Christian practice of Communion is becoming more diverse
By Bill Broadway
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Communion has been the subject of some recent high-profile debates, ranging from calls to deny the sacrament to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to a decision to revoke the First Communion of a Roman Catholic girl because she ingested a nonwheat wafer.
The reality is that the meaning and practice of Communion have been sources of dispute since early Christianity. Those debates rarely reach the national stage because they involve often-subtle changes made by church hierarchies or conflicts within individual congregations.
Yet such discussions are important. They go to the heart of Christian faith, affecting the way believers perceive and take part in one of the most sacred events in Christian history: the meal Jesus and his disciples shared the night before the Crucifixion. And they affect efforts to foster unity among Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians.
Communion practices are becoming more diverse as congregations search for new ways to accommodate the lifestyles and sensibilities of their members.
Juleen Turnage, spokeswoman for the Assemblies of God, said some megachurches in her denomination — including her own 6,000-member church — find it unwieldy to offer Communion during packed Sunday morning services and now do so only during the lesser attended Sunday night services. "It's a matter of practicality," she said.
John Revell, spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, said many churches now use Communion kits, which consist of a wafer and a small plastic cup of grape juice.
The Lutheran, United Methodist and Presbyterian churches are all moving toward weekly rather than monthly Communion.
A more evident change among Presbyterians has been an increase in the number of congregations that prefer taking Communion at the altar rail rather than in the pews, said the Rev. Joseph Small, director of the church's office of theology and worship.
One thing that hasn't changed for Protestants is their rejection of transubstantiation, the Catholic teaching that the bread and wine are transformed during the Eucharist into the body and blood of Jesus and remain so. In the Roman Catholic Church, any leftover wine must be consumed by the priest, and leftover wafers kept in a special receptacle.
Evangelical Lutherans believe the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, but any leftovers are "bread that was used in Holy Communion," not the body and blood of Jesus, said the Rev. Michael Burk, director of worship for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
But most Protestants place less emphasis on the elements' physical makeup and more on the communal sharing of bread and wine (or grape juice). For some, monthly Communion isn't merely adequate, it's preferred.
The Rev. Ronald Braxton, pastor of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C., said African Methodist Episcopalians view Communion is a "renewal of our relationship with the Savior."
"The way we live our lives, the way we execute our faith every day is our participation in Christ," he said. That means daily prayer, meditation, Bible study and weekly worship with other believers. Communion is important, but once a month is sufficient.
Braxton's denomination was drawn into the Communion fray over Kerry when the presidential candidate received Communion at Charles Street AME Church in Boston. Some Catholic leaders and pundits criticized Kerry, a Roman Catholic, for taking part in a Protestant ritual.
Monsignor James Moroney, executive director of office of liturgy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the church generally does not condone the participation of Catholics in non-Catholic Communion, but he said it's a matter of degree of theological difference and a decision for local bishops.
"If a Catholic goes to an Orthodox Church and receives Holy Communion, are we concerned? No," Moroney said. "If he went to a Baptist church, that would be considered inappropriate."
The greater outcry involving Kerry concerned several Catholic bishops who said they wouldn't offer Communion to Kerry because he supports a woman's right to abortion. A majority of U.S. Catholics support abortion rights, and many were outraged at the suggestion that Kerry was guilty of a "serious sin" — the primary reason for refusing Communion. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement that the decision to refuse Communion was the prerogative of each bishop, not national policy.
Last month, some Catholics were upset that the bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, N.J., declared invalid the first Communion of Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 8, who has a disorder that keeps her from consuming the wheat wafers required by the church. Her priest gave her a rice wafer, but the bishop revoked the Communion.
Moroney said the church does offer alternatives to wheat, including a wafer that is 0.01 percent wheat, and the use of only wine in Holy Communion.
Moroney said reuniting disparate branches of Christianity would be impossible without a common doctrine of Communion.