Communion, a Family Worship

The communion service, sometimes mis­understood by the youth, sometimes neg­lected by adults, might be made the high point of family devotion.

JOHN GRAHAM, Angwin, California

The communion service, sometimes mis­understood by the youth, sometimes neg­lected by adults, might be made the high point of family devotion. The old-time Scotch Presbyterians were able to make it so by cele­brating the Lord's Supper in family groups. Each family went forward to the altar—the father, then the mother, and the children in order of age. They knelt before their Lord, partook of His sacrament, and returned to their pews—all as a family unit.

We know that the original plan was for each man to lead his family to God each day. The family is the natural unit of worship. As the members know and love each other they learn together to know and love their God. They are able to strengthen and encourage each other be­cause of the closeness they have developed dur­ing periods of devotion. Here we have the family together at the most sacred moment in Christian worship. They arise and go forward to make a solemn covenant with their Lord, and they do it as a family. Surely the signifi­cance of that act, as it is repeated through the years, will be impressed on their hearts. It will serve to bind the entire family to their Saviour and help stay the young feet so tempted to wander.

The father is made to feel his responsibility as a priest. He is led to renew his vow to lead his family in the way of the Lord. The mother is strengthened as she and her husband and children bow and partake of the emblems of the Lord's broken body and spilled blood. The chil­dren come to see the significance of these sym­bols. The young see the older members of their family dedicating their lives again to God. The communion becomes meaningful to them. They eagerly await the day they can join their family at the altar. The symbols become part of the family experience. Gradually the significance of these holy symbols grows in importance in the little minds—though they do not actually partake until after baptism.

The communion supper is the most solemn service in our churches. People are quietly touched by the solemn significance of a me­morial instituted by the Lord Himself. Even so there are some who stay away. Especially among the young are those who feel uncomfortable or ashamed. This is something different. They don't quite understand its value. They may feel insecure or ill at ease. The young are easy to offend because they are highly sensitive to social pressures. They must be made to under­stand that this is not some queer rite we go through four times a year; but rather it is an occasion sacred to all Christians. It is a time to open our hearts before God and renew our covenant with Him.

There is something about rising from one's seat and going down to the altar that lends itself to the spirit of dedication more than some other methods of showing assent. If family groups were to begin filing toward the altar, a spirit of consecration would sweep the congregation. The youth could see that here is another family dedicated to the service of the Lord. They would get a new vision of their family in the ranks of service. They would be bound together with their desire to finish their task and stand together as a Christian family on the sea of glass. As this concept came more and more powerfully to the minds of our people, the com­munion service would become one of increas­ing power. It would be a time when even more than now great victories are won for God.

Such an experience would carry over into the weeks to come. What family would not be more careful of spiritual things after such a dedica­tion? What father or mother would not treat their children and each other with more con­sideration after such an experience?

We recognize that there would be problems if we were to institute such a service in our churches. Many churches are constructed so as to make it difficult for the congregation, family by family, to come to the pulpit rail. The minister who attempted such a change in service would, of course, need the full support of an understanding membership. They would need to decide in just what order the families would receive communion. Would they simply begin at the front or the back and proceed by rows or would some other plan work better for them? Would there be time for each family to par­take as a group, or would they find it necessary to proceed in family order but have each in­dividual partake as he reached the pulpit altar? The latter might lessen the effectiveness of the service for the family. In some churches it might be necessary to hold the communion service at some hour other than the Sabbath morning worship period. They might choose Sabbath afternoon or Friday evening.

However great or small the problems, we should not attempt any change unless the peo­ple are with us. They are the ones we seek to lead in blessing, and we must lead gently if they are to be blessed. After all, the method is secondary. Our main concern is that each family be bound together and bound to God by a solemn covenant of love. If this memorial feast can be made to do that, we have come a long way toward being good shepherds who feed the flock well.


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JOHN GRAHAM, Angwin, California

April 1956

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