Methodist community and in fellowship with other traditions, we reject cavalier or arrogant attitudes. We seek to strengthen the bond of unity by “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) as, with humility and openness, we acknowledge our principles, explain our backgrounds, and affirm our practices. Names of the Sacrament Several terms naming the sacrament are used in past and present Christianity. In This Holy Mystery some are used more than others, but all are largely synonymous. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that Jesus Christ is the host and that we participate at Christ’s invitation. This title suggests the eating of a meal, sometimes called the Holy Meal, and makes us think of the meals that Jesus ate with various people both before his death and after his resurrection. The term the Last Supper is not appropriately used for the sacrament, but it does encourage us to remember the supper that Jesus ate with his disciples on the night when he was 3 This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion was adopted by the 2004 General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Copyright © 2003, 2004 The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. This paper may be printed, copied, distributed, or otherwise used for nonprofit education by individuals, local congregations, and agencies of The United Methodist Church with the inclusion of the copyright citation. It may not be used for profit or republication without prior permission. arrested. This emphasis is especially meaningful around Maundy Thursday.
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