Dear Friends,
This Sunday, May 3, we will celebrate Holy Communion as part of our online worship service via Zoom. (See Zoom invitation below).
As you know the sacrament of Holy Communion is at the heart of our belief and practice as Christians. It is a means of grace through which we remember the body of Christ given for us in the cross; we give thanks for the body of the risen Christ with us now; and we celebrate that through our participation of service and love we, the church, are the Body of Christ called together for the sake of the world. In receiving the ordinary elements of bread and the wine we know the extraordinary gift of God’s love for us.
To celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion is by definition a gathering — bodies are present to receive the physical manifestation of the divine presence. Literally a sacrament is “to be made holy” or “to be given the mystery of the divine” — we receive from God not because we are worthy but God goes us this extraordinary gift through ordinary, mundane gifts of bread and wine.
So it’s weird to try to celebrate Holy Communion at a distance from each other. I suppose we will call it a scattered gathering — our bodies in separate locations but nevertheless together in the Oneness of Christ.
You will need to prepare for Holy Communion. Prepare your hearts as always to receive the sacrament and also prepare the elements.
- Gather enough bread or crackers for the people in your household and have them ready on a small plate.
- Have a small glass of grape juice ready — either one glass for each person to dip the bread (intinction) or separate glasses for each person. (If you do not have grape juice available, other fruits of the vine are acceptable or you may simply use water.)
- If you do not already do so, perhaps this is the Sunday you’ll have a candle lit (electric or regular) to remind you that the light of Christ is present when we gather in his Name.
I look forward to worshipping with you on Sunday and to celebrate what God is doing in our lives.
In Christ,
Pastor Mary
Reminders —
- The Online Worship services are recorded and published on YouTube and Facebook as well as the website. Share with friends!
- Face Masks: If you do not have a face mask to use, please call the church office. We have a few left and can put the word out if more are needed. Also, when in-person worship resumes (and it will be several weeks and only when we have worked out procedures and plans for doing so safely), we will need to give face masks to those coming to church who do not have them. So if you’re one of those making face masks and could help with this, please do so. Thank you!
- Plans are underway for improving our internet bandwidth making it faster and more reliable so hopefully our online worship experience will be improving. Thanks for your patience and your commitment to worship God and draw strength and hope from God’s presence in this time of uncertainty and trouble.
- ZOOM invitation to Sunday worship: Contact Pastor Mary for the Zoom link
