Title: ELCA's 'Holy Communion' Now Available Through Mosaic Television ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 4, 2006
ELCA's 'Holy Communion' Now Available Through Mosaic Television 06-191-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Dec. 1, 2006, issue of Mosaic Television, the video magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is "Holy Communion," focusing on the biblical foundations for Holy Communion, and the Reformation history that defines modern Christian understandings of the sacrament.
Mosaic Television is the quarterly video program produced by ELCA Communication Services. It is intended for educational use in a variety of congregational settings including Sunday school classes, adult forums, youth groups, women's and men's groups, new member classes, congregational councils, committee and other organizational meetings.
The program is hosted by the Rev. Barbara Berry-Bailey, associate producer for "Grace Matters," ELCA Communication Services. "Grace Matters" is the radio ministry of the ELCA.
In his Small Catechism, Martin Luther, a German monk and church reformer, said, "The Sacrament of Holy Communion is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread and wine."
"Holy Communion is instituted by Christ himself for us to eat and drink. It's for this reason (that) Lutherans consider Holy Communion to be a sacrament. Luther drew his ideas about Holy Communion from the Bible. All four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- give an account of the meal Jesus and his disciples ate the night before he was crucified," Berry-Bailey said in the program.
The Rev. Craig A. Saterlee and the Rev. Kurt K. Hendel, scholars from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC), are featured in "Holy Communion." LSTC is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
"Communion is kind of like God nourishing us to have strength for the journey -- the journey of life and the journey of faith -- the journey of discipleship," said Saterlee, who is Axel Jacob and Gerda Maria (Swanson) Carlson Chair of Homiletics at LSTC. "So I think if we expand our understanding of communion and lift up all of the things that communion is, then communion becomes bigger and more important," he added.
"Christ comes to us in very tangible, material things, the stuff of creation," said Hendel, who is Bernard, Fischer, who is Westberg Distinguished Professor of Reformation History at LSTC. "The simple things that we often take for granted, like wine and bread or water for that matter, become literally the instruments, the means, the vehicle through which God is present in our lives in very tangible ways," he said.
"Holy Communion" also includes comments from leaders and members of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Goliad (Ander), Texas, and St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Milwaukee.
Each issue of Mosaic Television includes a user's guide with a synopsis of each segment and discussion questions. Annual subscriptions are available through ELCA Communication Services. -- -- --
Specific information about Mosaic Television subscriptions and the content of each issue is available on the Web at http://www.ELCA.org/mosaic/ or by contacting ELCA Communication Services by phone at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 6009.
EDITORS: Digital photographs that accompany "Holy Communion" can be requested by e-mail at mosaic@ELCA.org or by phone at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 6009.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog