wfn.org | Listening posts show Holy Communion important to United Methodists

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov.  26, 2002	 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.	  10-71B{552}

By United Methodist News Service*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -The sacrament of Holy Communion is important to United
Methodists, though understandings and practice vary widely.

Nearly 100 clergy and laity from six annual conferences in the Southeast
Jurisdiction made that determination as they provided reactions to a paper
being developed by the denomination's 19-member Holy Communion Study
Committee. During the committee's Nov. 13-16 meeting, participants engaged in
a  "listening post" to share their concerns about the sacrament and what each
hoped would be the result of the study.

One of the consistent concerns voiced was the need to keep the communion
table open to all. The study committee has struggled with how to uphold the
"open table" as practiced by United Methodists, along with the classical
order of the Christian sacraments-baptism leading to communion. Committee
members have learned from earlier listening posts that United Methodists have
passionate opinions about Holy Communion even though understandings and
practices differ.    

The committee is conducting listening posts in each of the five jurisdictions
of the church and individual members are holding sessions in representative
central conferences in Europe, Africa and the Philippines.

The 2000 General Conference mandated the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship form a Holy Communion study committee to bring to the 2004
session a comprehensive paper on the theology and practice of Holy Communion.
Committee members reflect the diversity of the church's theological spectrum,
racial and ethnic makeup, and also include representatives from the
denomination's Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and Council of Bishops.

"The aim of the committee as it deliberates is to create a 'centrist'
document that paints in clear strokes the fullest and best of our United
Methodist Holy Communion tradition, both our theology and practice, " said
the Rev. Dan Benedict, a committee member and Board of Discipleship
executive.  

In earlier meetings, the committee agreed that it was not charged with
changing the ritual of the church as contained in the denomination's hymnals
and book of worship or with generating legislation. Benedict said that while
the proposed paper may at points identify practices that "are not compatible
with our understanding, the intent is to create a positive vision of what
Holy Communion can be in United Methodist churches."

The Nov. 14 session indicated that participants clearly want pastors to be
better trained and more effective as leaders and teachers who interpret the
sacrament to congregations. United Methodists want a study document that
church members can read and understand, Benedict said. They want the church
to provide clear guidance in relationship to the Lord's Supper and to provide
print and electronic resources for learning their way into vital Eucharistic
celebration. 

Several deacons present asked that the paper be clear about their role in
Communion. To the surprise of some, one GenXer who was selected by his table
to be a panelist, made it clear that he was looking for tradition and mystery
in celebrations of the Lord's Supper. 

In another session, the committee made significant progress on the question
of the invitation to the table. Members agreed that a middle way had to be
found that honored the "open table" as a welcome to all and "that upholds
recognition of the nature of Christian discipleship inherent in sharing life
in union with Christ's sacrifice for us," Benedict said.

The key to dealing with the question seemed to revolve around the nature of
the invitation as Christ's welcome and call to all who "do truly and
earnestly repent of your sins and are in love and charity with your neighbor,
and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God...," he
said, while quoting invitation found in the Word and Table IV service of the
United Methodist Hymnal.

While the language is yet to be worked out, the committee was ready to affirm
a necessary balance of an open welcome with a clear invitation to a
disciplined life. 

The committee's work is currently represented in three documents: a
comprehensive list of the contents to be covered and two drafts called "This
Holy Mystery" that were developed out of questions dealt with at the second
and third meetings of the committee. These papers can be found and responded
to at www.umcworship.org, the Board' of Discipleship's worship Web site.

The Rev. Gayle C. Felton, a Discipleship consultant who was the lead writer
for the denomination's interpretive pieces on Baptism, is the principal
writer for the Holy Communion Study Committee. She will compile several
pieces into one document by early January. 

The committee will next meet March 6-9 in Evanston, Ill., hosting a listening
post there on March 8. The final meeting of the committee will be June 16-19
in Oklahoma City, Okla. 

# # #
*Information from this article was adapted from a committee report compiled
by the Rev. Dan Benedict, a staff member of the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship, Nashville, Tenn.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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