Back in March 2020 I wrote a newsletter looking at the importance of the Lord’s Supper as we prepared to start celebrating it more frequently. But then COVID-19 happened, and instead of celebrating it more frequently, we went two months without partaking together as a church. And now that we are celebrating it, it’s with wafers that stretch the definition of bread and juice with a longer shelf life than powdered eggs.

On a personal note, I’ve appreciated this stark reminder that we aren’t yet home. One day we’ll enjoy the best wine and bread from Jesus's own table, without any fear of sickness... But I’m also pleased to announce we plan to go back to bread and wine in June.

(To pull this off, we still need volunteers willing to help set up communion, place and fill cups, etc before the service.) 

I’d intended to write a follow-up on the development of the practice last year; now, fourteen months later, it’s time for part two of that newsletter as we start celebrating communion more frequently and with real bread and wine. 
 

The Early Church

The New Testament gives us a general picture of the first practice of communion. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper in the context of the Passover. During the meal Jesus takes bread, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples saying, “Take and eat; this is my body” (Matt 26:26). With the cup of wine he says, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:27-8).

In 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul rebukes the church’s misuse of the Lord’s Supper, giving us some insight into how it was celebrated in the early church. While some of the details are now obscure, other historical sources and archaeological data have helped color the picture. It was common in Roman culture for wealthy families to host dinner parties and invite many from the community. But these dinner parties were often as much about showing one's social standing as they were about benevolence. So while both rich and poor may have been invited, there was a clear hierarchy. The wealthy would sit together in their own room with the choicest food and drink. By the time the poorer people were served, there were only scraps. This seemingly generous gift was really a reminder: know you place.

Some of these practices influenced the Corinthian church’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Communion was still part of a larger meal, but instead of reinforcing the unity of the church, it emphasized the social structures that separated them. The wealthy patrons got the best wine and freshest bread, while the poor partook of the scraps. This helps us understand Paul’s strong rebuke in 1 Corinthians 11:22, “Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?” The Lord’s Supper ought to be a celebration of our unity with Christ and one another; if the practice of communion doesn’t express that, we are missing Christ’s intent. 

As we move to the Church in the first and second centuries, the Didache (an early church manual) shows that the Lord’s Supper continued to bear close resemblance to the Passover Seder meal. But near the end of the early church era (late 300’s to 475 AD) we see two new developments influencing the practice of the Lord’s Supper in the Middle Ages.
 

The Middle Ages

First, the idea that the elements transformed into Christ’s actual body and blood began gaining traction. As more emphasis was placed on this idea (later termed transubstantiation), it led to greater precaution around the Lord’s Supper–one must be careful of eating of Christ’s actual body and blood! Celebration of communion became less frequent, and fewer people were allowed to partake. Furthermore, when communion was served the people would only be given the bread, while the cup was withheld.

The second development during this time was the idea that the Lord’s Supper should be a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ. Some were more innovative in this realm; the church in Jerusalem became well known for putting on a spectacular show. Pilgrims would travel from all over to watch but not partake of the elements. Instead of a corporate celebration, it was more like a magic show: a priest would incant in unknown languages over the bread and wine, transforming them into Christ’s body and blood; God was summoned to the table for the people to adore, but never for his people to approach. The communion table had become an altar. 

Finally, medieval churches turned back to the abuses the Corinthian church had practiced and began setting up multiple altars within the church to facilitate private masses for the wealthy patrons. 
 

The Reformation

It’s out of this context the Reformation erupts. While we may think of the Reformation as being primarily about the five solas, it was initially focused on the reformation of worship, and a lot of it had to do with the Lord’s Supper. One of the earliest actions of the reformers was to invite the people to participate around the table again. They translated the words of the Lord’s Supper into the common language; the altar was replaced with a table; the minister faced the people instead of the altar; and everyone partook of the bread and wine. Martin Luther vigorously maintained that Christ was sacrificed only once on the cross, not every time communion is celebrated, and now his Supper is God’s gift to his people. 

Here, Antoine Cathelan describes the practice at John Calvin’s Church in Geneva in the mid-1550’s: 

[T]wo tables are set up in the church, and each is covered with a tablecloth and a lot of [loaves] are set out on the left, and three or four cups or glasses on the right, with lots of pots full of either white or red wine under the table. And after the sermon the preacher descends from the pulpit and goes to the left end of the table, where the [loaves] are, and standing with his head uncovered he places a piece [of bread] in each person’s hand, saying “Remember that Jesus Christ died for you.” Each person eats his piece while walking to the other end of the table, where he takes the wine from one of the elders, or other persons so-charged, without saying anything, while the sergeants with heads uncovered pour the wine and provide additional hosts if they run out. Throughout all of this, somebody else reads from the pulpit in the vernacular, with head uncovered, the Gospel of Saint John, from the beginning of the thirteenth chapter, until everyone has taken their pieces, both men and women, each one at their different tables, along with the boys and girls of around eight to ten years of age.”

The Modern Church

While the Reformation brought a number of good changes to the Lord’s Supper, it also had something of a destabilizing effect, where each church started to develop its own unique practices around the Lord’s Supper. The Scottish Presbyterian Churches would only celebrate the Lord’s Supper several times a year; often, the week prior was full of services for preparation, confession and praise. Communion would be served by inviting groups of people up to the table to eat and drink of the elements together. Some rural parishes would only celebrate the Lord’s supper yearly. English Baptists tended to serve communion once a month, while the Congregational churches served it weekly. The Puritan John Owen wrote in his catechism that it should be served weekly. The now-common practices of passing the plates (instead of the people coming forward) and serving the elements separately are innovations only a few hundred years old that began in English Independent churches. 
 

Conclusion

While this overview may be way more than you were interested in, one thing you’ve probably learned by now is that Presbyterians don’t do anything without thinking (overthinking?) it. I hope through this and the previous newsletter, you are able to better understand why communion is important. This study also showed me the importance of emphasizing that the Lord’s Supper is a meal that Christ gives us. And as we make some changes—like having people come forward to the table and celebrating the Supper more often,—you’ll see these changes better align us with both our historical roots and the emphasis Jesus puts on communion. Please feel free to reach out to me or any of the elders if you have questions.

In Christ,
Pastor Jon
 

Interested in learning more? Here are the books used:

• Christ-Centered Worship, Bryan Chapell

• Worship: Reformed according to Scripture, Hughes Oliphant Old

• Calvin’s Company of Pastors, Scott Manetsch

• The Worship of the English Puritans, Horton Davies