Communion at Providence

  • Barry Keldie
  • Nov 26, 2007
  • Series: Articles

    Why we stopped taking communion weekly?

    I would like to take a couple of minutes and explain why we recently stopped taking communion each week to close our services.  From the inception of Providence Church we have gathered together to sing to Jesus (worship), hear about Jesus (preaching) and then join Jesus by partaking of communion.  We quickly found that our practice of communion distinguished us as a church.  Few had ever been to a church that called husbands to pray over their wives before partaking of the elements each week.  For many of us this weekly practice acted as the birthplace of familial spirituality.  I can’t keep count of how many men prayed with their wives for the first time sitting in one of our services and I count this as one of the richest blessings I have ever received in ministry.  So why would we ever stop such a beautiful and fruitful practice?

    As the weeks, months and now years passed I noticed a dangerous trend in our beloved times of communion. Over time, as tends to happen, communion began to lose its meaning and depth and seemed to become a weekly ritual that served to close our times of worship.  There seemed to be fewer times of fervent prayer and more people leaving early to beat the rush in preschool pick up.  As I thought and prayed about how to restore the beauty of communion the passages of Scripture that always gave weight to the act of communion haunted me.  The Bible tells us that communion is symbolic of the continuing work of the gospel in our lives.

    “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (1 Corinthians 11:27-33)

    The Apostle Paul writes with such urgency about the act of communion that any flippancy about it should be received with the gravest sincerity.  He says that spiritual disobedience (For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body…) produces physical and mental consequences (eats and drinks judgment on himself, that is why many of you are weak and ill).  Therefore we should do all we can to protect not just the act of taking communion but also the purity of that act.  That purity is compromised by endless repetition.  

    While “how often” we took communion was an issue, it was not the only consideration. The way we have traditionally practiced communion needlessly excluded visitors.  With little instruction given for visitors to follow we found the exercise stressful and confusing for those we invited to church with us. Correctly administering communion is something every church should strive to do well and we are taking steps to do better.  

    While I know this decision is hard for many because of what communion represented in their personal life, it is necessary for our growth and maturity as a family.  After much prayer and discussion we decided to protect the purity and beauty of the sacrament of communion by providing the sacrament during a special service every other month.

    Please continue to visit our website, insideprovidence.com, to find out when the next Communion Service will be.  You will find the date and time of the next service at the bottom left hand corner of the home page.