non-weekly communion

[Melethiel]

I've noticed that the churches in town which are part of the more conservative synods (LCMS/WELS) only have communion twice a month. Is this normal practice? Why and when did it start?

[Radiata]

Hmm, because our church is so large (I imagine) we take it on the first and third Sundays of the month. The other LCMS down the street didn't have it both times I was there. And this one was pretty small. As in, they had removable seats.

[filosofer]

For many conservative congregations the standard of ~100 years ago was once a month (some even once a quarter). It seems that in the late 40's/early 50's that most moved to twice a month.

Celebrating communion every Sunday began as a result of the liturgical renewal of the 70's and 80's, but didn't get widespread support until the 90's. This movement reflects the Confessions' emphasis on celebrating the "mass" (which means Word and Sacrament) every Sunday plus every Holy Day.

There needs to be much teaching in a congregation before moving them in the direction of every Sunday, and teaching about more than just the Sacrament.

[DaRev]

Celebrating the Sacrament on every "Lord's Day" is a traditional Confessioanl Lutheran practice. There are a couple of reasons that can be attributed to the reason for the practice of occasional communion. One is that in the early days of the country congregations were widely scattered and there weren't enough pastors to serve them all. Itinerant pastors would travel from church to church to celebrate the Sacrament, thus each church could only have communion when there was a pastor available. Another reason that I've heard is the infiltration of evangelical Reformed protestantism into the Lutheran Church over the years. Either of these could be argued.

[DominusIesus]

Weekly communion is what I practice :)

[maylor]

Twice a month is typical in WELS congregations and it bothers me very much. I've spoken to my pastor about our church having the Sacrament weekly and he said most of the congregation would probably be against it.
I may be wrong about this, but I am beginning to think that many Lutherans don't actually believe in the doctrine of the Real Presence. I mean to say, if we believe that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly "in, with, and under the bread and wine", and that we receive forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith as well as fellowship with the universal church and the saints, then why would we limit ourselves to 2 sundays a month?

[filosofer]

That is the beginning... as people understand what the Lord's Supper is, and why it is celebrated, they begin to ask for it. In every congregation I have served, people would begin asking, and eventually within two years they were ready for every Sunday communion without a dissenting vote.

[RadMan]

Twice a month is typical in WELS congregations and it bothers me very much. I've spoken to my pastor about our church having the Sacrament weekly and he said most of the congregation would probably be against it.
I may be wrong about this, but I am beginning to think that many Lutherans don't actually believe in the doctrine of the Real Presence. I mean to say, if we believe that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly "in, with, and under the bread and wine", and that we receive forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith as well as fellowship with the universal church and the saints, then why would we limit ourselves to 2 sundays a month?I've wondered about that also. I think that many pastors don't emphasize the reflection on what communion is and about preparing us properly for it. In some churches I equate it more to a social event. It seems that people watch the "parade" go to the rail and see if the people are pious enough when they should be thinking of what communion is and preparing for it. Unfortunately I get to "gawking" to.

[BabyLutheran]

My ELCA does it every week. It's open communion, but the pastor makes it very clear that it is the blood and body.

[maylor]

My ELCA does it every week. It's open communion, but the pastor makes it very clear that it is the blood and body.


I think that there may be a growing number of LCMS congregations celebrating the Sacrament weekly. At least one Lutheran synod (ELCA) retained this practice.

[NordicLutheran]

In my church(LCMS) we have had communion twice a month since the beginning of its history, which is about 150 years of twice monthly communion. My Pastor started a literal crusade for the implementation of the sacrament every Sunday. The adult bible class rebelled for a couple of years. My Pastor nearly gave in, but did the funniest thing ever. Every sermon for six months was about the Sacrament of the Altar. EVERY SERMON for six months. The whole congregation started asking for the sacrament weekly and overturned the old people at a congregational meeting after that time period. I was in confirmation when he flat out us that there is no reason to come to church when there is no communion. I took this to heart because we can just read the Word and have fellowship with other christians without the sacrament. When you think about the divine service without the sacrament it seems as if the sermon is the heart of the service, but when the service of the sacrament is included both Word and Sacrament are emphasized. I live for the chance to come into physical contact with our Lord every Sunday, and now so do many within our parish.

[HippiePoser]

Hmm. My ELCA church does it on the first and third Sundays. It would be nice if it were weekly though.

[filosofer]

In my church(LCMS) we have had communion twice a month since the beginning of its history, which is about 150 years of twice monthly communion. My Pastor started a literal crusade for the implementation of the sacrament every Sunday. The adult bible class rebelled for a couple of years. My Pastor nearly gave in, but did the funniest thing ever. Every sermon for six months was about the Sacrament of the Altar. EVERY SERMON for six months. The whole congregation started asking for the sacrament weekly and overturned the old people at a congregational meeting after that time period. I was in confirmation when he flat out us that there is no reason to come to church when there is no communion. I took this to heart because we can just read the Word and have fellowship with other christians without the sacrament. When you think about the divine service without the sacrament it seems as if the sermon is the heart of the service, but when the service of the sacrament is included both Word and Sacrament are emphasized. I live for the chance to come into physical contact with our Lord every Sunday, and now so do many within our parish.


Far be it for me to criticize another pastor, but six straight months on the Lord's Supper does not seem like a balanced meal of Scripture (pun intended).

Sadly this issue often becomes one of "how many votes to win", rather than consensus to celebrate together. I hope that this does not/has not caused division.

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Twice a month is typical in WELS congregations and it bothers me very much. I've spoken to my pastor about our church having the Sacrament weekly and he said most of the congregation would probably be against it.
I may be wrong about this, but I am beginning to think that many Lutherans don't actually believe in the doctrine of the Real Presence. I mean to say, if we believe that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly "in, with, and under the bread and wine", and that we receive forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith as well as fellowship with the universal church and the saints, then why would we limit ourselves to 2 sundays a month?

Good question. Email for an answer that takes 6 months.

[Lupinus]

Traditionally Lutherans practiced communion as part of every service. However it moved away from that to once a month or sometimes just four times a year. The reasons have been explained.

Luckily though the trend is going back to where it should be with more frequent communion.

In my LCMS church we do the first, third, and fifth Sundays as well as big festivals or holidays. This has only been in the past several years with the current Pastor. My understanding is before that they did the first Sunday of the month only.

I personally would like every Sunday but it balances out in a way that we can do communion those weeks and have Sundays where we can do baptisms/confirmation/etc and the service runs about the same time so it's consistent. Not a big deal but it's a perk I suppose.

[Edial]

I've noticed that the churches in town which are part of the more conservative synods (LCMS/WELS) only have communion twice a month. Is this normal practice? Why and when did it start?
I really do not understand how conservatism relates to having non-weekly communions. I figured if one is conservative, one would want to hold it weekly, since we are to do this when we come together as a church.

Our ELCA congregation is rather conservative and liturgucal.

Our second service holds weekly communion.
The early service holds it once a month.

I was told that our more conservative believers do not have it weekly so not to make it a matter of routine and not to lose it's purpose.

I personally love communion and attend the second service.

Thanks, :)
Ed

[DaRev]

I was told that our more conservative believers do not have it weekly so not to make it a matter of routine and not to lose it's purpose.

I hear that excuse and it's nonsense. Confessional Lutherans should celebrate the Sacrament "every Lord's day and festival day."

[seajoy]

Far be it for me to criticize another pastor, but six straight months on the Lord's Supper does not seem like a balanced meal of Scripture (pun intended).

Sadly this issue often becomes one of "how many votes to win", rather than consensus to celebrate together. I hope that this does not/has not caused division.


I like what you said here, filo.

[Xpycoctomos]

I know, I know, I'm Orthodox... but I was JUST talking to my (LCMS) mom about this the other day.

You can skip to the bolded part if you want to skip my personal interlude to the story. The bolded part below gets down to the crux of the OP. The following, on the other hand, is my unimportant bable :)

When I grew up (LCMS), almost my entire childhood at the two parished I remember (the first one I don't know about... we were 6 when we moved) celebrated the Eucharist weekly. Due in great part to this, I always learned that Communion was an inseparable part from the Chrisitian life. I always grew up learning that it was the true body and blood of Christ so for me (as I became more cogniscent of my beliefs) it was a given that of course it would be offered every week and how sad if it wouldn't be. I was later shocked as I realized that this wasn't the reality everywhere in the LCMS. Recently I was further saddened to find out that my old Church does it every week but at every other service. One is a praise service and the other is a traditional service. Granted, this still gives a member the opportunity to commune every week but it still struck me as odd.

My mom doesn't like it but she said the reason her parish reciently decided to do this is to make the service more welcoming to visitors since the LCMS practices close(d) communion.

I also do remember reading that a long time ago (it seems to me near the beginning of the Reformation... but probably stemming from the current catholic lay pracice of the times???) there use to be the piety of not going up every week. That if you went up every week it was kind of like abusing it and not treating it as something special. Over time, this became institutionalized, PERHAPS in an effort to create more unity since communion is not only about the individual but about hte COmmunity. So, perhaps the thinking was if we only offer it once a month then perhaps more people will go up as a community rather than a slow trickle every week.

To demonstrate that I am not just pointing fingers, in certain Orthodox cultures, this piety exists as well. IN fact, if you go to Romania, they go up only a few times a year (usually once during the great fasts) and if you go up otherwise you are LITERALLY the only one going up and since the piety is so strong I would imagine people would worry about the old ladies judging you. So, no one goes up except during these designated days. But it comes from that same piety. Quick note, I have never found that at any Orthodox Church in America regardless of how ethnic or converty it is. People tend to find their own rhythm wether that be only several times a year or every week.

I post this becuase it is interesting to see how, even though it has always been offered everyweek (as long as a priest has been available) throughout the entire history of the Orthodox Church, similiar pieties creep up and in some cases even affect the practices in an almost institutionalized way (officially or not) as shown in the Romanian case. I also offered it becuase I thought the OP might find it interesting given her penchant for things Eastern ;)

Xpy

[LutheranChick]

I hear that excuse and it's nonsense. Confessional Lutherans should celebrate the Sacrament "every Lord's day and festival day."


Just for the record- I recently learned this from our Vicar (who is extremely well-versed on Church history) that the reason the historical church practiced weekly communion: Back then, people did not get to church every Sunday. It was very difficult for people to get to church on a regular basis, so communion was held every Sunday to give everyone a chance to partake in communion at some point. So, while they did hold communion weekly, that did not mean that all the members were partaking weekly.

Our church holds communion monthly. And yes, that does make it 'special'. As the saying goes- it isn't a party if you have one everyday. Not that communion is a party but you know what I mean! :)

For churches that practice weekly communion- fine, you have your reasons. Since it is adiaphora, let's not judge churches that don't hold weekly communion, as they also have their reasons- just as valid.

[BabyLutheran]

Since I have never been to a Lutheran service without communion, what exactly is it like? Do you just skip over that section of the service? Is the service shorter, or does it give the pastor an excuse to preach an extra 15 minutes? lol

I honestly can understand reasons for weekly (which I prefer), or monthly, so you won't hear any judging from this boy.

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Since I have never been to a Lutheran service without communion, what exactly is it like? Do you just skip over that section of the service? Is the service shorter, or does it give the pastor an excuse to preach an extra 15 minutes? lol

I honestly can understand reasons for weekly (which I prefer), or monthly, so you won't hear any judging from this boy.

There are other beautiful liturgical services that can be used, for example Morning Prayer, Matins, Service of Prayer and Preaching. In the evening, Compline, Vespers, Evening Prayer.

We are twice a month, but are a dual parish. We alternate Sundays, so if one wished you could receive every Sunday. There are more compelling reasons to have Mass every Sunday, but if we did we would not be able to experience these other historic liturgical services.

Mark

[filosofer]

Since I have never been to a Lutheran service without communion, what exactly is it like? Do you just skip over that section of the service? Is the service shorter, or does it give the pastor an excuse to preach an extra 15 minutes? lol



15 minutes? That's not even a decent time for an effective pause. :D




As Luther once declared (paraphrase): "If you can't preach a 2 hour sermon, at least preach an hour!"




Of course, that was before the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers....^_^

[DaRev]

Since it is adiaphora,

I don't know that I would call a command of the Lord to "Take, eat... often" adiaphora.

[Edial]

Interesting article in support of a weekly communion.

http://mysite.verizon.net/~vze2tmhh/eucharist.htm

The writer appears to present this from a symbolic perspective concerning the elements, but the verses and the point he is making do apply.

I think weekly communion became adiaphora with time.
I also think if people would start asking the church leadership and the pastor to have it weekly, it would become a weekly event.
It really depends on what the congregants really want.

If the congregants do not want it weekly, what purpose would it make to hold it weekly if people are objecting to it in their hearts? :)

However, I do understand a point that was made by congragants of conservative synods that a weekly closed communion might not have a positive reflection on guests.
But then again, if guests are attending regularly, they probably already are considering becoming a member, so I do not see this being an objection that carries significant weight.

I do not understand the objection that holding weekly commmunion is too often and it would lessen it's significance. The Apostles and the first church held it weekly and even daily whenever they were meeting together.

I also think some people who do not want to have communion that often are in the same way trying to hear shorter sermons - they want to get home early. Practical reasons.

I am not trying to "push" communion in some way by hoping to see it practiced weekly.
I think the same way we are trying to consider the Bible in an applicable way to us, we should considering the Communion the same way.

Thanks, :)
Ed

[DaRev]

If it's every Sunday, no one is forcing anyone to take it every Sunday.
If it's not every Sunday, that forces those who want it every Sunday to go without. And in many cases, it forces people to go to another church to receive it.

[PreachersWife2004]

In my old church, communion was offered every Sunday except the fifth Sunday. However, the first and third weeks were late service, the second and fourth were early service. So you had the opportunity to take communion every Sunday, you just might have to get up earlier to do it.

Currently, my husband's church only does it twice a month because that's the way it's been done for years. It's an old church, and the people are happy taking it twice a month.

[DaRev]

The church I've been called to does it twice a month. Their big issue is with the lack of people on their altar guild.

[PreachersWife2004]

The church I've been called to does it twice a month. Their big issue is with the lack of people on their altar guild.

Ours, too. Not sure how I feel about that. I can't help out because of the babies, and the other ladies that do it are almost 90 years old. Now that it's summer, it's even harder for them because our church is not air conditioned.

I wish I attended a church where it was served weekly, but for now I'm happy in taking it whenever it is offered.

[Tetzel]

Since it is the pastor's duty to make sure the sacrament is rightly administered, I am convinced that we should respect his decision on the frequency of communion, be it every day (weekdays too) or 4 times a year. What irks me far more than infrequent communion is adjusted liturgies (especially near holidays) in which the confession and absolution is missing from the beginning of worship.

[PreachersWife2004]

Teztel, my husband agrees with you there. We use the morning matins once a month, usually the fourth Sunday, and that has no confession and absolution, so he adds it and puts it in the bulletin. His song services and special services are always done by bulletin, so he just makes sure that a confession and absolution are present. He's planned all his own "special" services and doesn't use a pre-set service.

When we have a communion Sunday, we use Word and Sacrament. On the second Sunday we use Service of the Word. The fourth Sunday we use Morning Praise and then on the occasion where there is a fifth Sunday we use the Common Service.

[WildStrawberry]

Growing up, my Church had communion on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Then we added an Early Service and they had communion on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Then our Church was blessed to have an Assistant Pastor for about 6 years. He started offering communion after the service for whomever wanted to stay. We'd have a short confession while standing at the altar and then communion. Usually we'd have about 10 people. This would ALWAYS be printed in the bulletin right after the recessional hymn numbers.

Then, one day the service ended without a recessional hymn...he wanted the communion service to just be a continuation of the regular Divine Service. Well! Let me tell you that people were up in ARMS over him not offering it to EVERYONE! (see what I said about the bulletin. Also there was an announcement made for about a month before the "special communion" services started. Just shows you how many people read their bulletins and listen to the announcements huh?)

Since that Sunday, we've had communion every Sunday at both services.

And, I might be in the minority but, I find going to communion, whether it's once a quarter or twice a day, to be special in and of itself. I mean, honestly! I get to be with Jesus physically at that very moment. What could be more special than that??? My only regret is that we don't have services everyday. I'd be there with bells on.

Kae

[maylor]

What irks me far more than infrequent communion is adjusted liturgies (especially near holidays) in which the confession and absolution is missing from the beginning of worship.

When we have the Matins service, the confession and absolution is not done. I wish our pastor did as PreachersWife2004's husband does and just insert it in at the beginning anyway.

[Tetzel]

Oh sorry, I wasn't quite clear. I meant to say "in which the confession and absolution is missing from the beginning of worship that has communion in the service" although I do like the idea of adding it to Matins or Vespers.

[LutheranMafia]

What irks me far more than infrequent communion is adjusted liturgies (especially near holidays) in which the confession and absolution are missing from the beginning of worship.How often does this occur outside of the holidays, Tetzel?

How common is this among the larger denomination and sub-denominations, DaRev, Filosifer and BigNorsk (anyone may answer, but I ask the Elders here first out of respect)?

[maylor]

Oh sorry, I wasn't quite clear. I meant to say "in which the confession and absolution is missing from the beginning of worship that has communion in the service" although I do like the idea of adding it to Matins or Vespers.

I've never been to a communion service in which confession and absolution was missing from the beginning of worship. I think I might be afraid to partake of the sacrament if it was missing!

I had to stop in at my church today for council member stuff, while I was there I talked to pastor about confession and absolution being missing from the Matins services we have on fifth sundays and how it bothered me. He said he's going to start including it during those services!

We also discussed the non-weekly communion issue (we've talked before on this), he encouraged me to bring it up at the next council meeting, but said not to get my hopes up, as change doesn't come easy for most folks.

[BigNorsk]

How often does this occur outside of the holidays, Tetzel?

How common is this among the larger denomination and sub-denominations, DaRev, Filosifer and BigNorsk (anyone may answer, but I ask the Elders here first out of respect)?

I don't think it really applies to us. Confession and absolution is pretty much standard in the service, it doesn't have anything to do with whether or not there is a Communion Service that day.

We're low church enough that we don't follow different liturgies in a book of worship. We have a simple service which really doesn't change much.

Marv

[Edial]

...
I talked to pastor about confession and absolution being missing from the Matins services we have on fifth sundays and how it bothered me. He said he's going to start including it during those services!

...
Sometimes all it takes is to talk to him. :)

Pastors need to hear requests like these from the congregants.

Thanks. :)
Ed

[cerette]

I have read the posts here and participated in discussions about weekly or non-weekly communion before, and even if some of the pro non-weekly reasons seem to make sense, at the end of the day I still don't understand why anyone would be against weekly communion.
(If it was up to me I'd like it everyday, or even better, 3 times a day :) )

[PreachersWife2004]

I don't think anyone is against it per se. I know I'm not against it by any means, but I also don't have a problem with churches who don't practice it (obviously, since I belong to one!! ^_^)