do Baptists take the eucharist?

[français]

i've been to many churches, and lots do it.. but i have never seen the baptists do it. so you you guys take the eucharist?

 

[daveleau]

Hi kjf512,

Welcome to the Baptist forum.

Yes, but we call it communion. Baptists do not do it every week, because our belief is that we do not receive grace through anything other than faith (Eph 2:8-9). We look at communion as being a refocusing of our dedication to Christ by remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. We do it in remembrance of Him. We believe that taking communion every week minimizes the effect taking communion should have on the person, as it becomes common and loses much of its intent. Churches conduct communion at different frequencies. Some do it monthly, some quarterly, and others at different intervals. Some churches also have communion during evening services as well.

I hope this helps!

In Him,
Dave

 

[IisJustMe]

i've been to many churches, and lots do it.. but i have never seen the baptists do it. so you you guys take the eucharist?

Therefore we wouldn't call it "taking the Eucharist" because we don't believe the bread and (grape juice) ... become the body and blood of Christ. We believe the Bible teaches this ordinance (as the Southern Baptist Convention calls it) is a rememberance of what Christ did on the cross. The Bible does not teach transubstantiation.

 

[daveleau]

That's another good point. We as Baptists many have our own traditions. One of these traditions is abstenance from all alcohol, regardless of the amount or intent. So, in communion, we use grape juice rather than wine. I've been to plenty of churches that use wine, as I think is proper, but we as Baptists do not use wine.

 

[arunma]

i've been to many churches, and lots do it.. but i have never seen the baptists do it. so you you guys take the eucharist?

Yes, all Baptist churches receive the eucharist. Most Baptist churches typically do this only on the first Sunday of the month, which is most likely why you've never seen this at a Baptist church.

Also I would like to make one note. Though the word "eucharist" is typically used more often in Catholic circles, it technically does not convey any uniquely Catholic meaning. It is actually a word from the Greek Bible, and it refers to thanksgiving. My church, for example, uses the terms eucharist and communion interchangably.

BTW Dave, is the abstinence issue the historical reason that Baptist churches use grape juice? Because I've never been to a Baptist church that teaches or requires abstinence from alcohol. But this may be something that has come about in modern times, I suppose.

 

[daveleau]

Hi arunma,

I am not sure if it the idea goes as far back as Baptists do, or if it is recent. I also wonder if this controversial issue (within Baptist circles, at least) could be fleshed out in history books, or if there are multiple historical statements about its origins.

In Him,
Dave

 

[edie19]

My church celebrates the Lord's Table every Sunday. Seeing as it was instituted (ordained) by Jesus the Christ we believe it to be an important part of every worship service.

While we don't believe that the elements become Christ's actual body and blood (Scripture says it is a remembrance) we do believe in the Lord's Spiritual presence.

edie

 

[dave90]

from what i understand Baptist churches are independent from each other, so there can never be a straight answer.

 

[£amb]

.

wrong thread sorry

 

[£amb]

Okay, I think I'll answer this now....

I accidently posted something in here that needed to be in another thread so I had to edit my post....okay enough rambling.

Here's the Southern Baptist view, and what my church does as well:

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

That definition was taken from the SBC site. It explained better than I would of.

 

[arunma]

from what i understand Baptist churches are independent from each other, so there can never be a straight answer.

Yes, but all Baptist churches observe the eucharist one way or another. A church that didn't celebrate the Lord's Supper wouldn't be a church at all. It would be a group of people who happen to worship together on a Sunday. Not that that's a bad thing at all, but bona fide churches are commanded to observe the eucharist.

 

[jsimms615]

My church celebrates the Lord's Table every Sunday. Seeing as it was instituted (ordained) by Jesus the Christ we believe it to be an important part of every worship service.

While we don't believe that the elements become Christ's actual body and blood (Scripture says it is a remembrance) we do believe in the Lord's Spiritual presence.

edie

We actually had it written in our by-laws (our governing church document) that we were to observe the Lord's Supper (communion) every first Sunday of the month. It didn't say though whether it was the am or pm service.
I have been in other sbc churches that only observe it once a quarter.
Mainly it is up to the individual church how often they want to observe it.

 

[rainbowpromise]

We actually had it written in our by-laws (our governing church document) that we were to observe the Lord's Supper (communion) every first Sunday of the month. It didn't say though whether it was the am or pm service.
I have been in other sbc churches that only observe it once a quarter.
Mainly it is up to the individual church how often they want to observe it.

Our church wrote it in our church document as well. We are accountable to hold communion once per month, not stipulating which week. Refraining from alcohol is also in our church document.

 

[Hisbygrace]

The church I attend observes the Lord's Supper the first Sunday of each month in the evening service. We also believe that the Holy Spirit is with us as He is always.

 

[Taylor43]

i've been to many churches, and lots do it.. but i have never seen the baptists do it. so you you guys take the eucharist?

At my church we take communion once a month to Remember the price Jesus paid on the cross to forgive our sins. Also from learning we use Juice my church does to avoid any one with a drinking problm to temptation. I use to feel wine was the way but Christ has helped to know Juice is ok to use i come from a Angilcan up brining.

We do at my church have it open to anyone who know Jesus personally. Some Baptists churches keep it closed to members

 

[RichardT]

i've been to many churches, and lots do it.. but i have never seen the baptists do it. so you you guys take the eucharist?

Not in the same way as you do.

John 6: 63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

 

[BereanTodd]

No.

John 6: 63It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Are you serious that your church doesn't take the Lord's Supper??? Because if so that is a serious thing, that is one of the few commands left for the church to keep ...

 

[RichardT]

Are you serious that your church doesn't take the Lord's Supper??? Because if so that is a serious thing, that is one of the few commands left for the church to keep ...

No that isn't true, we do observe the Lord's supper, I made a mistake sorry.

 

[TwinCrier]

Lord's supper or communion, not the "Eucharist." We do not worship the cracker and grape juice.

 

[BereanTodd]

Lord's supper or communion, not the "Eucharist." We do not worship the cracker and grape juice.

There is nothing unbiblical about the term Eucharist Twincrier. You are correct that we do not hold to their view of "transubstantiation", but Eucharist, Lord's Supper, whatever you want to call it is no problem. Nothing unbiblical in calling it the Eucharist.