wfn.org | Study committee embraces idea of weekly Holy Communion

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 31, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{035}

By United Methodist News Service

A United Methodist Church committee that is studying issues related to Holy
Communion has agreed that one of its aims will be to affirm the value of
weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper.

The committee, however, will not seek church legislation mandating weekly
celebration of the Eucharist.

Members of the Holy Communion Study Committee supported the idea of a weekly
Eucharist during their Jan. 26-28 meeting in Seattle. The committee is
developing a comprehensive paper on the theology and practice of Holy
Communion under a mandate by the General Conference, the denomination's top
lawmaking body. Delegates to the 2000 General Conference identified "an
absence of any meaningful understanding" of those aspects of communion in
the church. The committee will present its paper to the 2004 General
Conference in Pittsburgh. 

During its Seattle meeting, the group worked from a draft outline of the
questions and issues it needs to address. Though still in the early stages
of their work, committee members voiced support for the church embracing
weekly Eucharist. 

"I think if the committee is supportive and committed to such an
affirmation, it needs to say so early in the process, so people have time to
have their first reactions and live with it for a while," said the Rev.
Bruce Robbins, top staff executive of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, based in New York.

Past research and information from "listening posts" showed that many United
Methodists would like more frequent communion, according to the committee.

The committee affirmed that idea in a working statement that it adopted:
"Out of faithfulness to the Sunday worship encouraged by John Wesley and the
wider tradition of the Church, and believing that our United Methodist
worship life and fellowship will be enriched as we live into weekly
celebration of the Lord's Supper on the Lord's Day, the Holy Communion Study
Committee affirms the value of the United Methodist Church moving towards a
richer sacramental life, including weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper
as advocated by the general orders of Sunday worship in our United Methodist
hymnals and book of worship, while recognizing that not every service will
include Holy Communion."

The committee traveled to the Western Jurisdiction to listen to lay people
and clergy from the Seattle area and to hear responses to its initial draft
outline. Participants expressed appreciation for being included in the
process and emphasized that the committee's paper should reach the "highest
levels" of the church - the people in the pews. Bishop Susan Hassinger, who
leads the church's New England Annual (regional) Conference, guided the
listening session.

In addition to holding the listening post, the committee focused on five
issues: who is authorized to preside over communion; what are the
appropriate elements; the presence of Christ in the Eucharist; who receives
Communion; and what should be done with remaining elements after the meal.
The members divided into five groups to work with position papers on the
topics, then returned to the full committee with statements related to the
issues. Rather than voting on whether to adopt the statements, the committee
expressed levels of support for them.

The group's 20 members include five lay people, two leaders from central
conferences, two bishops, three top staff executives of general church
agencies - the Board of Discipleship, the Board of Higher Education and
Ministry, and Robbins' commission - ordained elders, a deacon, a young adult
and several seminary professors. The Rev. L. Edward Phillips of
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., is the chairman.

The committee plans to meet once in each of the church's five U.S.
jurisdictions to hold listening posts and to test responses to the paper as
the draft takes shape. The group also plans to engage the Council of Bishops
with an early and final draft.

The draft outline was written after the committee's first meeting last
September in Nashville. Its purpose was to summarize and organize points
raised in that meeting, said the Rev. Gayle Felton, principal writer for the
committee. 

Through the Internet, the committee has received feedback on the draft
outline from the wider church, including local church leaders, annual
conference staff and bishops. Committee members have conducted listening
posts in seminaries and churches to learn about questions and concerns that
are most vital to youth, adult lay members and those preparing for ordained
ministry.
 
The group will also go outside the United States by holding listening posts
in Africa, the Philippines and Europe. "It is essential that this committee
listen to the voices of United Methodists across the world," said the Rev.
Karen Greenwaldt, top staff executive of the Board of Discipleship, based in
Nashville, Tenn. 

When it is ready, the first draft of the paper will be posted on the Board
of Discipleship's Web site, at www.gbod.org/worship/. In the meantime,
people can read the draft outline at the site.
# # #
Information for this report was provided by the Rev. Daniel Benedict with
the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn. Benedict is a
member of the study committee.

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United Methodist News Service
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