Offer Them Christ:

Celebrating the Eucharist Online!

Andy Langford1

1/2/2014 DRAFT – AS PART OF A CONTINUING CONVERSATION

COMMENTS/CRITIQUES MAY BE SUBMITTED TO andy@concordcentral.org

[Has Central Online offered Eucharist online yet? No. Will Central Online offer Holy

Communion online? After appropriate discussion, surveys, and studies with our online

community and denominational leaders, we may well offer the Eucharist online. Sign in

at www.centralonline.org and take our survey about the Holy Communion online. The

following is our rationale to practice the sacrament of bread and cup via new media.]

1 Andy Langford is an Elder in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. In addition to degrees from Davidson College and Duke Divinity School, Andy received a M.A. from Emory University on the development of Methodist worship in the United States. As Assistant General Secretary for Worship of the General Board of Discipleship from 1985-1992, Andy led the staff working on the liturgies in The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and was General Editor of The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). In addition to other writings, Andy has published twelve books on worship. He now serves as Senior Pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Concord, North Carolina, and is one of the founding pastors of Central Online.

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Summary

Central Online is the new campus of Central United Methodist Church, taking the

essence of Central downtown – a traditional, orthodox, inclusive, and mission-centered

congregation – and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with people in digital space.

Our asynchronous congregation in diaspora operates beyond any one specific time or

specific place wherever and whenever faithful people gather. We also offer all the

means of grace accessible through our denomination.2

One of the distinctive offerings of Central Online may offer is the celebration of Holy

Communion with our online congregation. In our new media age, sharing the Eucharist

online is a powerful new way of continuing the evangelistic passion of our Wesleyan

tradition.

In this paper, we affirm our Wesleyan tradition concerning the Eucharist, provide key

Wesleyan principles, indicate how we will share Holy Communion online, and more.

The document is a spirited defense of this practice as consistent within our theological

tradition.

Online Eucharist is absolutely consistent within our Wesleyan tradition. There are ten

Wesleyan affirmations that support Central Online’s sharing of the Eucharist online:

2 John Wesley’s principle means of grace were public worship, the Word of God, prayer, fasting and abstinence, and the sacraments. See attached Wesley’s sermon “The Means of Grace.”

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worship as the mission of the Church. Worship is how we fulfill the mission of the

church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

God’s prevenient grace. God always comes to us before we come to God.

the ubiquity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can work beyond our limits of

space and time.

our practice of an open table. Jesus Christ welcomes all people to his table.

our evangelistic task. United Methodists are called to take the Gospel to all the

world.

Wesley’s call for constant communion. Offering the Eucharist frequently fulfills

our founder’s charge.

the itinerant ministry. As United Methodist pastors, we are charged to reach out

beyond the walls of our local congregation.

incarnational presence. Jesus Christ has become present in a living community

of people connected through new social media.

our doctrine of liturgical flexibility. One of our Articles of Religion encourages

new worship ventures.

eschatological foretaste. The celebration of the Eucharist online serves as an

appetizer to feasting at the Lord’s heavenly banquet.

All ten of these principles, founded in Wesleyan theology and practice, encourage us to

be bold to practice Eucharist online. Collectively, they provide overwhelming

endorsement.

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Full Paper

Central Online is the new campus of Central United Methodist Church. 3 We are taking

the essence of Central downtown – a traditional, orthodox, inclusive, and mission-

centered congregation – and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with people who

would otherwise never enter our current facilities. Central Online enables our

congregation to move from a physical place to digital space. As noted in Julie Lytle’s

Faith Formation 4.0, “there is a growing need to blend activities in physical places with

efforts in digital spaces. This is the new frontier for evangelization and faith formation.

In the twenty-first century, if you do not have a web presence, you do not exist.”4

Like other United Methodist congregations, Central Online offers worship services with

liturgy, music, Scripture, and sermons, faith formation groups, teaching classes, service

opportunities, and avenues for financial giving.5 To go out into a world hungry for the

Gospel, we have established a holistic campus that engages the minds, hearts, and

hands of new and diverse people. We recognize that “82 million Americans – 64

percent of Internet users – perform spiritual and religious activities online.”6 Our

asynchronous congregation in diaspora operates beyond any one specific time or

specific place wherever and whenever faithful people gather. As a United Methodist

3 For a full description of the development and ministries of Central Online, contact Pastor Daniel Wilson, Assistant Pastor (Central Online Campus Pastor) at dwilson@concordcentral.org.4 Julie Anne Lytle, Faith Formation 4.0 (New York: Morehouse, 2013), 97. A comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges of churches in the new media age5 News articles about this effort have been included in “The Wall Street Journal” (11/16-17, 2013), p. A-7; “The Christian Century” (11/13/2013) p. 15; “The Morning News Beat” (//181/2013), p. 1; “The Charlotte Observer” (11/24/2103, p. 5K; and more. 6 Ibid, 74.

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congregation, we also offer all the means of grace accessible through our

denomination.7

The core of Central Online is worship. Hosted by an Online Pastor, Daniel Wilson, and

a team of staff and volunteers, each week there is a new, live worship service, recorded

in our sanctuary on Sundays, and then offered at different times during the week.

During live worship, Central Online participants chat with other worshipers, the Online

Pastor, and a team of church moderators and counselors.

In response to the Service of the Word, one of our distinctive Wesleyan traditions,

worshipers may respond by lighting a virtual candle and offering intercessory prayers,

enter a time of confession, make a financial offering, or serve on a specific mission.

Participants may also enter into a private conversation to share prayer concerns and

receive a one-on-one conversation. Between worship services, people may connect to

Central Online for archived worship services, a mission project, special music, Bible

studies, and other teaching events. Participants may submit requests and be reached

via phone, e-mail, and text messages.

One of the distinctive offerings of Central Online is the celebration of Holy Communion

with our online congregation. The Eucharist is the archetypal response to the Word;

Word and Table is our denomination’s and local congregation’s normative Sunday

liturgy and Basic Pattern of Worship.8 Thus, in the tradition of John Wesley, we share

7 John Wesley’s principle means of grace were public worship, the Word of God, prayer, fasting and abstinence, and the sacraments. See attached Wesley’s sermon “The Means of Grace.”8 See both The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and United Methodist Book of Worship (1992).

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the Holy Meal frequently with persons within and beyond the physical bounds of our

church sanctuary that they might experience God’s prevenient, justifying, and

sanctifying grace through an open table.

Holy Communion, like Baptism, is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual

grace, which we celebrate in communion with our triune God in our community of faith.

As General Editor of The United Methodist Book of Worship, this author is committed to

celebrating the sacraments with integrity.

Attached to this article are extended and related excerpts from the official United

Methodist document on Holy Communion: This Holy Mystery.9 This official statement,

adopted by the 2004 General Conference, contains the doctrinal and theological

affirmations of our denomination related to the Eucharist. Central Online is committed

to honoring our liturgical and theological history and tradition. Likewise, we affirm the

teaching of John Wesley’s foundational liturgical document, his sermon “The Means of

Grace.”10 The eucharistic understandings of these two documents inform the

sacramental practice of Central Online. Nothing in our practice violates these two

documents.

We have been faithful to explore this topic using the Wesleyan quadrilateral. Scripture

is obviously silent on this issue. John Wesley could never have imagined this

possibility. Scripture and our Wesleyan theological and liturgical traditions, however,

9 Approved by The United Methodist General Conference 2004. Attached as an appendix.10 First published in 1739 and many times thereafter. Attached as an appendix.

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point us toward bold outreach. Theological reason supports our position. And a range

of personal and communal experiences from many perspectives support our venture.

The author is deeply appreciative of conversations with other United Methodists who

have critiqued this paper.11 Their wisdom and insights were important in shaping this

paper. The Reverend Dr. Lester Ruth called this practice of online Communion

“irregular but valid.”12 The Reverend Dr. Gayle Felton, editor of This Holy Mystery, finds

that the sacramental practice of Central Online presents “no violation of This Holy

Mystery” and “resonates with our theology.”13 The Reverend Dr. Randy Maddox calls it

“an experiment.”14 Bishop Will Willimon finds online Eucharist “abnormal but

legitimate.”15

Central Online does not believe that online Eucharist is the normative expression of

Holy Communion for our denomination. Online Communion is irregular and abnormal

and experimental and new. Clearly, ideally, the Holy Meal is best served in a

congregation of faithful disciples physically surrounding Christ’s table with an authorized

celebrant sharing bread and cup from one person to the next. Nevertheless, we

11 Bishop Larry Goodpaster (resident bishop and past President of The Council of Bishops), The Reverend Sally Langford (Assistant to the WNCC Bishop) especially for her close reading of the text, The Reverend Dr. Gary Royals (Metro District of the WNCC) The Reverend Dawn Chesser (GBOD), The Reverend Dr. Lester Ruth (Duke), The Reverend Susannah Pittman (Central), and The Reverend Daniel Wilson (Central). On June 25, 2013, Langford, Wilson, and Pittman met with Ruth, The Reverend Dr. Randy Maddox (Duke), The Reverend Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric (Duke), Bishop Will Willimon (bishop in residence at Duke), and The Reverend Dr. Gayle Felton (editor of This Holy Mystery ) for a three-hour conversation.12 Lester Ruth, Research Professor of Liturgy at Duke Divinity School, conversation on May 7, 2013.13 Gayle Felton, dialogue at Duke Divinity School on June 25, 2013.14 Ibid.15Ibid.

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absolutely believe that Eucharist online is valid and legitimate and warranted by historic

and emerging Wesleyan theology and practice.

Bishop Goodpaster convened fifteen clergy from the Western North Carolina Annual

Conference to discuss a draft of this document.16 All were active participants in new

social media and acknowledged the current longing of many people for connection and

hunger for interaction through new social media. Most of them expressed their initial

skepticism about the Eucharist online. They spoke about the need for “embodiment”

and “physical contact.” Some of the gathered pastors feared a possible “gnostic”

interpretation of our actions, a promotion of “cheap grace,” or an encouragement for

people to be spiritual but not religious.

Having read a draft of this paper, however, their views then ranged from “unthinkable” to

“an expression of prevenient grace,” “necessary experimental divinity,” and “practical

divinity.”17 These pastors especially appreciated the grounding of this practice upon

Wesleyan theological and liturgical foundations. All of them agreed that the Church and

its practices in the 21st century must necessarily look very different from the current

Church. The younger pastors had more reservations than the older pastors!

All of the pastors appreciated the possibility of new understandings of Holy Communion

and community. All of our colleagues especially emphasized the need to invite those 16 On August 15, 2013, the following clergy from the WNCC met for three hours to discuss a draft of this document: Bishop Goodpaster, Susannah Pittman, Daniel Wilson, In-Yong Lee, Linda Royer, Jason Byassee, David Hockett, Ann Duncan, Drew McIntyre, David Hiatt, Carter Ellis, Kim Ingram, Terry Matthews, and Carol Carkin. They included elders and deacons, young and seasoned clergy, female and male, who were trained at six different United Methodist semiaries. Two persons were absent but sent comments: Jason Byassee and David Hockett. 17 A reference to the book by Andy’s father, Thomas Langford, Practical Divinity.

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persons who receive Holy Communion online into richer relationships and deeper

discipleship both through the internet and face-to-face opportunities. Central Online

must and shall encourage intentional community and authentic relationships. While still

cautious about of the theology and practice of the Eucharist online, by the end of our

discussion the large majority of these pastors supported this new style of worship as an

effort to welcome persons to the “front porch” of our church. Many of their observations

are reflected in this document.

Ultimately, however, this paper reflects the author’s own perspectives.

Outline

The following sections form an outline of this paper:

Our Wesleyan Tradition Concerning the Eucharist

Ten Key Wesleyan Principles

Two Liturgical Observations

Navigating Between Sacramental Extremes

Celebration of Holy Communion Online

Preparing for the Holy Meal

Offering the Eucharist Online

The General Church’s Response

Invitation

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Our Wesleyan Tradition Concerning the Eucharist

Holy Communion via new media brings all persons into a living relationship with the

riches of the grace of our triune God. In the Holy Meal, we experience through word,

sign, and action the living presence of Jesus Christ. As Jesus took bread, blessed the

bread and cup, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples, so when we share the

Eucharist online individuals and the community gathered electronically experience anew

the real presence of God.

United Methodist Article of Religion XVIII declares:

The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have

among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption

by Christ's death; insomuch that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith

receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ;

and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ. . . .

The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly

and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and

eaten in the Supper is faith.18

John Wesley believed that Holy Communion was the most effective even archetypal act

of worship. In his blend of Anglo-Catholic sacramentalism and Protestant emphasis on

18 2012 United Methodist Discipline, ¶104, 67.

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sola fides, Wesley believed that in worship God provides rituals and religious activities

that confer the fullness of God’s grace.19 Wesley went as far as saying “there is but one

scriptural way wherein we receive inward grace – through the outward means which

God hath ordained.”20

In regards to the Eucharist, “is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup,

the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace?

Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God eat of that bread, and drink of that

cup.”21 Randy Maddox has summarized Wesley’s eucharistic theology this way: “the

communion service “re-presents” Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice in dramatic display,

conveying its salvific power.”22

Finally, as John and Charles wrote in their hymn “The Means of Grace:”

Fasting He [God] doth, and Hearing bless,

And Prayer can much avail,

Good Vessels all to draw the Grace

Out of Salvation’s Well.

But none like this Mysterious Rite

Which dying Mercy gave,

19 “The Means of Grace” III.11-12.20 John Telford, The Letters of John Wesley III (London: Epworth, 1931), 366-7.21 John Wesley, Works XII (Grand Rapids: Zondervon, 1958-1959), 147.22 Randy Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology (Nashville:Kingswood, 1994), 203.

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Can draw forth all his promis’d Might

And all his Will to save.

This is the richest Legacy

Thou hast on Man bestow’d;

Here chiefly, LORD, we feed on Thee,

And drink thy precious Blood.23

Wesley himself received Holy Communion on average four to five times a week

throughout his life. By 1743, in the first decade of the Methodist revival, Wesley began

to celebrate the Eucharist at non-conformist Methodist meeting places. Wesley was

criticized by his Anglican peers for sharing the Eucharist in secular locations (such as in

the open air or an old weapons factory “The Foundry”) with persons who could not

attend worship or were not welcomed in local parishes. As Maddox notes, “predictably,

there were soon attacks that Wesley was offering the grace of communion

indiscriminately.”24 His Anglican critics focused not on where Wesley celebrated the

sacrament but the increased frequency.

Despite his Anglican critics, the Wesleyan revival became also a sacramental revival.

Wesley had no hesitancy about rewriting essential Anglican sacramental texts. On one

occasion Wesley shared the Holy Meal with 15,000 people outdoors, a number beyond

the capacity of any existing English church facility.

23 J.E. Rattenbury, The Eucharistic Hymns of John and Charles Wesley (London: Epworth, 1948), 76. This 1745 collection of 166 hymns is the fullest description of the Wesleys’ sacramental theology.24 Maddox, 220.

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United Methodists in the 21st Century should be cautious of letting Anglican liturgists

and theologians of other communions set our standards and practices. In his own time,

John Wesley frequently faced opposition from the Anglican divines and other

theologians. In response, Wesley simply set aside their arguments and continued doing

what he believed best served his mission. Some faith traditions in the Church universal

do support online Eucharist. There is no ecumenical consensus or theological

document that our denomination has accepted that prevents our boldness. While

United Methodists must be sensitive to our ecumenical partners in Christ, we must not

let other communions determine our theology or practices.

For example, in addition to Wesley’s other “unorthodox” liturgical reforms such as hymn

singing, lay leadership, and the leadership of women, Wesley’s 1784 ordination of

Coke, Vasey, and Whatcoat clearly and deliberately violated Anglican practice and

theology. But, for the sake of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the new nation of

the United States through the Word and the sacraments, Wesley acted decisively.

Wesley broke his own communion’s understanding of apostolic ordination to fulfill a

greater agenda for the citizens of the United States to “offer them Christ.”

We have a United Methodist Church today precisely because John Wesley offered

significant liturgical innovations in the 18th century! When the established Church of

England refused to send ordained clergy to the new nation, and thus not to share the

sacraments, Wesley forged ahead. While some leaders out of other liturgical traditions

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may object to our practice, for reasons that are faithful to their own traditions, we believe

that Wesley would approve of our liturgical reform regarding Eucharist online.

Grounded in the Wesleyan tradition, Central Online offers Holy Communion trusting that

our online congregation will experience God’s grace in all its fullness. The prevenient

grace of God reaches out to persons who have never before received the Holy Meal.

We share the Eucharist online with people who have never entered a church sanctuary

but whom God is always seeking. Prevenient grace in the Holy Meal “prompts our first

wish to please God, our first glimmer of understanding concerning God’s will, and our

“first slight conviction” of having sinned against God.”25 God’s converting grace through

the Eucharist online offers the possibility of opening new eyes to one’s alienation from

God.26 God’s justifying grace in Holy Communion, “under the prompting of grace and

the guidance of the Holy Spirit,”27 opens the possibility of persons turning from sin to

accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Finally, God’s sanctifying grace in the Lord’s Supper,

“through the power of the Holy Spirit,”28 empowers believers in any place and at any

moment in their lives and in any place they connect with us to renew their spirits and

perfect their personal and social holiness.

Albert Outler summarized the relationship of grace to the sacraments:

25 2012 Discipline, ¶102, 50.26 See Wesley (Journal, November 27, 1739) on the converting power of the Eucharist in his conflict with the Moravians.27 Ibid.28 Ibid, 51.

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The Christian life, in Wesley’s view, is empowered by the energy of grace:

prevenient, saving, sanctifying, sacramental. . . . Grace is experienced as actual

influence – God’s love, immanent and active in human life. Its prior initiative

makes every human action a re-action; hence it is “pre-venting.” It is a function

of God’s mercy that is over all his works; hence, it is universal. It can be

“resisted”; hence it is co-operant rather than irresistible. And since it is always

mediated in and through various outward and visible signs, grace is typically

sacramental. But since it is always God’s grace, it is never at man’s disposal.

Thus, it cannot be sequestered by any sacerdotal authority; it can be neither

dispensed nor withheld, appropriately, by any recourse to magic or priestly

rites.”29

Based on Outler’s insight, we do not believe that online Eucharist offers “cheap grace”

versus the required “costly grace” as identified by Dietrich Bonheoffer. Instead, Holy

Communion online truly offers “God’s free grace” that is not “earned” by any activity of

our part. Bonheoffer’s call for costly grace was not about Christians getting off their

sofas and coming to a sanctuary for the Holy Meal, but instead summoned Christians to

take up a cross in the midst of systemic evil even to the point of death. To insist that

persons as an absolutely non-negotiable requirement must be physically present for the

Eucharist to be effective almost borders on Pelagianism.

In our faith tradition, the sacraments are the clearest sign-acts of the real presence of

Jesus Christ in a community of faith. To only preach, teach, pray, and give online are

29Albert Outler, John Wesley (Oxford: New York, 1964), 33.

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not sufficient for sharing the full blessings of our Savior with other people. The

sacraments, thin-places between the spiritual and material realms, reveal and make

present to all persons who receive Holy Communion our living God who shapes our

lives.30

Please note, this paper does not address the issue of online Baptism or other non-

sacramental rites of the Church that involve physical touch such as the holding of hands

in Christian Marriage, the laying on of hands at Ordination, Footwashing, and more.

Each of these liturgies are unique and present their own set of issues and will be

addressed separately and in their own time. 31

Charles Wesley expressed in his hymns the ability of the Holy Meal to feed us with the

real presence of Jesus Christ:

O Thou who this mysterious bread didst in Emmaus break,

return here with our souls to feed and to thy followers speak.32

And

Sure and real is the grace, the manner be unknown;

only meet us in thy ways and perfect us in one.

30 Via Celtic spirituality.31 See also the coming related document: “Celebrating Baptism Online” by this author for a perspective about the place of Baptism in our online congregation.

32 Charles Wesley, “O Thou Who This Mysterious Bread” in The United Methodist Hymnal (Abingdon: Nashville, 1989) # 613.

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Let us taste the heavenly powers, Lord, we ask for nothing more.

Thine to bless, ‘tis only ours to wonder and adore.33

Because like Charles we do not fully understand the “manner” in which the Holy Meal

works, we dare not dictate limits on God’s effective power through new media? Our

response should best be to “wonder and adore.”

Within the Wesleyan tradition, and with theologians ancient and modern, we affirm the

powerful mystical character of the Holy Feast. Saint Augustine wrote of “sacred signs,

which bridge the gap between God and us, in that they serve as physical doorways or

gates to spiritual realities.”34 N.T. Wright shared that “the Jesus who gives himself to us

as food and drink is himself the beginning of God’s new world. At Holy Communion we

are like the children of Israel in the wilderness, tasting fruit plucked from the Promised

Land. It is the future coming to meet us in the present.”35 Central Online is opening

itself to God’s grace at work in a new digital world of the future.

While we feel confident about our authority and ability to offer the Eucharist online, we

humbly acknowledge that we benefit from further conversations with our United

Methodist leaders, liturgists, and theologians.

We understand that our perspective is truly a paradigm shift, with a new understanding

and use of traditional symbols. Such a shift is quite uncomfortable for many persons

33 Charles Wesley, “O the Depth of Love Divine” in The United Methodist Hymnal # 62734 Alister McGrath, Theology the Basics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2011), 421.35 N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope (SPCK: HarperOne, 2008), 274.

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who still live with previous perspectives on Holy Communion. Our opponents are not

Luddites! Yet, many of them have not yet understood how new media options are

forming new communities in new ways. This liturgical practice legitimately raises

liturgical, theological, doctrinal, and ecclesiastical issues. This paper attempts to

answer many questions. Yet many more conversations are needed.

As Central Online continues to make the sacraments available to Central Online

worshipers, we seek the wisdom of others to help us remain faithful to our history and

doctrine to lead us into a new future.

Ten Key Wesleyan Principles

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Let us explore how these ten Wesleyan principles and practices support and encourage

the celebration of the Eucharist online.

Initially, what is the nature and mission of the Church universal, and our United

Methodist Church in particular? On what ecclesiological grounds do we share the

Eucharist? Wesley said it clearly: “What is the end of all ecclesiastical order? Is it not

to bring souls from the power of Satan to God; and to build them up in his [God’s] fear

and love? Order, then is so far valuable, as it answer these ends.”36 The goal of the

church, therefore, in Wesley’s tradition and in the current language of The United

36 Telford, Letters I, 286.

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Methodist Book of Discipline, is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation

of the world.”37 The Church itself is a means of grace ordered to bring persons into

communion with God that they may become disciples of Jesus Christ.

How do we then define our ecclesiastical order? How do we know that a true Church

exists? Article of Religion XIII defines Church this way:

The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men [people] in which the

pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according

to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the

same.”38

The ultimate reason, therefore, our United Methodist Church at large and in particular

Central Online: A United Methodist Congregation exist are to fulfill our fundamental

mission to share the Gospel with people wherever they are throughout the world. And

the means wherein we live as the Body of Christ is by proclaiming the Word of God and

celebrating the sacraments. Thousands of United Methodist congregations offer

preaching online, also an incarnational event. Not to serve Holy Communion would be

to withhold the second half of the means to bring persons from Satan to God. While

Central Online considered offering a Love Feast, also a distinctive Wesleyan practice of

fellowship, instead of Holy Communion, that would only be a halfway measure toward

full eucharistic communion. If we are to be the true Church and be faithful to our

37 2012 Discipline, ¶120, 91.38 2012 Discipline, ¶104, 66.

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mission, then Central Online must at its core both preach the Word and share the

sacraments.

Further, the episcopal appointment of a pastor, Daniel Wilson, as the Campus Pastor of

Central Online, a multi-site extension of Central United Methodist Church in Concord,

North Carolina, acknowledges that Central Online is a real United Methodist

congregation.39 While Wilson is the campus pastor, his ministry is aligned with two

United Methodist Elders also under appointment to this ministry (The Reverend Andy

Langford and The Reverend Susannah Pittman). We have the necessary ecclesial

underpinning and appointed clergy for Central Online to be an active United Methodist

congregation, which appropriately shares the Holy Meal.

Wesley’s understanding of the mission and practice of the Church coincides with his

emphasis on the second key principle: the triune God’s prevenient grace. God’s

prevenient grace reaches for each person before we ever reach for God. That grace

precedes any human activity. Again, to quote Outler: “Grace is experienced as actual

influence – God’s love, immanent and active in human life. Its prior initiative makes

every human action a re-action; hence it is ‘pre-venting.’”40 The first focus of Holy

Communion, therefore, is on God’s activity of coming toward all people, not on

humanity’s search for God. Requiring persons to take the first act of coming into a

physical space before they receive the Eucharist lessens the radical quality of God’s

prevenient grace itself. God always acts first, and then and only then can we respond.

39 2013-2014 Appointment of Daniel Wilson as Central (Concord) Assistant (On-line Campus) by Bishop Larry Goodpaster.40Albert Outler, John Wesley (Oxford: New York, 1964), 33.

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Then, having received prevenient grace, persons may also receive God’s convicting,

justifying, and sanctifying grace though the Eucharist. Offering Holy Communion online

expresses in a new way God’s reaching out and being present to those folk who

otherwise might never know God coming to them and thus never come to God in the

fullness of God’s grace.

Beyond identity and mission and prevenient grace, the third key affirmation is the

effective power of the Holy Spirit in every place and every time to share God’s love.

As Jesus Christ said, “Where ever two or three of you are gathered together [Jesus did

not say face to face or in the same room], there I am also” (Matthew 18:20). While

physically absent from other Christians, the Apostle Paul offered prayers for

congregations throughout the Roman Empire and truly connected with all of them.

There is no place and no time where God is not present. Neither the Holy Spirit nor its

power can be confined to one location or temporal point. Susanna Wesley offered this

perspective to her son John when she emphasized “the agency of Holy Spirit as the

means by which Christ is present to faithful communicants.”41

Thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church of God is both local and universal as

well as past, present, and future. This Holy Mystery speaks about “the gathered

community of the faithful, both local and universal.” For example, United Methodists

believe that as we gather at the Lord’s Table and at feasts such as All Saints Day

departed saints, who are not present physically gather with us is some mysterious but

41 Maddox, 204.

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real way. Thus, our sacrament of the Eucharist online is not ultimately corporeal but

“heavenly” and “spiritual.”42

We believe that the Holy Spirit also enables us to gather together across space in the

present. The first religious broadcast in America was in 1921, almost one hundred

years ago.43 We remember that many persons were critical of early television

preachers, such as The Reverend Billy Graham and Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who

offered through video recordings prayers and blessings for persons connected only

through the airways. Yet, many people made first commitments or new commitments to

Jesus Christ through radio and television. During the Cold War, German-speaking

Reformed pastors in California regularly conducted weddings and offered Holy

Communion via short-wave radio with Christians in eastern Europe.44 In similar fashion,

“numerous voices in the press, in academic communities, and in various faith traditions

expressed concern that the telephone would damage human communication because

nonverbal cues are not accessible by telephone.”45 Today no one questions the

effectiveness and validity of such communication. Because the Holy Spirit blows where

it chooses, then God’s Spirit cannot be restricted to one presentation of the sacrament

limited to one particular place and space. We cannot limit the power of God to times

and places that only an established physical congregation chooses.

42 Article XVIII, 2012 United Methodist Discipline, ¶104, 67.43 Lytle, Faith Formation 4.0, 68 ff for a discussion of the modern history of the Church and new media.44 Oral history from Michael Sturtz.45 Lynne Babb, Reaching Out in a Networked World (Alban: Virginia, 2008), p. 8.

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The fourth key principle is our liturgical tradition of the open table at Holy Communion.

This position echoes Wesley’s own understanding of opening the doors of the church to

the whole world. Wesley understood “the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that in

whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all

that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”46

While some theologians argue that Wesley intended to include only the baptized at the

Lord’s Table, current United Methodist theology and practice makes no such restriction.

United Methodists open the Communion Table to all people who respond to the

eucharistic invitation: “Christ, our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who

earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.”47

The Holy Meal online is a sign of radical inclusion, showing that all are welcome to

commune at the Lord’s Table. No restrictive criteria, such as whether or not one is

baptized or a member of a United Methodist congregation or of a particular ethnic group

or background or sexual orientation can keep one from sharing in the Holy Meal.

Likewise, being unable to attend the Eucharist at one specific place and time should not

impede communion with God and others.

This Holy Mystery expands this perspective and declares “All who respond in faith to the

invitation are to be welcomed” and “there are few, if any, circumstances in which a

United Methodist pastor would refuse to serve the elements of Holy Communion to a

46 Telford, Letters I, 286.47 United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: UMPH, 1989), 7.

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person who comes forward to receive.” Everyone is invited to Christ’s table. There are

no restrictions by virtue of a person’s age, ability to reason, or other criteria. We

welcome the visitor, the stranger, the member, the guest, the saint, the sinner, the old,

and the young to the table of Jesus Christ.

Central downtown does practice taking the elements of bread and cup from our home

campus to the homes and rooms of members and friends in our local community. At

the conclusion of a Service of Word and Table, persons may take part of the remaining

bread and juice to persons who had been able to be physically present with us that day.

Staff of our congregation take the Holy Meal to people in rest homes, at the hospital,

and in homes. This practice is sanctioned and encouraged by both The United

Methodist Book of Worship and This Holy Mystery. Some persons who participate in

our worship online may also be served in this way. As we discover clusters of persons

in specific locations, as possible we also offer to bring the bread and cup and other

services of Central to them wherever they are.

Yet, Central Online affirms that when “our Lord invites to his table all” the text means

“all!” For that reason, we welcome persons able to attend physically in our downtown

church sanctuary or as part of our congregation online. Our inclusive invitation is open

to everyone, because we trust that the prevenient grace of God through the Holy Spirit

has already invited persons to the table as a visible expression of the nature and

mission of the Church universal and Central Online.

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The fifth Wesleyan affirmation focuses on our evangelistic task to offer the Gospel to

all people. This Holy Mystery speaks about Eucharistic ministry as a means to fulfill our

evangelistic call: “The Communion elements are consecrated and consumed in the

context of the gathered [Note well: this document does not say face-to-face physically]

congregation. The Table may be extended, in a timely manner, to include those unable

to attend because of age, illness, or similar conditions.” Like Wesley sending the newly

ordained priests to offer the sacraments in America, our offering of the Eucharist online

is essentially a missionary activity. We are expressing innovatively what Bishop

Schnase calls “Radical Hospitality.”48 At Central Online, we extend the invitation not “in

a timely manner” but immediately!

This Holy Mystery expands this evangelistic vision: “The Lord’s Supper is to be made

available to people who are in hospitals and hospices; nursing, convalescent, and

rehabilitation facilities; correctional and custodial institutions; or other situations that

make it impossible for them to gather with the community of faith.” This Eucharistic

outreach fulfills the evangelistic purpose of the Church: “through the grace received in

continual participation in the Lord’s Supper, the community of faith reaches beyond itself

to proclaim and exemplify the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.” Finally, This

Holy Mystery declares, “The church is to consciously identify and seek out those who

feel unwelcome, even excluded, from its congregations and to invite them to become

part of the body of Christ and join in its celebrations of Holy Communion.” Central

Online, as part of the Emerging Church and Missional Church movements, agrees.

48 Robert Schnase, The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Nashville: Abingdon).

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Using the image of the Church as a house, a Wesleyan description of the path of

salvation, the Church has a front walkway, a porch, a front door, and the interior of the

house. To the fully welcomed into the house, one must first walk up the pathway, stand

on the front porch, and knock on the door. We believe that the Eucharist online feeds

us at all of those points along the journey into full communion with God and other

people. We cannot limit the Holy Meal only to those already within the house.

As Bishop Willimon said, this practice on online Eucharist “affirms the Wesleyan spirit to

be missionary.”49 Central Online has identified many people who may welcome our

eucharistic ministry: families far from home, college students, persons recovering from

illness, new residents, traveling members, seekers, introverts, children, youth, and

adults with disabilities, and the list continues. We remember that on any given Sunday

in our own county in North Carolina, 80% of the population are not in worship. Like

good shepherds, we must reach out to them and find those persons not now within the

sheepfold.

The sixth affirmation that supports serving the Eucharist online is our tradition of

constant communion. In John Wesley’s 1787 sermon “The Duty of Constant

Communion,” he proclaimed the need of all persons to avail themselves of the power of

the Holy Meal as often as possible for their spiritual nourishment. Unlike Wesley’s own

practice of receiving four or five times a week, many if not most United Methodists today

only share the Holy Feast quarterly or less. Yet, as Felton has affirmed, based on the

49 Willimon, June 25, 2013.

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surveys leading to This Holy Mystery, “people love Holy Communion” and “hunger for

Holy Communion.”50

In our downtown congregation, we celebrate Holy Communion at least weekly, which is

the practice Wesley recommended in the 1784 The Sunday Service of the Methodists in

North America and in his 1784 “Letter to Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and Our Brethren in

North America.” Yet even weekly Eucharist falls short of Wesley’s ideal vision. The

availability of the Eucharist online makes Wesley’s dream more possible for many

people within and beyond established congregations. Through our online congregation,

the ministry of our Concord campus is expanded such that constant communion has

become a real possibility for many persons connected to us electronically.

The itinerant ministry of United Methodist clergy is an extension of our evangelistic

task to share the Gospel as widely as possible beyond the bounds of established

congregations.51 This seventh affirmation is consistent with Central United Methodist

Church’s own history. Central began in 1836 through the work of The Reverend David

Derrick, a Methodist Episcopal Church Circuit Rider from South Carolina. Derrick was

assigned to a region of North Carolina between the Catawba and Yadkin Rivers, an

area of several hundred square miles with only a handful of small societies. Derrick

reached out and founded a small society of seven persons in a new village named 50 Felton, June 25, 2013.51See Lester Ruth, “Urban Itinerancy: “Stational” Liturgy in Early American Methodism” in Studia Liturgica 32, 2 (2002): 222-239. This paper discusses the relationship between the temporal and spatial settings of the early American circuits. Ruth concluded, “Space did win in early Methodism. The basic notion that a preacher was not in residence in one congregation but traveled to fulfill appointments seemed the initial foundation upon which the timing of all Methodist worship was based.”

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Concord. Their first meetings were held on the outdoor steps of the local courthouse.

Today, we call ourselves Central United Methodist Church.

United Methodist clergy are ultimately not sent to a local congregation but to a larger

community of persons. This wider sense of itinerancy was mostly lost following the

American Civil War, when both clergy and congregations wanted a more settled clergy.

United Methodist clergy, however, are still appointed to serve not only members within a

particular local congregation but the entire culture and community surrounding that

congregation. As Asbury and Coke once wrote:

Our grand plan, in all its parts, leads to an itinerant ministry. Our bishops

are travelling bishops. All the different orders which compose our

conferences are employed in the travelling line; and our local preachers

are, in some degree, travelling preachers. Every thing is kept moving as

far as possible; and we will be bold to say, that, next to the grace of God,

there is nothing like this for keeping the whole body alive from the centre

to the circumference, and for the continual extension of that circumference

on every hand.52

We understand that our Central United Methodist parish includes not only the current

members of our local congregation but also the wider community connected to us

52The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in America with Explanatory Notes by Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury (Philadelphia: Henry Tuckniss 1798; reprint edition, Nashville: Parthenon Press), 42. Thanks to Lester Ruth for this observation.

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through electronic media using the internet. We are moving “from the centre to the

circumference.” Again, in the words of Mr. Wesley, “the world is our parish.”

The eighth principle is that of the incarnational presence of Jesus Christ in the

Eucharist. As once the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1), so too does

God in Jesus Christ is always coming to us in the world. Every place from the heavens

above or in Sheol below are places where God can be (Psalm 139:7-10). We believe

that also includes the world of the internet. In early Methodist societies in Great Britain

and North America, when ordained clergy could not be physically present, members

read the sermons of John Wesley and sang the hymns of his brother Charles. While

the Wesleys were not physically present to those early Methodists, their resources

shaped and formed those people.

As Lytle asks: “the question may not be ‘Can God be present in virtual sacraments?’ as

much as ‘Do the real-life people interacting in virtual spaces believe God is there?’”53

Clearly, the answer is that real-life people do believe God is present in online Holy

Communion. Yet, in our United Methodist tradition, the foundation of the efficacy of

Holy Communion is not primarily upon the faith of the believer but the real presence of

Jesus Christ. Because Central Online celebrates the Eucharist using a live celebrant

called to Word and Sacrament using official liturgies and surrounded by a community of

faith, the faith of the believer and the real presence of Jesus Christ make the sacrament

real.

53 Lytle, 98.

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The most serious critique of the Eucharist online is the question whether or not the

incarnational presence requires that the participants be face-to-face, person-to-person,

flesh-upon-flesh persons physically present with each other. Has online Communion

yielded to radical individualism? Can there be a corporate table when persons are

connected only electronically? Have we created religious entertainment for passive

spectators?

Wesley himself warns against individualized Communion in his document “Popery

Calmly Considered.” He wrote: “another evil practice in the Church of Rome, utterly

unheard of in the ancient Church, is that when there is none to receive the Lord’s

Supper, the priest communicates alone. (Indeed, it is not properly to communicate,

when one only receives it.) This likewise is an absolute innovation in the Church of

God.”54 Central Online will not practice Holy Communion without both a live celebrant

present and persons participating online (technology allows us to know how many

persons are connected at any given time). The Holy Meal will be communal.

In Martin Luther’s liturgical reform of the Eucharist during the Protestant Reformation,

“three elements stood out in Luther’s reform of the mass: a congregation must be

present, it must hear the preaching of the Word, and it must be able to participate in the

Eucharist.”55 All three elements are present in Central Online.

54 Wesley, “Popery Calmly Considered,” IV.6. Thanks to Maddox for this perspective.55James White, The Sacraments in Protestant Faith and Practice (Nashville: Abingdon, 1999), 90-91. Thanks to Drew McIntyre for this observation.

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Central Online believes individual spokes surrounding a central hub still create a

functional wheel. The aggregate of individuals connected electronically does create

community. The celebration of Holy Communion online moves persons from the stands

watching other persons practice religion onto the field to join the game. When our

celebrant breaks bread, she or he is surrounded by a living community of real persons

sharing a sacred event together.

Professors, instructors, and teachers who have taught online courses in seminaries and

other educational settings have discovered that experiences online have expanded

learning and perspectives. At least 135 seminaries associated with the Association of

Theological Schools teach classes online for certificates and degrees.56 Six schools

have approval to offer a M.A. or M.Div. completely online. As one reporter wrote:

“Theological education has increasingly left brick-and-mortar schools and headed back

to congregations and family homes as more seminarians study online.”57

Many teachers claim that they have come to know individual students better in online

classes than they sometimes have in face-to-face teaching. Everyone in the online

class must participate. No student is allowed to be quiet and simply pass a final exam.

Online teaching requires the participation of everyone. Online worship and Eucharist

can indeed be true interactions between human beings.

56 Lytle, 75.57 Katherine Burgess in “The Charlotte Observer” (11/23/2103), p. 3E.

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Further, celebration of the Eucharist online may be first step but a major step into

building community. Participants will be invited to grow in communion with God and

one another, commit to a mission project, join a Bible study, participate in a small group,

visit our downtown location, participant in another local congregation (we are a

connectional church), join our local congregation, or join the Central Online

congregation. As a converting ordinance, this celebration of the Holy Meal is but a first

step into a relationship with God and other people as the sanctifying grace of God

empowers holiness of mind, body, and spirit.

Finally, we note the position of Lynne Baab, a Presbyterian pastor, communicator, and

professor, in Reaching Out in a Networked World:

Connections in the postmodern era take place in multiple ways and a variety of

places. They happen at odd times during the week, perhaps late at night, early

in the morning, or during a coffee break at work. They often happen

asynchronously; that is, a group of people can have a fairly intense connection

with each other without being online at the same time.

In this “real” community? It certainly feels real to me. At the same time,

electronic communication cannot substitute for a hug, a sympathetic touch, or a

warm smile. If congregational leaders promote various forms of online

community, they will undoubtedly want to continue to promote forms of face-to-

face community like small groups and neighborhood gatherings. The important

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emphasis to remember in this new environment is that online relationship and

face-to-face relationship are not mutually exclusive.58

The ninth Wesleyan principle is liturgical flexibility. We stand with Article of Religion

XXII: “It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or

exactly alike; for they have been always different. . . Every particular church may

ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be done to

edification.”59 In the final section of Wesley’s sermon “The Means of Grace,” he

declares that:

we find no command in holy writ for any particular order [of salvation] to be

observed herein . . . but the means into which different people are led, in which

they find the blessing of God, are varied, transposed, and combined together, a

thousand different ways . . . wherever opportunity serves, use all the means

which God has ordained; for who knows in which God will meet thee with the

grace that bringeth salvation?60

For example, while our United Methodist services of ordination ask clergy to be loyal to

our liturgy,61 our Discipline does not list failure to practice the liturgies in our official

books of worship as a chargeable offense for clergy. Liturgical flexibility is our doctrine

and practice. 58 Babb, Reaching Out in a Networked World, 120.59 2012 United Methodist Book of Discipline, ¶104, 74.60 “The Means of Grace” IV.3.61 See the Services of Ordination from the 1992 United Methodist Book of Worship, and the several revisions thereafter authorized by subsequent General Conferences. The author was the primary author and editor of these services from 1992 to 2000.

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Lovett H. Weems, in an article for the Lewis Center at Wesley Theological Seminary,

addresses this theme:

John Wesley knew that the “forms” of religion can remain even when the “power”

of true religion is gone. The reason has nothing to do with our particular era or

technology. It has to do with the human tendency to create the necessary means

(“earthen vessels”) required to carry the power of God and then fall more in love

with the earthen vessels than with the gospel message they carry. God’s call to

churches never can be captured for all time in any of our methods or practices.

The new wine of God’s message keeps resisting the old wineskins in which we

seek to capture it. Church leaders who can embrace the essential truth that the

medium is ever-changing, while holding fast to the mission, can lead the church

into the next chapter God has for our congregations.62

Central Online must hold fast our ultimate mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for

the transformation of the world. Receiving the Eucharist is not the end of a life of

discipleship but the beginning of a life-long relationship with God and other disciples.

Full discipleship includes receiving prevenient grace along with justifying and sanctifying

grace.

62 “Separating the Mission from the Medium,” by Lovett H. Weems, Jr., “Leading Ideas,” May 22, 2013.

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The tenth and final Wesleyan theme is the understanding of the Eucharist as

eschatological foretaste of our communion of our Triune God and all the saints at

the celestial banquet. As the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving concludes:

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,

one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,

all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father,

now and forever. Amen.63

Every Eucharist in the Church militant is at its best an appetizer to God’s feast with the

Church triumphant. Every Holy Meal we celebrate here on earth, from Central UMC in

Concord to Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco to Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C.

is anticipatory of a grander meal in the new Jerusalem. This eschatological dimension

causes us to be cautious about differentiating between Eucharist online and the Holy

Meal in physical settings. Is Holy Communion online a perfect sacrament? No. Yet,

every other eucharistic celebration is also imperfect until the final banquet. The final

and communal “Amen” by the community affirms our corporate anticipation of the Feast

of the Lamb when we shall all gather with one another at the river of life. When

63 United Methodist Book of Worship, 38.

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members of Central Online eat and drink together, as do all others who celebrate the

Eucharist throughout the Church universal, they have sampled real communion with our

God and one another, until we all see each other face-to-face, spiritual body-to-spiritual

body, in the New Jerusalem.64

All ten of these principles, founded in Wesleyan theology and practice, encourage us to

be bold to practice Eucharist online. Individually, each of these affirmations encourages

us to act boldly; collectively, they provide overwhelming endorsement.

We take seriously the need to offer the Eucharist in a manner faithful to our liturgy and

tradition but also in new ways, that we might offer Jesus Christ and build up the Church

universal. We are creating new wineskins to hold new wine. Central Online is not

waiting for a denominational paper or a General Conference approved liturgy to offer

God’s grace in this new way.

Two Liturgical Observations

We understand that we are engaging in a new style and paradigm of worship in our

tradition. Two classic observations by liturgists, however, support our emerging worship

reform and renewal: lex orandi, lex credendi and “space always wins.”

64 Thanks to The Reverend Dr. Edgardo Colón-Emeric of Duke for this insight (June 25, 2013).

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First, the ancient liturgical maxim by Prosper of Aquitaine – lex orandi, lex credendi (the

law of prayer becomes the law of belief) – casts light on our innovation. 65 Church

historians and liturgical theologians of the Church have found that the way we practice

worship precedes the formulation of foundational theology. Theological documents are

not written for the sake of establishing liturgies. While not every liturgical innovation is

ultimately judged legitimate, new practices often stretch and expand our theology.

In our own tradition, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and The United Methodist

Book of Worship (1992) preceded the writing and adoption of By Water and The Spirit

(1996) and This Holy Mystery (2004). Both The Hymnal Revision Committee and The

United Methodist Book of Worship Committee participated in an ongoing process of

writing liturgy, debating theology, and then rewriting liturgy. We United Methodists

created and practiced our liturgies before we definitively defined them theologically.

The practice of online Eucharist can enable us to understand even more deeply and in

new ways the theology of the sacraments we practice. The concept of creating a

theological principle, for example by a general United Methodist entity or General

Conference, and then writing subsequent liturgy is out of sync. Once Central Online

and many other United Methodist congregations and clergy have practiced Eucharist

65 Prosper of Aquataine (4th century AD), Lex orandi, lex credendi refers to the relationship between worship and belief. From Wikipedia: “an ancient Christian principle which provided a measure for developing the ancient Christian creeds, the canon of scripture and other doctrinal matters based on the prayer texts of the Church, that is, the Church's liturgy. In the Early Church there was liturgical tradition before there was a common creed and before there was an officially sanctioned biblical canon. These liturgical traditions provided the theological framework for establishing the creeds and canon.”

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online in a variety of ways, it will become clear what theological, liturgical, and

ecclesiological issues needs to be discussed. Then and only then, can various groups

and leaders within the United Methodist Church be prepared to speak about theology.

The second liturgical observation is that the setting of worship often defines the practice

and theology of worship.66 Stated in another way, the space always wins, that is,

architecture always wins. James White made this observation clear in his Ph.D.

dissertation on the Oxford Movement in Anglican churches in the 19 th century. The

Tractarians from Oxford and other settings emphasized more classic liturgical practices

leading to an Anglo-Catholic party in The Church of England. Primarily, they re-

emphasized the Eucharist over the sermon in Sunday worship. The Oxford Movement,

however, did not change any of the liturgies or rubrics in the English Book of Common

Prayer. Instead, they changed the dominant architecture of English churches from

pulpit centered sanctuaries to a split chancel and table centered spaces. Within

decades, by changing the setting of worship, Anglican worship began to focus on the

Eucharist.

In our own lifetimes, when some United Methodist congregations shifted from

sanctuaries to auditoriums and performance centers, worship naturally changed. When

video-screens replaced crosses, pulpits disappeared, and drums sets and keyboards

took the place of organs, congregations worshiped differently and experienced worship

66 The original quote is “the building will always win” found in J. A. T. Robinson, Making the Building Serve the Liturgy, ed. Gilbert Cope (London: A. R. Mowbray 1962), 5.

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in new ways. Only now are liturgical scholars beginning to explore how new

architectures for worship influence liturgical practices today.67

When Central Online and other congregations open the architecture of worship from

groups of people gather in buildings to congregations connected through electronic

media, we should reasonably expect that the practices of worship will change. What will

happen as the Eucharist is celebrated online? We cannot foresee all the shifts ahead.

Even so, shifts in practices and also shifts in theology are sure to come.

As Central Online develops, we look forward to discovering how our internet

experiences shape all our practices and theology. Concerning the Eucharist, we look

forward to discovering how our electronic architecture shapes our eucharistic liturgy and

theology.

Navigating Between Sacramental Extremes

Central’s celebration of the Eucharist online stands between two extremes of

sacramental theology. Like the ancient hero Ulysses seeking safe passage between

the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis,68 Wesley’s nuanced understanding of real

presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Meal provides a middle way between high-church

sacramentalism and low-church spiritualism that proves helpful to our celebration of the

Eucharist online.

67 See especially Julie Anne Lytle, Faith Formation 4.0 (Morehouse: New York, 2013) for an extended and deep discussion of the ways new media shape religion. Also faithformation4-0.com for an online discussion.68 The Odyssey, Book Twelve, describes high walls and swirling whirlpools.

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At one sacramental extreme, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches speak of the real

presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine that have been transformed. These

liturgical traditions believe that the elements of bread and cup have in substance

become the body and blood of our Savior. Having been transformed, these elements

may therefore be shared at times and in places beyond the original gathered

congregation and celebrant. These traditions honor the reserved sacraments, by

having a priest bless the elements of bread and cup and then distribute them later in

settings other than communal worship. The celebration of the Eucharist on the Roman

Catholic media network EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) Global Catholic

Television Network, by which persons receive at home is one expression of this

tradition.

At the other extreme are the Quakers and others who speak not of real sacraments but

only of spiritual realities. Some persons, for example, consider the Lord’s Supper only

as an ordinance for our spiritual edification. The extreme of this liturgical tradition does

not even require the use of bread or cup for the Eucharist or water for Baptism. Today,

many new spiritualities swirl through our culture encouraging persons to be spiritual but

not religious. A number of low-church, independent congregations such as Saddleback

Church in California and Seacoast Church, with sites in South Carolina, North Carolina,

Georgia, and online, also offer Holy Communion online.

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Wesley charted a safe course between these two liturgical extremes. While Wesley

could not define the “manner” in which the elements of Holy Communion become

sacred, nevertheless, he was certain that “sure and real is the grace.” For example,

following his own conflict with the spiritual Quietists at Fetter Lane, Wesley departed

from his alliance with the Moravians. When Wesley’s friends claimed that they did not

need the traditional means of the grace of God, Wesley asserted that they had gone too

far. Wesley addressed his sermon “The Means of Grace” primarily to this issue. 69 The

heart of the Eucharist in the Wesleyan tradition is not only in the reality of Jesus Christ

in the elements, but also the powerful grace of God bestowed through the bread and

cup received in faith.

Nothing in our practice of Eucharist Online shifts our doctrinal position against the

Roman Catholic teaching of a reserved sacrament. Our United Methodist doctrine

(Article of Religion XVIII as confirmed by a 2008 ruling of our Judicial Council # 1109 70)

prohibits the reserved sacrament. Central Online does not bless gifts of bread and cup

and then distribute the elements to persons to use outside the context of worship or

individually at a time of their own choosing. We do not offer “drop-in” Communion

where the elements are available over a period of time. At the other extreme, neither do

we simply offer a spiritual act without any substance. We believe that we must use the

tangible elements of bread and fruit from the vine to convey sacramental grace, yet we

must do so in new ways.

69 “The Means of Grace” I.4-6 and IV.70 In response to a petition to the Judicial from the author via the Western North Carolina Annual Conference in June 2008.

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Eucharist online by Central Online must continue to steer through treacherous waters to

avoid high-church sacramentalism and low-church spiritualism. While both those

extremes offer Holy Communion online, United Methodists should not be stuck in the

middle and not offer the Eucharist.

How Has Holy Communion Been Celebrated Electronically?

Central Online is not the first United Methodist, or mainline congregation to celebrate

Holy Communion in new settings never before imagined by our spiritual forbearers.

John Ed Mathison at Frazier Memorial United Methodist Church decades ago initiated

significant ministries via television and cable networks with recorded worship services.

Over the years, Mathison would often invite his TV watchers and listeners to celebrate

over the airwaves the Sacrament of Holy Communion with his live congregation. The

services of Frazier reached more United Methodists than any other media of that time.

Mathison described their practice this way:

When we were on television I always offered the Communion elements to the

television audience. I told them during the offertory to please have someone get

them a form of liquid and a cracker or piece of bread. After the sermon, when

the Communion elements were served in the Sanctuary, I had prerecorded a

time to receive Communion with them. It was one of the most effective things we

did on television. So many people would write and talk about how much it meant

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for them to receive Communion. Many of them were in nursing homes, shut-ins,

etc.

There was one minister who went to a church. He visited an elderly man who

was a member of the congregation. The man told him he didn’t get out much

anymore. The pastor offered to bring Communion elements to him. The pastor

told me that his comment was “that would be nice, but I always take Communion

with John Ed and those people in Montgomery. My son helps me have a part of

a Moon Pie ready and I either have some water or a coke. I always look forward

to it.”71

Many people know that Holy Communion was celebrated on the moon in 1969!

Presbyterian Buzz Aldrin took reserved elements of bread and cup on Apollo 11. The

first meal on the moon was the Eucharist! A description of this act is found in the

footnote.72

71 John Ed Mathison in a letter to Andy, December 30, 2013.72 Communion on the Moon: July 20, 1969 (Article by Eric Metaxas)

Forty-three years ago [July 21, 1969] two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. I 'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon.

Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine. And a few years ago I had the privilege of meeting him myself. I asked him about it and he confirmed the story to me, and I wrote about in my book, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask).

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life, and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow, and he asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement:

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The Reverend Dawn Chesser, while working on her Ph.D. dissertation, has done

significant work about how other congregations, related to The United Methodist Church

and beyond, practice Holy Communion online.73 Her work provides broad research,

which has informed this paper.

For example, New Mexico’s Alpha Church, under the leadership of Patricia Walker,

practices on-line Communion (www.alphachurch.org/holycomm.htm). Walker, who

began this ministry in 1998 as a United Methodist pastor, now offers the United

"This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way."

He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion. Here is his own account of what happened:

In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture, 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.”

I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly." "I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."

And of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon - and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and other stars."

73 Chesser is now a worship staff person with the UMC General Board of Discipleship. Her wisdom and critique of early drafts of this paper were invaluable. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the GBOD or The United Methodist Church.

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Methodist liturgy from the Invitation through the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving. Other

people join in the responses, which include The Lord’s Prayer, the communal meal, and

a prayer after receiving is offered. The entire service takes about eight minutes. There

is no live pastor or host. Classical pictures take the place of a live celebrant. Walker

also offers Baptism online. For reasons unknown, Walker is no longer a United

Methodist pastor. The following is the logo from her page on Holy Communion.

Dr. Thomas Madron, now a retired licensed local pastor in Tennessee began a similar

ministry in 2008. His site uses the official UMC liturgy with sections from Thomas

Cranmer’s earlier liturgy in the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer.74 Madron

includes a section about preparing for Holy Communion. Because Madron is not

appointed to a United Methodist congregation, he is now a lay person and unable within

our connection to serve Holy Communion. This congregation, therefore, is not identified

as United Methodist. In 2009, Bishop Richard Wills instructed that the site be

removed.75 The site still operates. Madron is no longer appointed to a United Methodist

congregation.

74 http://holycommunionontheweb.org and also holycommunionontheweb.net.75 Madron’s website provides a detailed history of his relationship with his bishop about online Holy Communion.

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The Reverend Dr. Gregory Neal, who is still an active United Methodist pastor in Texas,

has a section on his website, Grace Incarnate Ministries, entitled “Holy Communion On

the Web.”76 He speaks of “practical sacramentality.” Neal has a service that is not live

but recorded. He calls it an “experiment.” Central Online, in contrast, stresses the

importance of a live celebrant. The following image comes from his website.

We are aware that some United Methodist Disciple Bible Study groups, which meet

online through Bishop Richard Wilke’s ministry in Arkansas (BeADisciple.com), have

served Holy Communion to the participants via the internet. The ZOE ministry, which

empowers orphans and vulnerable children in Africa and is related to six United

Methodist conferences, has celebrated the Eucharist in the United States and invited

participants join via Skype in Africa. In this service, one celebrant simultaneously offers

Holy Communion to worshipers on two continents. We suspect that there are many

more ways in which United Methodists are already celebrating the Eucharist online.

Tim Ross from the British Methodist Church practiced “Communion by Tweet.” [See

simonjenkins.com/blog/list/category/twitter.] The British Methodists stopped this

76www.revneal.org

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practice that violated “embodied worship.” Neither the language nor an explanation of

of “embodied worship” are found in Wesley’s own writings or in This Holy Mystery. The

concept may reflect Wesley’s understanding of social religion: “Christianity is essentially

a social religion . . . to turn it into a solitary religion, is indeed to destroy it . . . I mean not

only that it cannot subsist so well, but that it cannot subsist at all, without society –

without living and conversing with other [people].”77 Central Online believes that its

ministry is grounded with a community of faith and its practices stand as a bulwark

against solitary religion.

The Roman Catholic television network, EWTN, celebrates Holy Mass at least four

times daily on its network, and also through the radio and other media. Because

Roman Catholics observe the reserved sacrament, many Roman Catholics can

participate in the Eucharist through these social media, by receiving Holy Communion

using elements either picked up at a local congregation or delivered to their homes.

When the author shared this subject with a lay Roman Catholic neighbor, she seemed

stunned that anyone would question the efficacy of this new media mode of celebrating

Holy Communion.

In electronic correspondence between Pastor Drew McIntryre with the “Assistant

Theologian” of EWTN, the following was said:

77 Wesley, Sermon 24, “Sermon on the Mount,” IV, I. 1-4. Thanks to Maddox. See also “’Holy solitaries’ is a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than holy adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness.” Wesley, “Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739), Preface, 4-5.

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If one is viewing (or hearing) the celebration of the Mass as it is broadcast live,

then the blessing of the priest (including that of the Pope) is bestowed upon the

viewer exactly as it would be if he or she were personally present.78

Because Central Online is broadcasting our Eucharist live, we appreciate this Roman

Catholic perspective!

Finally, The Anglican Cathedral of Second Life in England has created a virtual reality

world with “avatar” (characters with false names created online and participating in

worship) priests and participants. The site has registered 50,000 participants. In

addition to daily prayers and other religious activities, they once considered but did not

celebrate Holy Communion via virtual persons. Currently, a British Methodist pastor

leads that online congregation. Bishop of Guilford, Christopher Hill, has written an

unpublished paper on this topic. Also from England, Dr. Paul Fiddes, Oxford professor

of Systematic Theology, argues virtual Eucharist is possible

(www.liturgy.co.nz/blog/virtual-eucharist/1078). Below is a picture from The Anglican

Cathedral of Second Life.

78 Drew McIIntyre in “Offer Them Christ Face-to-Face: A Response to Central Online’s Proposal for Online Eucharistic Celebration.” We do not assume, however, that the Assistant Theologian of EWTN speaks for the Roman Catholic Church.

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Clearly, many perspectives exist about Eucharist online. In summary, Eucharist online

is an evolving topic of liturgical and theological discussion. High-church sacramentalists

and low-church spiritualists already practice the Eucharist through new media. Mainline

communions, however, still find themselves somewhat lost in the middle. Time and

more discussion will lead us to safe waters.

Preparing for the Holy Meal

How may persons receive the Eucharist via our online congregation? Initially, persons

prepare themselves spiritually for the meal. We take seriously the invitation that

persons should seek to be in communion with God and one another in the online

community. Worshipers are encouraged to read Scripture, pray, repent, and commit

themselves to receive God’s presence in their lives to live in community with others.

Our liturgy online provides for these actions.

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We make no assumptions about who and how people will participate. A common

preconception is that people may simply sit in front of a computer screen in their

pajamas and are simply too lazy to travel to a sanctuary. We, however, envision

individuals taking this opportunity seriously. We picture families joining us together, or a

Bible study group in someone’s living room watching together on a large screen, or a

group of friends coming together in a coffee house, or a house congregation

participating at a specific time each week, or a shut-in with a caregiver, or students in a

dorm room, or any number of other settings. We encourage everyone to invite

someone to share the meal with them. Instead of anonymity we encourage connection.

We set no limits on the variety of settings in which Holy Communion online is received.

Persons are asked to gather their communion elements before the service begins.

Worshipers are invited, wherever they are, to prepare a piece of bread and grape

juice/wine to drink. Full Eucharistic participation, however, historically only requires one

element. Many pastors recount a variety of experiences with communion elements,

including Dr. Pepper and cupcakes, water and corn chips, coconut milk and rice, and

apple juice and banana-nut bread. We believe, however, that bread and fruit of the

grape vine should be the norm.

For the bread, This Holy Mystery observes that “bread may be made from any grain

according to availability.” Persons, therefore, prepare a small amount of bread to eat

like a small piece of unleavened bread, leavened bread, gluten-free bread, a cracker,

pita bread, or a small piece of tortilla.

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For the cup, persons prepare a small amount of grape juice or wine. This Holy Mystery

also provides that “variations may be necessary in cultural contexts where the juice of

the grape is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.”

Participants are asked to turn the speaker volume on their computer to a comfortable

level. As able, participants are also asked to read aloud with the responses as seen on

the screen.

Offering the Eucharist Online

The service begins with the official liturgies for Holy Communion found in our 1992

United Methodist Book of Worship. These liturgies provide the shape and outline of our

worship online. The entire service, read prayerfully and with space for silent prayer,

takes less than seven minutes, an ideal length of time for online participation.

Participants may share in Holy Communion as often as they wish. We offer the

Eucharist several times every week. The Service of the Table is changed periodically

depending on the day and/or season of the Christian Year or other liturgical setting.

The Liturgy of the Table, as found in our United Methodist Book of Worship, is located

within a Service of Word and Table. The Eucharist, therefore, is most appropriate as a

response to a Service of the Word or the reading of Scripture. Our services begin with

either a Service of the Word or with Scripture.

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The Liturgy of the Table includes:

Invitation

Confession and Pardon

The Peace

Taking the Bread and Cup

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord’s Prayer

Breaking the Bread

Giving the Bread and Cup

Final Prayer

A full discussion of each of these elements and their inter-relationship may be found in

The Worship Resources of the United Methodist Hymnal79 and This Holy Mystery.

The Liturgy of the Table begins with either a live presentation by an authorized United

Methodist pastor or a recorded presentation by one of our pastors accompanied by a

live host online with the authority to offer the sacrament. Let us be clear: each

Eucharist involves a live pastor joining with our online members gathered as a

community in many locations. All of Central Online’s celebrants are authorized to

celebrate the Eucharist with the participants in and through Central Online.

79 Hoyt Hickman, editor (Abingdon: Nashville, 1989), a comprehensive review of our official liturgy.

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Typically, the celebrant is surrounded by other members of our Central congregation.

Instead of just a priest behind a table acting alone, the celebrant will be accompanied by

representatives of our worshiping community who will join in the liturgy and prayers and

receive the gifts of bread and cup.

The celebrant invites the community gathered online to the Lord’s Table:

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.80

This Invitation bridges the Service of the Word and Service of the Table.

The pastor leads a corporate prayer of confession, which is available online both orally

and on screen, and then offers pardon and signs of peace.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

80 United Methodist Hymnal, 7.

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we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.81

After a time of silence for personal prayers of confession, the leader concludes the

prayer with words of forgiveness:

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!82

And the people respond to the leader:

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Glory to God. Amen.83

Persons are invited to share the Peace of Christ with other people gathered with them,

or be asked to be witnesses of peace in their lives.

81 Ibid., 8.82 Ibid.83 Ibid.

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The celebrant then takes the bread and cup and blesses them in the name of the Trinity

using an authorized Prayer of Great Thanksgiving. Central typically uses a whole loaf

of bread and a large chalice. Persons, wherever they are, may be invited to stand for

this prayer. This Trinitarian Prayer, based on early Church liturgies, recalls the mighty

acts of creation and redemption by the first person of the Trinity, the origin and meaning

of the first celebration of the meal by Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit to

work among us today. A variety of such prayers are found in The United Methodist

Book of Worship.

In the Eucharistic prayer, we recall (anamnesis) how Jesus took the bread, blessed it,

broke it, and gave it to his disciples. We also remember how Christ was taken by the

world, blessed by God, broken physically, and given as God’s sign of love. And at a

personal level, members of the congregation also ask for God to take us as we are,

bless us, break us from our sin, and use our time, talents, gifts, and lives for the sake of

all creation.

During the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving, as the elements are blessed by the celebrant,

the bread and cup are sanctified and made holy. The blessing extends to all the

elements being used in the services wherever members of the congregation are

located.

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Following a tradition from the 6th century, The Lord’s Prayer concludes the Great

Thanksgiving with everyone praying together. At Central Online, we typically use the

traditional Lord’s Prayer with the word “trespasses.”

The final “Amen” at both the conclusion of both the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving and

The Lord’s Prayer is essential. As participants join in the final Amen, they assent,

confirm, and affirm all that has been said and done. The liturgy has become the work of

the people.

The celebrant online then breaks the bread and lifts the cup, in an action commonly

called the Fraction. Now begins the act of communion or koinonia from 1 Corinthians

10:16, which may also be translated as “participation,” “sharing,” or “fellowship.”

At Central, we include the following invitation, indicating who may be welcomed at the

table:

Following the Prayer of Great Thanksgiving, we invite everyone – saints and

sinners, members and guests, infants and elders – to come and receive the gifts

of bread and cup. All who seek to be in communion with Christ and this

congregation are invited to the Holy Meal.84

All members of the congregation participate wherever they are with whichever elements

have been blessed. This action is called Distribution. The people gathered together

84 Bulletin of Central United Methodist Church.

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electronically, although not in pews or chairs in the same room, share the living

presence of Christ together. At this time, background music by our church musicians

furthers the sense of the holy presence of God in these actions.

We strongly encourage persons to receive with other persons wherever they are

located. Persons may share with other members of their family, a caregiver, or in a

house congregation. The Holy Meal is more powerful when two or three are physically

gathered with one another. The visible sign of giving and receiving the bread and cup

from another person points to the communal quality of the meal.

The Eucharist ends with a final prayer offered either by the celebrant or prayed by the

whole community. Enabled by God’s power, persons are invited to grow in their

relationship with God and their neighbors through personal and social holiness. We

concur with Maddox:

A direct implication of the personal quality of eucharistic grace is its co-operant

nature – the Spirit (i.e. grace) is always present in the means, but we must

responsively welcome this Presence for it to be effective in healing our lives. Full

response in such a personal setting is rarely instantaneous, it grows through

continuing relationship. Likewise, the healing which our sin-distorted lives

require is a long-term project. This is precisely why Wesley encouraged frequent

communion! Believers find in each new meal a fresh and deeper encounter with

God’s empowering love.85

85 Maddox, 204.

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Participants are invited at the end of the service to make a financial offering for a

mission project or commit to other ways of responding to God’s grace in the Holy Meal

through their prayers, presence, talents, and witness.

We also encourage persons receiving Holy Communion on the internet to attend our

congregation in Concord, North Carolina or to consider participating in the ministries of

another congregation. While Central Online may be entry in our congregation’s

communion with God and other people, there are many exceptional congregations that

would welcome those participants to become active in their life together.

Following the service, any communion elements that remain at our host congregation

are either consumed by the host celebrant or returned to the earth (the bread broken

and scattered on the ground and the juice poured out in the sign of the cross) as an

ecological symbol of worship.

The final way we end the Eucharist is by inviting worshipers to become a member of our

online congregation. Membership in Central Online requires participation in an online

class of church membership and a commitment to uphold our congregation through

prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. We base this membership class on the

official adult confirmation materials published by Abingdon Press, Living as United

Methodist Christians: Our Story, Our Beliefs, Our Lives, written by Andy and Sally

Langford.86 We expect full members to exhibit the disciplines of Wesleyan practice in

86 Living As United Methodist Christians: Our Story, Our Beliefs, Our Lives (Abingdon: Nashville, 2011).

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their own lives wherever they are. We offer class meetings online and are considering a

yearly gathering of our online congregation for holy conferencing.

As full members of Central United Methodist Church Online, as indicated in “The Rules

of the United Societies,” members are expected to attend “upon all the ordinances of

God” including the Supper of the Lord.87 Since the formation of the Wesleyan

movement, regular participation in the Eucharist is expected and required of all who call

themselves Methodist. At Central, we cannot have full members of our online campus

and withhold from them the Eucharist.

The General Church’s Response

In the Fall of 2013, staff of four general agencies of The United Methodist Church called

together a consultation to discuss online Eucharist. The group of twenty-seven persons

included predominately general agency staff, three bishops, seminary professors from a

several United Methodist and non-United Methodist seminaries, three pastors serving

local congregations, and four persons under the age of 50. Daniel Wilson and

Susannah Pittman from Central were allowed to attend at their own expense and

participated fully in the dialogue.

A draft of this paper was requested a month before the meeting (the first paper

submitted). Only a few of the written responses responded directly to this document.

Ten members of the consultation put forward a motion opposing the practice of online

87 2012 Discipline, ¶ 104, 77.

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communion during the first minutes of the meeting. Some participants wished to bring

clergy and bishops up on “charges of clergy misconduct” if such a practice was done.

After very intense conversations, a motion was made to refer their work to the Council

of Bishops.

At the November 2013 meeting of

The Council of Bishops, the Council took three actions:

1. The Faith and Order Committee of the Council called upon the Council officers to

collaborate with general agency staff and other partners to actively lead the way to

promote and develop excellent practices of online ministries across the United

Methodist Church.

2. It called for a moratorium on all online sacramental practices.

3. It requested papers and notes of the October, 2013 conversation be referred to the

Council Of Bishops and Committee on Faith and Order for consideration with

ecumenical partners, and be made available on a website.

At Central Online, we look forward to participating in more dialogue, as indicated in

items one and three. An honest, open discussion that represents all voices is always

good especially as we live into the new media age. We especially look forward to

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surveys and conversations with our developing online community and dialogue with our

bishop as we determine if and when to offer the Eucharist online.

We question, however, the language of a “moratorium.” By what disciplinary authority

did the bishops call for a moratorium? Such authority is not granted by our Discipline to

our bishops or general agencies. We greatly respect the authority of our bishops in all

matters ecclesiologically sanctioned, but are unpersuaded by any body to act beyond

the bounds granted by our Discipline.

Any attempt to specify which sacramental actions by authorized clergy are permissible

or not opens up a Pandora’s Box for our denomination. Is it a chargeable offense if a

pastor refuses to baptize an infant, or does not offer a Prayer of Great Thanksgiving

before serving the Eucharist, or baptizes or consecrates the elements without using

“Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” or does not practice constant or frequent communion, or

blesses bread and cup over a telephone, or consecrates elements for a youth retreat

several days later, and so on and so on? All of these actions, unfortunately, are

common practices observed in United Methodist congregations. None of them are

practiced by Central United Methodist Church. To attempt to legislate specific

sacramental practice is full of landmines.

Invitation

In this document, we have traced our Wesleyan tradition concerning the Eucharist,

named ten key Wesleyan principles that support online Holy Communion, made two

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important liturgical observations, navigated between sacramental extremes, reviewed

how Holy Communion has been celebrated online, and shared how Central Online

prepares and offers the Eucharist online. The conversation has begun.

As Central Online offers the Eucharist online, we welcome further conversation and

dialogue about this new way of sharing the riches of God’s grace in a new media culture

desperate for communion with our triune God and all people who feast with us.

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This Holy Mystery:

A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion

(extended excerpts)

Approved by the 2004 General Conference

Part One: There Is More to the Mystery

The story is told of a little girl whose parents had taken her forward to receive Holy Communion. Disappointed with the small piece of bread she was given to dip in the cup, the child cried loudly, “I want more! I want more!” While embarrassing to her parents and amusing to the pastor and congregation, this little girl’s cry accurately expresses the feelings of many contemporary United Methodist people. We want more! We want more than we are receiving from the sacrament of Holy Communion as it is practiced in our churches. . . .

There is a strong sense of the importance of Holy Communion in the life of individual Christians and of the church. Unfortunately, there is at least an equally strong sense of the absence of any meaningful understanding of Eucharistic theology and practice. United Methodists recognize that grace and spiritual power are available to them in the sacrament, but too often they do not feel enabled to receive these gifts and apply them in their lives. Many laypeople complain of sloppy practice, questionable theology, and lack of teaching and guidance. . . .

These results are also exciting and challenging! They reveal a deep hunger for the riches of divine grace made available to us through Holy Communion, for real communion with Jesus Christ and with Christian people. They show that United Methodists want our faith to be enlivened and made more relevant to our daily lives. . . .

This Holy Mystery is characterized by the effort to avoid rigidity on the one hand and indifference on the other. Neither extreme is true to our heritage nor faithful to the Spirit who leads the church forward in the work of making disciples living toward the new creation.

The document is made up of two main parts. The expository introduction titled “Part One: There Is More to the Mystery” describes the document’s development and provides grounding in historical tradition and sacramental theology.

“Part Two: Christ Is Here: Experiencing the Mystery” is organized by principles. Under each principle, “Background” provides an explanation for the principle, while “Practice” provides guidelines for applying the principle. The principles make assertions that are

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truthful and doctrinally clear. They honor the historic and ecumenical center of the Christian church’s theology and practice. . . .

Part One: There Is More to the Mystery

[Tradition and Theology]

Names of the Sacrament

Several terms naming the sacrament are used in past and present Christianity. In This Holy Mystery some are used more than others, but all are largely synonymous. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that Jesus Christ is the host and that we participate at Christ’s invitation. This title suggests the eating of a meal, sometimes called the Holy Meal, and makes us think of the meals that Jesus ate with various people both before his death and after his resurrection. . . .The early church appears to have referred to their celebrations as breaking bread (Acts 2:42).

The term Holy Communion invites us to focus on the self-giving of the Holy God, which makes the sacrament an occasion of grace, and on the holiness of our communion with God and one another. Eucharist, from the Greek word for thanksgiving, reminds us that the sacrament is thanksgiving to God for the gifts of creation and salvation. . . . All of these names refer to the same practice: the eating and drinking of consecrated bread and wine in the worshiping community.

Background

As early as the Emmaus experience on the day of Resurrection, recorded in Luke 24:13-35, Christians recognized the presence of Jesus Christ in the breaking of bread. . . . When followers of Christ gathered in Jesus’ name, the breaking of bread and sharing of the cup was a means of remembering his life, death, and resurrection and of encountering the living Christ. They experienced afresh the presence of their risen Lord and received sustenance for their lives as disciples. As the church organized itself, this custom of Eucharist became the characteristic ritual of the community and the central act of its worship.

Over the centuries, various understandings and practices of Holy Communion have developed. . . .

United Methodist Heritage

Early Methodism

The Methodist movement in eighteenth-century England was an evangelical movement that included a revival of emphasis on the sacraments. The Wesleys recognized the power of God available in the Lord’s Supper and urged their followers to draw on that

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power by frequent participation. The grace available in and through the sacrament was active in conviction, repentance and conversion, forgiveness, and sanctification.

John Wesley described the Lord’s Supper as “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God” (“Sermon on the Mount—Discourse Six,” III.11). During the years in which Methodism was beginning and growing, Wesley himself communed an average of four to five times a week.

Wesley’s sermon “The Duty of Constant Communion” emphasizes the role of the sacrament in the lives of Christians in ways that are keenly meaningful today. The Wesley brothers wrote and published a collection of 166 Hymns on the Lord’s Supper, which was used for meditation as well as for singing.

The Wesleys understood and taught the multifaceted nature of the Lord’s Supper. They wrote about love, grace, sacrifice, forgiveness, the presence of Christ, mystery, healing, nourishment, holiness, and pledge of heaven. They knew that Holy Communion is a powerful means through which divine grace is given to God’s people. Our sacramental understandings and practices today are grounded in this heritage. . . .

Grace and the Means of Grace

Today Holy Communion must be viewed within the larger context of United Methodist theology. In accord with biblical and Christian teaching, we believe that we are sinners, constantly in need of divine grace. We believe that God is gracious and loving, always making available the grace we need. Grace is God’s love toward us, God’s free and undeserved gift. Several words describe how grace works in our lives.

Prevenient grace is that which “comes before” anything we can do to help ourselves. Although we are all bound by our sinful nature, grace gives us enough freedom of will to be able to respond to God. In truth, all grace is prevenient—we cannot move toward God unless God has first moved toward us. God seeks us out, pursues us, calls us to come into the loving relationship that we were created to enjoy.

Convicting grace makes us conscious of our sinfulness and urges us to repentance.

Justifying grace forgives and puts us into right relationship with God.

Sanctifying grace enables us to grow in holiness of life. Perfecting grace molds us into the image of Christ. The grace of God is made available to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and works in our lives through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

While divine grace reaches us any time and in any way that God chooses, God has designated certain means or channels through which grace is most surely and immediately available. John Wesley expressed it this way: “By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this

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end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men [and women], preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace” (“The Means of Grace,” II.1).

In the General Rules, Wesley listed these means of grace as, “The public worship of God. The ministry of the Word, either read or expounded. The Supper of the Lord. Family and private prayer. Searching the Scriptures. Fasting or abstinence” (BOD, ¶ 103; page 74). . . . These means are not to be understood as ways of earning salvation, for that is an unmerited gift. They are, rather, ways to receive, live in, and grow in divine grace. The Wesleyan tradition has continued to emphasize the practice of these means of grace throughout our salvation process.

The Theology of Sacraments

The Greek word used in the early church for sacrament is mysterion, usually translated “mystery.” It indicates that through sacraments, God discloses things that are beyond human capacity to know through reason alone. In Latin the word used is sacramentum, which means a vow or promise. The sacraments were instituted by Christ and given to the church.

Jesus Christ is himself the ultimate manifestation of a sacrament. In the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, God’s nature and purpose were revealed and active through a human body. The Christian church is also sacramental. It was instituted to continue the work of Christ in redeeming the world. The church is Christ’s body—the visible, material instrument through which Christ continues to be made known and the divine plan is fulfilled. Holy Baptism and Holy Communion have been chosen and designated by God as special means through which divine grace comes to us. . . .

Holy Communion is the sacrament that sustains and nourishes us in our journey of salvation. In a sacrament, God uses tangible, material things as vehicles or instruments of grace. Wesley defines a sacrament, in accord with his Anglican tradition, as “an outward sign of inward grace, and a means whereby we receive the same” (“Means of Grace,” II.1).

Sacraments are sign-acts, which include words, actions, and physical elements. They both express and convey the gracious love of God. They make God’s love both visible and effective. We might even say that sacraments are God’s “show and tell,” communicating with us in a way that we, in all our brokenness and limitations, can receive and experience God’s grace.

The Meaning of Holy Communion

In the New Testament, at least six major ideas about Holy Communion are present: thanksgiving, fellowship, remembrance, sacrifice, action of the Holy Spirit, and eschatology. . . .

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Holy Communion is Eucharist, an act of thanksgiving. The early Christians “broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people” (Acts 2:46-47a, NIV). As we commune, we express joyful thanks for God’s mighty acts throughout history—for creation, covenant, redemption, sanctification. The Great Thanksgiving (“A Service of Word and Table I,” UMH; pages 9-10) is a recitation of this salvation history, culminating in the work of Jesus Christ and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. It conveys our gratitude for the goodness of God and God’s unconditional love for us.

Holy Communion is the communion of the church—the gathered community of the faithful, both local and universal. While deeply meaningful to the individuals participating, the sacrament is much more than a personal event. The first person pronouns throughout the ritual are consistently plural—we, us, our. First Corinthians 10:17 explains that “because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” . . . The sharing and bonding experienced at the Table exemplify the nature of the church and model the world as God would have it be.

Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling. “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.

Holy Communion is a type of sacrifice. It is a re-presentation, not a repetition, of the sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 9:26 makes clear that “he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Christ’s atoning life, death, and resurrection make divine grace available to us. We also present ourselves as sacrifice in union with Christ (Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 2:5) to be used by God in the work of redemption, reconciliation, and justice. . . .

Holy Communion is a vehicle of God’s grace through the action of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), whose work is described in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” The epiclesis (biblical Greek meaning “calling upon”) is the part of the Great Thanksgiving that calls the Spirit: “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.” The church asks God to “make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world . . .” (UMH; page 10).

Holy Communion is eschatological, meaning that it has to do with the end of history, the outcome of God’s purpose for the world—“Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again” (UMH; page 10). We commune not only with the faithful who are physically present but with the saints of the past who join us in the sacrament. To participate is to receive a foretaste of the future, a pledge of heaven “until Christ comes in final victory

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and we feast at his heavenly banquet” (UMH; page 10). Christ himself looked forward to this occasion and promised the disciples, “I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18). When we eat and drink at the Table, we become partakers of the divine nature in this life and for life eternal (John 6:47-58; Revelation 3:20). We are anticipating the heavenly banquet celebrating God’s victory over sin, evil, and death (Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:9; 21:1-7). In the midst of the personal and systemic brokenness in which we live, we yearn for everlasting fellowship with Christ and ultimate fulfillment of the divine plan. Nourished by sacramental grace, we strive to be formed into the image of Christ and to be made instruments for transformation in the world.

Toward a Richer Sacramental Life

Like the little girl who was disappointed with what she received, United Methodist people are looking and hoping for something more in their Eucharistic experience. As we move toward a richer sacramental life, including weekly celebration of Holy Communion, we ask what spiritual benefits we receive from it. What do divine love and power do in and for us through our participation in the sacrament The answers to this question involve forgiveness, nourishment, healing, transformation, ministry and mission, and eternal life.

We respond to the invitation to the Table by immediately confessing our personal and corporate sin, trusting that, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Our expression of repentance is answered by the absolution in which forgiveness is proclaimed: “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!” (UMH; page 8). This assurance is God’s gift to sinners, enabling us to continue striving to live faithfully. Wesley wrote, “The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins by enabling us to leave them” (“The Duty of Constant Communion,” I.3).

We receive spiritual nourishment through Holy Communion. The Christian life is a journey, one that is challenging and arduous. To continue living faithfully and growing in holiness requires constant sustenance. Wesley wrote, “This is the food of our souls: This gives strength to perform our duty, and leads us on to perfection” (“The Duty of Constant Communion,” I.3). God makes such sustenance available through the sacrament of Eucharist. In John 6:35, Jesus tells the crowd: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” As we return to the Table again and again, we are strengthened repeatedly. We go out empowered to live as disciples, reconcilers, and witnesses. In the words of the prayer after Communion, “Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others . . .” (UMH; page 11).

As we encounter Christ in Holy Communion and are repeatedly touched by divine grace, we are progressively shaped into Christ’s image. All of this work is not done in a moment, no matter how dramatic an experience we may enjoy. It is, instead, a lifelong process through which God intends to shape us into people motivated by love,

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empowered and impassioned to do Christ’s work in the world. The identity and ministry that God bestows on us in our baptism are fulfilled as we continue to be transformed into disciples who can respond to God’s love by loving God and others (Romans 12:1-2).

Through Eucharist, we receive healing and are enabled to aid in the healing of others. Sozo, the root of the Greek word used in the New Testament for “healing,” is also translated as “salvation” and “wholeness.” Much of this healing is spiritual, but it also includes the healing of our thoughts and emotions, of our minds and bodies, of our attitudes and relationships. The grace received at the Table of the Lord can make us whole. As those who are being saved, we seek to bring healing to a broken world. The United Methodist Book of Worship describes this well: “Spiritual healing is God’s work of offering persons balance, harmony, and wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships through confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Through such healing, God works to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity, among individuals and communities, within each person, and between humanity and the rest of creation” (page 613). Holy Communion can be a powerful aspect of the services of healing provided in the Book of Worship (pages 615-623).

The grace we receive at the Lord’s Table enables us to perform our ministry and mission, to continue his work in the world—the work of redemption, reconciliation, peace, and justice (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). As we commune, we become aware of the worth and the needs of other people and are reminded of our responsibility. We express the compassion of Christ through acts of caring and kindness toward those we encounter in our daily lives. In our baptism, we have vowed to “accept the freedom and power God gives [us] to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” (UMH; page 34). But, in the words of the prayer of confession, we acknowledge our failures: “We have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy” (UMH; page 8). Remembering the revolutionary Jesus, we are impelled to challenge unjust practices and systems that perpetuate political, economic, and social inequity and discrimination (Matthew 23; Luke 4:16-21; 14:7-11).

The loving God who meets us at the Table gives us the gift of eternal life. Jesus’ presentation of himself as the spiritual bread of life in John’s Eucharistic account (6:25-58) makes clear the connection: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (6:54). This life in union with Christ is life eternal. It is not only the promise of our being with Christ after physical death. It is also our being in dynamic loving relationship with Christ here and now. It is life that never ends because it is grounded in the everlasting love of God who comes to us in the sacraments.

O Thou who this mysterious bread didst in Emmaus break,return, herewith our souls to feed,

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and to thy followers speak.Charles Wesley (The United Methodist Hymnal, 613)

Part Two: Christ Is Here: Experiencing the Mystery

[Principles and Practices]

The Presence of Christ

Principle:

Jesus Christ, who “is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Hebrews 1:3), is truly present in Holy Communion. Through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God meets us at the Table. God, who has given the sacraments to the church, acts in and through Holy Communion. Christ is present through the community gathered in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:20), through the Word proclaimed and enacted, and through the elements of bread and wine shared (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The divine presence is a living reality and can be experienced by participants; it is not a remembrance of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion only.

Background:

Christ’s presence in the sacrament is a promise to the church and is not dependent upon recognition of this presence by individual members of the congregation. Holy Communion always offers grace. We are reminded of what God has done for us in the past, experience what God is doing now as we partake, and anticipate what God will do in the future work of salvation. “We await the final moment of grace, when Christ comes in victory at the end of the age to bring all who are in Christ into the glory of that victory” (By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism, in BOR; page 875), and we join in feasting at the heavenly banquet table (Luke 22:14-18; Revelation 19:9).

The Christian church has struggled through the centuries to understand just how Christ is present in the Eucharist. Arguments and divisions have occurred over the matter. The Wesleyan tradition affirms the reality of Christ’s presence, although it does not claim to be able to explain it fully. John and Charles Wesley’s 166 Hymns on the Lord’s Supper are our richest resource for study in order to appreciate the Wesleyan understanding of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. One of these hymns expresses well both the reality and the mystery: “O the Depth of Love Divine,” stanzas 1 and 4 (The United Methodist Hymnal, 627):

O the depth of love divine, the unfathomable grace!Who shall say how bread and wine God into us conveys!How the bread his flesh imparts, how the wine transmits his blood,

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fills his faithful people’s hearts with all the life of God!Sure and real is the grace, the manner be unknown;only meet us in thy ways and perfect us in one.Let us taste the heavenly powers, Lord, we ask for nothing more.Thine to bless, ’tis only ours to wonder and adore.

Article XVI of The Articles of Religion of The Methodist Church describes the sacraments as “certain signs of grace, and God’s good will toward us, by which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in him” (BOD; page 63).

Article XVIII describes the Lord’s Supper as “a sacrament of our redemption by Christ’s death; insomuch that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ” (BOD; page 64). (See section “The Communion Elements” in this paper for related material.) . . .

United Methodists, along with other Christian traditions, have tried to provide clear and faithful interpretations of Christ’s presence in the Holy Meal. Our tradition asserts the real, personal, living presence of Jesus Christ. For United Methodists, the Lord’s Supper is anchored in the life of the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but is not primarily a remembrance or memorial. . . .

We do believe that the elements are essential tangible means through which God works. We understand the divine presence in temporal and relational terms. In the Holy Meal of the church, the past, present, and future of the living Christ come together by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may receive and embody Jesus Christ as God’s saving gift for the whole world.

Practice:

Because Jesus Christ has promised to meet us there (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), Christians approach the Communion Table with desire and expectation, with awe and humility, and with celebration and gratitude. . . .

Christ Is Calling You

Invitation to the Lord’s Table

Principle:

The invitation to the Table comes from the risen and present Christ. Christ invites to his Table those who love him, repent of sin, and seek to live as Christian disciples. Holy Communion is a gift of God to the church and an act of the community of faith. By responding to this invitation we affirm and deepen our personal relationship with God

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through Jesus Christ and our commitment to membership and mission in the body of Christ.

Background:

The Invitation to Holy Communion in “A Service of Word and Table I” and “A Service of Word and Table II” proclaims, “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another” (UMH; pages 7, 12). The more traditional wording in “A Service of Word and Table IV” invites, “Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith . . .” (UMH; page 26). “A Service of Word and Table V,” for use with people who are sick or homebound, says that Christ invites “all who love him and seek to grow into his likeness” (BOW; page 51).

Practice:

When Holy Communion is celebrated, it is important to always begin with the words of Invitation, including Confession and Pardon. If these are omitted, all those present may not understand either the openness of the Table of the Lord or the expectation of repentance, forgiveness, healing, and entrance into new life in Christ.

The church community has a responsibility to provide ongoing age-appropriate nurture and education about the sacrament of Holy Communion to all its people. . . . All who seek to live as Christian disciples need formation in sacramental spirituality. . . .

Principle:

All who respond in faith to the invitation are to be welcomed. . . .

The United Methodist Book of Worship says, “All who intend to lead a Christian life, together with their children, are invited to receive the bread and cup. We have no tradition of refusing any who present themselves desiring to receive” (page 29). This statement means that in practice there are few, if any, circumstances in which a United Methodist pastor would refuse to serve the elements of Holy Communion to a person who comes forward to receive.

By Water and the Spirit affirms: “Because the table at which we gather belongs to the Lord, it should be open to all who respond to Christ’s love, regardless of age or church membership. The Wesleyan tradition has always recognized that Holy Communion may be an occasion for the reception of converting, justifying, and sanctifying grace” (BOR; pages 873-74).

Practice:

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Invitation to partake of Holy Communion offers an evangelical opportunity to bring people into a fuller living relationship with the body of Christ. As means of God’s unmerited grace, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are to be seen not as barriers but as pathways. Pastors and congregations must strive for a balance of welcome that is open and gracious and teaching that is clear and faithful to the fullness of discipleship.

Nonbaptized people who respond in faith to the invitation in our liturgy will be welcomed to the Table. They should receive teaching about Holy Baptism as the sacrament of entrance into the community of faith—needed only once by each individual—and Holy Communion as the sacrament of sustenance for the journey of faith and growth in holiness—needed and received frequently. “Unbaptized persons who receive communion should be counseled and nurtured toward baptism as soon as possible” (By Water and the Spirit, in BOR; page 874).

Principle:

No one will be turned away from the Table because of age or “mental, physical, developmental, and/or psychological and neurological” capacity (BOD, ¶ 162G) or because of any other condition that might limit his or her understanding or hinder his or her reception of the sacrament.

Background:

The grace given through Holy Communion is offered to the entire church, including those who are unable to respond for themselves. Children are members of the covenant community and participants in the Lord’s Supper.

Practice:

Young children and people with handicapping or incapacitating conditions may need special consideration as the elements are served. Pastors and congregations should develop plans for providing assistance that maintains the dignity and affirms the worth of those receiving.

Children of all ages are welcome to the Table and are to be taught and led to interpret, appreciate, and participate in Holy Communion. Adults need training to help them explain the sacrament to children.

When worship spaces are constructed or renovated, attention needs to be given to providing physical access to the Communion Table for all.

Principle:

The Lord’s Supper in a United Methodist congregation is open to members of other United Methodist congregations and to Christians from other traditions.

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Background:

“A baptized or professing member of any local United Methodist church is a member of the global United Methodist connection and a member of the church universal” (BOD; ¶ 215).

The United Methodist Church recognizes that it is only one of the bodies that constitute the community of Christians. Despite our differences, all Christians are welcome at the Table of the Lord.

Practice:

As a part of the directions before the invitation, it is customary to announce that all Christians are welcome to participate in the sacrament in United Methodist congregations.

Response to the invitation is always voluntary, and care needs to be taken to ensure that no one feels pressured to participate or conspicuous for not doing so. . . .

The Basic Pattern of Worship: A Service of Word and Table

Principle:

The complete pattern of Christian worship for the Lord’s Day is Word and Table—the gospel is proclaimed in both Word and sacrament. Word and Table are not in competition; rather they complement each other so as to constitute a whole service of worship. Their separation diminishes the fullness of life in the Spirit offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Background:

In The United Methodist Book of Worship (pages 13-14), the Basic Pattern of Worship is traced to its Jewish roots:

The Entrance and the Proclamation and Response—often called the Service of the Word or the Preaching Service—are a Christian adaptation of the ancient synagogue service. The Thanksgiving and Communion, commonly called the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion, is a Christian adaptation of Jewish worship at family meal tables. . . . Christians held an adapted synagogue service and broke bread when they gathered on the first day of the week. (Acts 20:7) . . .

John Wesley was highly critical of the infrequency of Holy Communion in the Church of England of his day. He exhorted his followers to practice “constant communion” because Christ had so commanded and because the spiritual benefits are so great (“The Duty of Constant Communion”). In his 1784 letter to American Methodists, Wesley

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counseled, “I also advise the elders to administer the supper of the Lord on every Lord’s day” (“Letter to Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and Our Brethren in North America”). . . .

With the introduction of new liturgical texts for the Lord’s Supper in 1972, United Methodism has been recovering the fullness of Word and Table as the pattern for weekly worship on the Lord’s Day. . . .

Recent theology and practice of worship stress both the proclamation of the gospel enacted through Holy Communion and the sacramental power of Christ’s presence through preaching. Partaking of Holy Communion is a response to and continued participation in the Word that has been proclaimed. Those seeking to live as Christian disciples have constant need of the nourishment and sustenance made available through both the Word and the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Practice:

Congregations of The United Methodist Church are encouraged to move toward a richer sacramental life, including weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper at the services on the Lord’s Day, as advocated by the general orders of Sunday worship in The United Methodist Hymnal and The United Methodist Book of Worship. The sacrament can also be celebrated appropriately on other occasions in the life of the church from the congregational to the denominational level. . . .

The Gathered Community

The Whole Assembly

Principle:

The whole assembly actively celebrates Holy Communion. All who are baptized into the body of Christ Jesus become servants and ministers within that body, which is the church. The members are claimed by God as a royal priesthood, God’s own people (1 Peter 2:9). The one body, drawn together by the one Spirit, is fully realized when all its many parts eat together in love and offer their lives in service at the Table of the Lord.

Background:

Those baptized are called “Christ’s royal priesthood” in the United Methodist services of the Baptismal Covenant (“The Baptismal Covenant I,” BOW; page 92). We are “royal” because we belong to Christ, the sovereign. As priests, each of us can have access to God without any human intermediary. This priesthood means, especially, that we are to be priests to each other as together we seek to live as Christians. . . .

All Christians share in the ministry of the church. Our diverse abilities and callings are gifts from God that together form the unity of the body of Christ and carry out its mission (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-30; Ephesians 4:1-16). There is no more powerful

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expression of this reality than the participation of the whole gathered community in the celebration of Eucharist.

Practice:

All in the congregation are participants in the ministry of offering praise and worship to God and in the servant work of mutual ministry. The terms presiding minister and assisting minister describe the work of those who lead and assist the congregation.

The Prayer of Great Thanksgiving

Principle:

The prayer of Great Thanksgiving is addressed to God, is prayed by the whole people, and is led by the presiding minister. The prayer is shaped by our Trinitarian understanding of the nature of God. It includes an introductory dialogue, thankful remembrance of God’s mighty acts of creation and the salvation made possible through Jesus Christ, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, invoking of the present work of the Holy Spirit, and concluding praise to the Trinity. The prayer recognizes the fullness of God’s triune nature, expresses the offering of ourselves in response, and looks toward the joy of sharing in God’s eventual victory over sin and death.

Background:

The Trinitarian structure is evident in the Great Thanksgiving in the Word and Table services of The United Methodist Hymnal (pages 6-16). Following the introductory exchange between presiding minister and people in the Great Thanksgiving, prayer is addressed to “Father [God] Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” Following the Sanctus (“Holy, holy, holy . . .” ), the work of the second person of the Trinity is proclaimed: “. . . and blessed is your Son [Child] Jesus Christ.” The presence and work of the Holy Spirit are invoked in the portion beginning “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts . . . ,” words historically known as the epiclesis. Throughout the Great Thanksgiving the congregation prays actively but silently and speaks its responses aloud at designated points in the service.

In their Hymns on the Lord’s Supper, John and Charles Wesley make clear that divine presence and power come into the Eucharistic experience through the action of the Holy Spirit. Hymn 72 in that collection is a good example:

Come, Holy Ghost,Thine influence shed, and realize [make real] the sign;Thy life infuse into the bread, Thy power into the wine.Effectual let the tokens prove, and made, by heavenly art,Fit channels to convey Thy love to every faithful heart.

Biblical worship was expressed in gestures and bodily movements, including bowing (Micah 6:6), lifting the cup of salvation (Psalm 116:13), lifting hands (Psalm 141:2),

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clapping (Psalm 47:1), and dancing (Psalm 149:3). The Gospels tell of Jesus’ characteristic actions at meals that include taking bread, blessing or giving thanks, breaking the bread, and giving the bread. In Luke, the disciples who walked with Jesus on the way to Emmaus without recognizing him had their eyes opened “when he was at the table with them” and “he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30).

Practice:

The prayer of Great Thanksgiving includes the voices of both the presiding minister and the people. The congregation’s responses, which may be spoken or sung, include adoration, acclamation, and affirmation.

The whole assembly might join in parts of the Great Thanksgiving that speak for them: (a) the memorial acclamation, beginning, “And so, in remembrance . . .”; (b) an expression of intention to serve the world, beginning, “Make them be for us . . .”; (c) the concluding doxology, beginning, “Through your Son Jesus Christ. . . .” Congregational responses of “Amen” are the affirmation by the people of what has been prayed.

Presiding at Holy Communion involves bodily action as well as verbal communication. Gestures evoke and lead physical and visual participation by the congregation and aid worshipers in recognizing that the action at the Lord’s Table is more than reading a script. . . .

The Community Extends Itself

Principle:

The Communion elements are consecrated and consumed in the context of the gathered congregation. The Table may be extended, in a timely manner, to include those unable to attend because of age, illness, or similar conditions. Laypeople may distribute the consecrated elements in the congregation and extend them to members who are unavoidably absent (BOD; ¶¶ 340.2.a and 1117.9).

Background:

In his description of worship practices of the early church, second-century writer Justin Martyr noted that consecrated bread and wine were carried to Christians who were unable to attend the service (First Apology; 67).

“Since the earliest Christian times, communion has been brought as an extension of the congregation’s worship to sick or homebound persons unable to attend congregational worship” (BOW; page 51).

Practice:

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When Holy Communion is extended to those unable to attend, the liturgy should include the reading of the Scripture Lesson(s), the Invitation, Confession and Pardon, the Peace, the Lord’s Prayer, distribution, and post-Communion prayer. Elders, deacons, and laity may use this liturgy. A prayer of Great Thanksgiving should not be repeated, since this service is an extension of the Communion service held earlier (BOW; page 51).

If Holy Communion is to be celebrated with people who are homebound on a day when the congregation has not gathered at Table, “A Service of Word and Table V” (BOW; pages 51-53), which includes the Great Thanksgiving, should be used by an elder or another who is authorized to preside.

The Lord’s Supper is to be made available to people who are in hospitals and hospices; nursing, convalescent, and rehabilitation facilities; correctional and custodial institutions; or other situations that make it impossible for them to gather with the community of faith. If a person is unable to eat or drink, one or both of the elements may be touched to his or her lips.

Both “self-service” Communion, where people help themselves, and “drop-in” Communion, where the elements are available over a period of time, are contrary to the communal nature of the sacrament, which is the celebration of the gathered community of faith.

The Ritual of the Church

Principle:

As stewards of the gifts given by God to the church, pastors have a responsibility to uphold and use the texts for Word and Table of The United Methodist Church. . . . These liturgies, arising from biblical, historical, and ecumenical sources, are expressions of the Christian faith and the worship of God.

Background:

Article XXII of The Articles of Religion of The Methodist Church affirms some diversity of “rites and ceremonies” but rebukes “whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly break the rites and ceremonies of the church” (BOD; page 65). . . .

The preface to “An Order of Sunday Worship Using the Basic Pattern” in The United Methodist Book of Worship (page 16) states,

While the freedom and diversity of United Methodist worship are greater than can be represented by any single order of worship, United Methodists also affirm a heritage of order and the importance of the specific guidance and modeling that an order of worship

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provides. . . . Acts of worship that reflect racial, ethnic, regional, and local customs and heritages may be used appropriately throughout this order. . . .

At its best, United Methodist liturgy combines the order and beauty of established ritual with the vitality and freshness of creative expression. The richness of tradition developed through two thousand years of Christian history can be faithfully adapted for present times and situations.

Practice:

Bishops, pastors, and congregations are expected to use the services of Word and Table in the official United Methodist hymnals and books of worship. Knowledgeable use of these resources allows for a balance of flexibility to meet contextual needs and order that reflects our unity and connectional accountability. . . .

Servants at the Table

Presiding Ministers: Elders and Licensed Local Pastors

Principle:

An ordained elder or a person authorized under the provisions of the Book of Discipline presides at all celebrations of Holy Communion.

Background:

In accord with the practice of the church throughout Christian history, God calls and the church sets apart certain people for leadership within the body of Christians. We believe that the Holy Spirit gives to such people the grace and gifts they need for leadership in obedience to their call. The meaning and purpose of ordination are described in ¶¶ 301-303 in the Book of Discipline.

Elders are ordained to a lifetime ministry of service, word, sacrament, and order (BOD; ¶ 332) and charged to “administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and all the other means of grace” (BOD; ¶ 340.2.a). . . .

Practice:

. . . An elder or a person authorized under the provisions of the Book of Discipline presides at all celebrations of Holy Communion. While some portions of the order of worship may be led by others, an elder or authorized pastor leads the congregation in praying the Great Thanksgiving, in which the whole assembly takes an active role. . . .

The Communion Elements

HOW TO SHARE

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Principle:

In accordance with the words of Christ and Christian tradition, the church uses bread in celebrations of Holy Communion. . . .

Practice:

It is appropriate that the bread eaten in Holy Communion both look and taste like bread. The use of a whole loaf best signifies the unity of the church as the body of Christ and, when it is broken and shared, our fellowship in that body (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

Historical continuity with the practice of the universal church is important; however, worship planners should be sensitive to local situations. Bread may be made from any grain according to availability. In ecumenical and other settings, wafers may be an appropriate choice.

Principle:

In accordance with Scripture and Christian tradition, the historic and ecumenical church uses wine in celebrations of Holy Communion. . . .

Practice:

Variations may be necessary in cultural contexts where the juice of the grape is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.

A single cup or chalice may be used for intinction—dipping the bread into the wine—or for drinking. The use of a common chalice best represents Christian unity, but individual cups are used in many congregations. In these situations, unity can be effectively symbolized if each person’s cup is filled from a pouring chalice. . . .

Practice:

The practice of consecrating elements ahead of time for the convenience of the pastor not having to go to small or remote congregations, weekend camps, or other such occasions is inappropriate and contrary to our historic doctrine and understanding of how God’s grace is made available in the sacrament (Article XVIII, The Articles of Religion, BOD; page 64). If authorized leadership is not available for celebrating the Lord’s Supper, other worship services such as love feasts, agape meals, or baptismal reaffirmations are valid alternatives that avoid the misuse of Communion elements. . . .

Extending the Table

Holy Communion and Evangelism

Principle:

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The Lord’s Supper forms the church into a community of evangelism that reaches out to preach, teach, baptize, and make new disciples of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).

Background:

Immediately after his account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11-12, Paul moves into an extended discussion of the body of Christ composed of many members whose gifts for ministry are diverse. Paul understood the sacrament of Holy Communion to form and shape the church for its mission of redeeming the world. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:10, he describes more fully “the ministry of reconciliation” that is the work of the church as “ambassadors for Christ.”

United Methodists have inherited a tradition that emphasizes that spiritual benefits are not received for ourselves alone but also to prepare and propel us for the work of evangelism. In our prayer after Communion, we give thanks for what we have received and ask God to “grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others” (UMH; page 11).

The Book of Discipline emphasizes the imperative of evangelism: “The people of God, who are the church made visible in the world, must convince the world of the reality of the gospel or leave it unconvinced. There can be no evasion or delegation of this responsibility; the church is either faithful as a witnessing and serving community, or it loses its vitality and its impact on an unbelieving world” (¶ 128).

Practice:

Through the grace received in continual participation in the Lord’s Supper, the community of faith reaches beyond itself to proclaim and exemplify the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In Christian education and congregational life, we teach about the significance and meaning of the sacraments so that the faithful appreciate their own spiritual journey and are empowered to be knowledgeable and hospitable guides to those who seek Christ.

As members of the congregation partake of the Lord’s Supper, the bonds of love within are strengthened and the worshiping community is empowered to reach out in dynamic and meaningful ways to evangelize and to work for peace and justice.

Principle:

As followers of Jesus, who ate with sinners and reached out to the marginalized, the church must intentionally concern itself about those who are absent from Christ’s Table—those who feel unworthy, the poor, the unconverted, victims of prejudice, and others who are oppressed or neglected.

Background:

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One of the themes of the Gospels, most prominent in Luke, is Jesus’ ongoing efforts to teach the disciples that God’s love and favor are extended to all people, not just those of a certain ethnicity, status, economic or political standing, or gender. The Book of Acts records some of the attempts of the early Christian community to define its limits, and God’s continued efforts to broaden its inclusiveness. Peter’s vision in Acts 10 is a particularly dramatic example.

Early English Methodists were typically (with some notable exceptions) from the socioeconomic groups that we might today speak of as the working poor. Wesley realized that a community of people who lived according to his General Rules (BOD; pages 71-74) were inevitably going to rise in status. He preached fervently against the dangers of money and the spiritual weakness that often accompanies prosperity.

In “The Ministry of All Christians,” The Book of Discipline asserts: “We are called to be faithful to the example of Jesus’ ministry to all persons. Inclusiveness means openness, acceptance, and support that enables all persons to participate in the life of the Church, the community, and the world. Thus, inclusiveness denies every semblance of discrimination” (¶ 138). . . .

Practice:

The church is to consciously identify and seek out those who feel unwelcome, even excluded, from its congregations and to invite them to become part of the body of Christ and join in its celebrations of Holy Communion. . . .

Notes About This Document

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

BOD, Discipline, and Book of Discipline refer to The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2004, copyright © 2004 The United Methodist Publishing House.

UMH refers to The United Methodist Hymnal, copyright © 1989 The United Methodist Publishing House.

BOW refers to The United Methodist Book of Worship, copyright © 1992 The United Methodist Publishing House.

BOR refers to The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church, 2004, copyright © 2004 The United Methodist Publishing House.

Quotations from John Wesley are from the Jackson edition of The Works of John Wesley.

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ADOPTED 2004 . . .From The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church — 2008. Copyright © 2008 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

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“The Means of Grace” by John Wesley

"Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them." Malachi 3:7

I. Are there any ordinances now, since life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel?

II. Are there any means of grace?

III. All who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained.

IV. As plainly as God hath pointed out the means, men have objected against it.

I.

1. But are there any ordinances now, since life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel? Are there, under the Christian dispensation, any means ordained of God, as the usual channels of his grace? This question could never have been proposed in the apostolical church, unless by one who openly avowed himself to be a Heathen; the whole body of Christians being agreed, that Christ had ordained certain outward means, for conveying his grace into the souls of men. Their constant practice set this beyond all dispute; for so long as "all that believed were together, and had all things common" (Acts 2:44), "they continued steadfastly in the teaching of the Apostles, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

2. But in process of time, when "the love of many waxed cold," some began to mistake the means for the end, and to place religion rather in doing those outward works, than in a heart renewed after the image of God. They forgot that "the end of" every "commandment is love, out of a pure heart," with "faith unfeigned;" the loving the Lord their God with all their heart, and their neighbour as themselves; and the being purified from pride, anger, and evil desire, by a "faith of the operation of God." Others seemed to imagine, that though religion did not principally consist in these outward means, yet there was something in them wherewith God was well pleased: something that would still make them acceptable in his sight, though they were not exact in the weightier matters of the law, in justice, mercy, and the love of God.

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3. It is evident, in those who abused them thus, they did not conduce to the end for which they were ordained: Rather, the things which should have been for their health, were to them an occasion of falling. They were so far from receiving any blessing therein, that they only drew down a curse upon their head; so far from growing more heavenly in heart and life, that they were two-fold more the children of hell than before. Others, clearly perceiving that these means did not convey the grace of God to those children of the devil, began, from this particular case, to draw a general conclusion, -- that they were not means of conveying the grace of God.

4. Yet the number of those who abused the ordinances of God, was far greater than of those who despised them, till certain men arose, not only of great understanding (sometimes joined with considerable learning), but who likewise appeared to be men of love, experimentally acquainted with true, inward religion. Some of these were burning and shining lights, persons famous in their generations, and such as had well deserved of the church of Christ, for standing in the gap against the overflowings of ungodliness.

It cannot be supposed, that these holy and venerable men intended any more, at first, than to show that outward religion is nothing worth, without the religion of the heart; that "God is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth;" that, therefore, external worship is lost labour, without a heart devoted to God; that the outward ordinances of God then profit much, when they advance inward holiness, but, when they advance it not, are unprofitable and void, are lighter than vanity; yea, that when they are used, as it were in the place of this, they are an utter abomination to the Lord.

5. Yet is it not strange, if some of these, being strongly convinced of that horrid profanation of the ordinances of God, which had spread itself over the whole church, and well nigh driven true religion out of the world, -- in their fervent zeal for the glory of God, and the recovery of souls from that fatal delusion, -- spake as if outward religion were absolutely nothing, as if it had no place in the religion of Christ. It is not surprising at all, if they should not always have expressed themselves with sufficient caution; so that unwary hearers might believe they condemned all outward means, as altogether unprofitable, and as not designed of God to be the ordinary channels of conveying his grace into the souls of men.

Nay, it is not impossible, some of these holy men did, at length, themselves fall into this opinion; in particular those who, not by choice, but by the providence of God, were cut off from all these ordinances; perhaps wandering up and down, having no certain abiding-place, or dwelling in dens and caves of the earth. These, experiencing the grace

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of God in themselves, though they were deprived of all outward means, might infer that the same grace would be given to them who of set purpose abstained from them.

6. And experience shows how easily this notion spreads, and insinuates itself into the minds of men; especially of those who are throughly awakened out of the sleep of death, and begin to feel the weight of their sins a burden too heavy to be borne. These are usually impatient of their present state; and, trying every way to escape from it, they are always ready to catch at any new thing, any new proposal of ease or happiness. They have probably tried most outward means, and found no ease in them; it may be, more and more of remorse, and fear, and sorrow, and condemnation. It is easy, therefore, to persuade these, that it is better for them to abstain from all those means. They are already weary of striving (as it seems) in vain, of labouring in the fire; and are therefore glad of any pretence to cast aside that wherein their soul has no pleasure, to give over the painful strife, and sink down into an indolent inactivity.

II.

1. In the following discourse, I propose to examine at large, whether there are any means of grace.

By "means of grace" I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.

I use this expression, means of grace, because I know none better; and because it has been generally used in the Christian church for many ages; -- in particular by our own Church, which directs us to bless God both for the means of grace, and hope of glory; and teaches us, that a sacrament is "an outward sign of inward grace, and a means whereby we receive the same."

The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or with the great congregation; searching the Scriptures (which implies reading, hearing, and meditating thereon); and receiving the Lord's Supper, eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him: And these we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying his grace to the souls of men.

2. But we allow, that the whole value of the means depends on their actual subservience to the end of religion; that, consequently, all these means, when separate

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from the end, are less than nothing and vanity; that if they do not actually conduce to the knowledge and love of God, they are not acceptable in his sight; yea, rather, they are an abomination before him, a stink in his nostrils; he is weary to bear them. Above all, if they are used as a kind of commutation for the religion they were designed to subserve, it is not easy to find words for the enormous folly and wickedness of thus turning God's arms against himself; of keeping Christianity out of the heart by those very means which were ordained for the bringing it in.

3. We allow, likewise, that all outward means whatever, if separate from the Spirit of God, cannot profit at all, cannot conduce, in any degree, either to the knowledge or love of God. Without controversy, the help that is done upon earth, He doeth it himself. It is He alone who, by his own almighty power, worketh in us what is pleasing in his sight; and all outward things, unless He work in them and by them, are mere weak and beggarly elements. Whosoever, therefore, imagines there is any intrinsic power in any means whatsoever, does greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the power of God. We know that there is no inherent power in the words that are spoken in prayer, in the letter of Scripture read, the sound thereof heard, or the bread and wine received in the Lord's Supper; but that it is God alone who is the Giver of every good gift, the Author of all grace; that the whole power is of him, whereby, through any of these, there is any blessing conveyed to our soul. We know, likewise, that he is able to give the same grace, though there were no means on the face of the earth. In this sense, we may affirm, that, with regard to God, there is no such thing as means; seeing he is equally able to work whatsoever pleaseth him, by any, or by none at all.

4. We allow farther, that the use of all means whatever will never atone for one sin; that it is the blood of Christ alone, whereby any sinner can be reconciled to God; there being no other propitiation for our sins, no other fountain for sin and uncleanness. Every believer in Christ is deeply convinced that there is no merit but in Him; that there is no merit in any of his own works; not in uttering the prayer, or searching the Scripture, or hearing the word of God, or eating of that bread and drinking of that cup. So that if no more be intended by the expression some have used, "Christ is the only means of grace," than this, -- that He is the only meritorious cause of it, it cannot be gainsayed by any who know the grace of God.

5. Yet once more: We allow, though it is a melancholy truth, that a large proportion of those who are called Christians, do to this day abuse the means of grace to the destruction of their souls. This is doubtless the case with all those who rest content in the form of godliness, without the power. Either they fondly presume they are Christians already, because they do thus and thus,--although Christ was never yet revealed in their

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hearts, nor the love of God shed abroad therein: -- Or else they suppose they shall infallibly be so barely because they use these means; idly dreaming, (though perhaps hardly conscious thereof,) either that there is some kind of power therein, whereby, sooner or later (they know not when), they shall certainly be made holy; or that there is a sort of merit in using them, which will surely move God to give them holiness, or accept them without it.

6. So little do they understand that great foundation of the whole Christian building, "By grace are ye saved:" Ye are saved from your sins, from the guilt and power thereof, ye are restored to the favour and image of God, not for any works, merits, or deservings of yours, but by the free grace, the mere mercy of God, through the merits of his well-beloved Son: Ye are thus saved, not by any power, wisdom, or strength, which is in you, or in any other creature; but merely through the grace or power of the Holy Ghost, which worketh all in all.

7. But the main question remains: "We know this salvation is the gift and the work of God; but how (may one say who is convinced he hath it not) may I attain thereto?" If you say, "Believe, and thou shalt be saved!" He answers, "True; but how shall I believe?" You reply, "Wait upon God." "Well; but how am I to wait? In the means of grace, or out of them? Am I to wait for the grace of God which bringeth salvation, by using these means, or by laying them aside?"

8. It cannot possibly be conceived, that the word of God should give no direction in so important a point; or, that the Son of God, who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation, should have left us undetermined with regard to a question wherein our salvation is so nearly concerned.

And, in fact, he hath not left us undetermined; he hath shown us the way wherein we should go. We have only to consult the oracles of God; to inquire what is written there; and, if we simply abide by their decision, there can no possible doubt remain.

III.

1. According to this, according to the decision of holy writ all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained; in using, not in laying them aside.

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And, First, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the way of prayer. This is the express direction of our Lord himself. In his Sermon upon the Mount, after explaining at large wherein religion consists, and describing the main branches of it, he adds, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matt. 7:7, 8) Here we are in the plainest manner directed to ask, in order to, or as a means of, receiving; to seek, in order to find, the grace of God, the pearl of great price; and to knock, to continue asking and seeking, if we would enter into his kingdom.

2. That no doubt might remain, our Lord labours this point in a more peculiar manner. He appeals to every man's own heart: "What man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? Or, if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven," the Father of angels and men, the Father of the spirits of all flesh, "give good things to them that ask him?" (Matt. 7:9-11) Or, as he expresses himself on another occasion, including all good things in one, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13) It should be particularly observed here, that the persons directed to ask had not then received the Holy Spirit: Nevertheless our Lord directs them to use this means, and promises that it should be effectual; that upon asking they should receive the Holy Spirit, from him whose mercy is over all his works.

3. The absolute necessity of using this means, if we would receive any gift from God, yet farther appears from that remarkable passage which immediately precedes these words: "And he said unto them," whom he had just been teaching how to pray, "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves: And he from within shall answer, Trouble me not; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you." (Luke 11:5, 7-9) "Though he will not give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." How could our blessed Lord more plainly declare, that we may receive of God, by this means, by importunately asking, what otherwise we should not receive at all?

4. "He spake also another parable, to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint," till through this means they should receive of God whatsoever petition they asked of him: "There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man.

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And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest, by her continual coming, she weary me." (Luke 18:1-5) The application of this our Lord himself hath made: "Hear what the unjust judge saith!" Because she continues to ask, because she will take no denial, therefore I will avenge her. "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? I tell you he will avenge them speedily," if they pray and faint not.

5. A direction, equally full and express, to wait for the blessings of God in private prayer, together with a positive promise, that, by this means, we shall obtain the request of our lips, he hath given us in those well-known words: "Enter into thy closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." (Matt. 6:6)

6. If it be possible for any direction to be more clear, it is that which God hath given us by the Apostle, with regard to prayer of every kind, public or private, and the blessing annexed thereto: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally," if they ask; otherwise "ye have not, because ye ask not," (James 4:2) "and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5)

If it be objected, "But this is no direction to unbelievers; to them who know not the pardoning grace of God: For the Apostle adds, 'But let him ask in faith;' otherwise, 'let him not think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord':" I answer, The meaning of the word faith, in this place, is fixed by the Apostle himself, as if it were on purpose to obviate this objection, in the following: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering," nothing doubting, mhden diakrinomenos. Not doubting but God heareth his prayer, and will fulfil the desire of his heart.

The gross, blasphemous absurdity of supposing faith, in this place, to be taken in the full Christian meaning, appears hence: It is supposing the Holy Ghost to direct a man who knows he has not faith (which is here termed wisdom), to ask it of God, with a positive promise that "it shall be given him;" and then immediately to subjoin, that it shall not be given him, unless he have it before he asks for it! But who can bear such a supposition? From this scripture, therefore, as well as those cited above, we must infer, that all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the way of prayer.

7. Secondly. All who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in searching the Scriptures.

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Our Lord's direction, with regard to the use of this means, is likewise plain and clear. "Search the Scriptures," saith he to the unbelieving Jews, "for they testify of me." (John 5:39) And for this very end did he direct them to search the Scriptures, that they might believe in him.

The objection, that "this is not a command, but only an assertion, that they did search the Scriptures," is shamelessly false. I desire those who urge it, to let us know how a command can be more clearly expressed, than in those terms, Ereunate tas grajas. It is as peremptory as so many words can make it.

And what a blessing from God attends the use of this means, appears from what is recorded concerning the Bereans; who, after hearing St. Paul, "searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed;" -- found the grace of God, in the way which he had ordained. (Acts 17:11, 12)

It is probable, indeed, that in some of those who had "received the word with all readiness of mind," "faith came," as the same Apostle speaks, "by hearing," and was only confirmed by reading the Scriptures: But it was observed above, that under the general term of searching the Scriptures, both hearing, reading, and meditating are contained.

8. And that this is a means whereby God not only gives, but also confirms and increases, true wisdom, we learn from the words of St. Paul to Timothy: "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. 3:15) The same truth (namely, that this is the great means God has ordained for conveying his manifold grace to man) is delivered, in the fullest manner that can be conceived, in the words which immediately follow: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God;" consequently, all Scripture is infallibly true; "and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" to the end "that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. 3:16, 17)

9. It should be observed, that this is spoken primarily and directly of the Scriptures which Timothy had known from a child; which must have been those of the Old Testament, for the New was not then wrote. How far then was St. Paul (though he was "not a whit behind the very chief of the Apostles," nor, therefore, I presume, behind any man now upon earth) from making light of the Old Testament! Behold this, lest ye one day "wonder and perish," ye who make so small account of one half of the oracles of God! Yea, and that half of which the Holy Ghost expressly declares, that it is

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"profitable," as a means ordained of God, for this very thing, "for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" to the end, "the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

10. Nor is this profitable only for the men of God, for those who walk already in the light of his countenance; but also for those who are yet in darkness, seeking him whom they know not. Thus St. Peter, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy:" Literally, "And we have the prophetic word more sure;" kai ecomen bebaioteron ton projhtikon logon, confirmed by our being "eye-witnesses of his Majesty," and "hearing the voice which came from the excellent glory;" unto which -- prophetic word; so he styles the Holy Scriptures -- "ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-star arise in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:19) Let all, therefore, who desire that day to dawn upon their hearts, wait for it in searching the Scriptures.

11. Thirdly. All who desire an increase of the grace of God are to wait for it in partaking of the Lord's Supper: For this also is a direction himself hath given. "The same night in which he was betrayed, he took bread, and brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body;" that is, the sacred sign of my body: "This do in remembrance of me." Likewise, "he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament," or covenant, "in my blood;" the sacred sign of that covenant; "this do ye in remembrance of me." "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come:" (1 Cor. 11:23, &c.) Ye openly exhibit the same by, these visible signs, before God, and angels, and men; ye manifest your solemn remembrance of his death, till he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Only "let a man" first "examine himself," whether he understand the nature and design of this holy institution, and whether he really desire to be himself made conformable to the death of Christ; and so, nothing doubting, "let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." (1 Cor. 11:28)

Here, then, the direction first given by our Lord is expressly repeated by the Apostle: "Let him eat; let him drink;" esqietv, pinetv, both in the imperative mood; words not implying a bare permission only, but a clear, explicit command; a command to all those either who already are filled with peace and joy in believing, or who can truly say, "The remembrance of our sins is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable."

12. And that this is also an ordinary, stated means of receiving the grace of God, is evident from those words of the Apostle, which occur in the preceding chapter: "The cup

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of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion," or communication, "of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16) Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken and the blood of Christ once shed for us? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

IV.

1. But as plainly as God hath pointed out the way wherein he will be inquired after, innumerable are the objections which men, wise in their own eyes, have, from time to time, raised against it. It may be needful to consider a few of these; not because they are of weight in themselves, but because they have so often been used, especially of late years, to turn the lame out of the way; yea, to trouble and subvert those who did run well, till Satan appeared as an angel of light.

The first and chief of these is, "You cannot use these means (as you call them) without trusting in them." I pray, where is this written? I expect you should show me plain Scripture for your assertion: Otherwise I dare not receive it; because I am not convinced that you are wiser than God.

If it really had been as you assert, it is certain Christ must have known it. And if he had known it, he would surely have warned us; he would have revealed it long ago. Therefore, because he has not, because there is no tittle of this in the whole revelation of Jesus Christ, I am as fully assured your assertion is false, as that this revelation is of God.

"However, leave them off for a short time, to see whether you trusted in them or no." So I am to disobey God, in order to know whether I trust in obeying him! And do you avow this advice? Do you deliberately teach to "do evil, that good may come?" O tremble at the sentence of God against such teachers! Their "damnation is just."

"Nay, if you are troubled when you leave them off, it is plain you trusted in them." By no means. If I am troubled when I wilfully disobey God, it is plain his Spirit is still striving with me; but if I am not troubled at wilful sin, it is plain I am given up to a reprobate mind.

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But what do you mean by "trusting in them?" -- looking for the blessing of God therein? Believing, that if I wait in this way, I shall attain what otherwise I should not? So I do. And so I will, God being my helper, even to my life's end. By the grace of God I will thus trust in them, till the day of my death; that is, I will believe, that whatever God hath promised, he is faithful also to perform. And seeing he hath promised to bless me in this way, I trust it shall be according to his word.

2. It has been, Secondly, objected, "This is seeking salvation by works." Do you know the meaning of the expression you use? What is seeking salvation by works? In the writings of St. Paul, it means, either seeking to be saved by observing the ritual works of the Mosaic law; or expecting salvation for the sake of our own works, by the merit of our own righteousness. But how is either of these implied in my waiting in the way God has ordained, and expecting that he will meet me there, because he has promised so to do?

I do expect that he will fulfil his word, that he will meet and bless me in this way. Yet not for the sake of any works which I have done, nor for the merit of my righteousness; but merely through the merits, and sufferings, and love of his Son, in whom he is always well pleased.

3. It has been vehemently objected, Thirdly, "that Christ is the only means of grace." I answer, this is mere playing upon words. Explain your term, and the objection vanishes away. When we say, "Prayer is a means of grace," we understand a channel through which the grace of God is conveyed. When you say, "Christ is the means of grace," you understand the sole price and purchaser of it; or, that "no man cometh unto the Father, but through him." And who denies it? But this is utterly wide of the question.

4. "But does not the Scripture" (it has been objected, Fourthly) "direct us to wait for salvation? Does not David say, 'My soul waiteth upon God, for of him cometh my salvation?' And does not Isaiah teach us the same thing, saying, 'O Lord, we have waited for thee'?" All this cannot be denied. Seeing it is the gift of God, we are undoubtedly to wait on him for salvation. But how shall we wait? If God himself has appointed a way, can you find a better way of waiting for him? But that he hath appointed a way hath been shown at large, and also what that way is. The very words of the Prophet, which you cite, put this out of the question. For the whole sentence runs thus: -- "In the way of thy judgments," or ordinances, "O Lord, have we waited for thee." (Isaiah 26:8.) And in the very same way did David wait, as his own words abundantly testify: "I have waited for thy saving health, O Lord, and have kept thy law. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall to keep it unto the end."

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5. "Yea," say some, "but God has appointed another way. -- 'Stand still, and see the salvation of God.' "

Let us examine the Scriptures to which you refer. The first of them, with the context, runs thus: --

"And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes; and they were sore afraid. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not; stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea." (Exod. 14:10, &c.)

This was the salvation of God, which they stood still to see, by marching forward with all their might!

The other passage, wherein this expression occurs stands thus: "There came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, 'There cometh a great multitude against thee, from beyond the sea.' And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord: Even out of all the cities they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation, in the house of the Lord. -- Then upon Jahaziel came the Spirit of the Lord. And he said, 'Be not dismayed by reason of this great multitude. To-morrow go ye down against them: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves: Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.' And they rose early in the morning, and went forth. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Moab, Ammon, and mount Seir: -- and everyone helped to destroy another." (2 Chron. 20:2, &c.)

Such was the salvation which the children of Judah saw. But how does all this prove, that we ought not to wait for the grace of God in the means which he hath ordained?

6. I shall mention but one objection more, which, indeed, does not properly belong to this head: Nevertheless, because it has been so frequently urged, I may not wholly pass it by.

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"Does not St. Paul say, 'If ye be dead with Christ, why are ye subject to ordinances?' (Col. 2:20) Therefore a Christian, one that is dead with Christ, need not use the ordinances any more."

So you say, "If I am a Christian, I am not subject to the ordinances of Christ!" Surely, by the absurdity of this, you must see at the first glance, that the ordinances here mentioned cannot be the ordinances of Christ: That they must needs be the Jewish ordinances, to which it is certain a Christian is no longer subject.

And the same undeniably appears from the words immediately following, "Touch not, taste not, handle not;" all evidently referring to the ancient ordinances of the Jewish law.

So that this objection is the weakest of all. And, in spite of all, that great truth must stand unshaken; -- that all who desire the grace of God, are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained.

V.

1. But this being allowed, that all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means he hath ordained; it may still be inquired, how those means should be used, both as to the order and the manner of using them.

With regard to the former, we may observe, there is a kind of order, wherein God himself is generally pleased to use these means in bringing a sinner to salvation. A stupid, senseless wretch is going on in his own way, not having God in all his thoughts, when God comes upon him unawares, perhaps by an awakening sermon or conversation, perhaps by some awful providence, or, it may be, an immediate stroke of his convincing Spirit, without any outward means at all. Having now a desire to flee from the wrath to come, he purposely goes to hear how it may be done. If he finds a preacher who speaks to the heart, he is amazed, and begins searching the Scriptures, whether these things are so? The more he hears and reads, the more convinced he is; and the more he meditates thereon day and night. Perhaps he finds some other book which explains and enforces what he has heard and read in Scripture. And by all these means, the arrows of conviction sink deeper into his soul. He begins also to talk of the things of God, which are ever uppermost in his thoughts; yea, and to talk with God; to pray to him; although, through fear and shame, he scarce knows what to say. But whether he can speak or no, he cannot but pray, were it only in "groans which cannot

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be uttered." Yet, being in doubt, whether "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" will regard such a sinner as him, he wants to pray with those who know God, with the faithful, in the great congregation. But here he observes others go up to the table of the Lord. He considers, "Christ has said, 'Do this!' How is it that I do not? I am too great a sinner. I am not fit. I am not worthy." After struggling with these scruples a while, he breaks through. And thus he continues in God's way, in hearing, reading, meditating, praying, and partaking of the Lord's Supper, till God, in the manner that pleases him, speaks to his heart, "Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace."

2. By observing this order of God, we may learn what means to recommend to any particular soul. If any of these will reach a stupid, careless sinner, it is probably hearing, or conversation. To such, therefore, we might recommend these, if he has ever any thought about salvation. To one who begins to feel the weight of his sins, not only hearing the Word of God, but reading it too, and perhaps other serious books, may be a means of deeper conviction. May you not advise him also, to meditate on what he reads, that it may have its full force upon his heart? Yea, and to speak thereof, and not be ashamed, particularly among those who walk in the same path. When trouble and heaviness take hold upon him, should you not then earnestly exhort him to pour out his soul before God; "always to pray and not to faint;" and when he feels the worthlessness of his own prayers, are you not to work together with God, and remind him of going up into the house of the Lord, and praying with all that fear him? But if he does this, the dying word of his Lord will soon be brought to his remembrance; a plain intimation that this is the time when we should second the motions of the blessed Spirit. And thus may we lead him, step by step, through all the means which God has ordained; not according to our own will, but just as the Providence and the Spirit of God go before and open the way.

3. Yet, as we find no command in holy writ for any particular order to be observed herein, so neither do the providence and the Spirit of god adhere to any without variation; but the means into which different men are led, and in which they find the blessing of God, are varied, transposed, and combined together, a thousand different ways. Yet still our wisdom is to follow the leadings of his providence and his Spirit; to be guided herein (more especially as to the means wherein we ourselves seek the grace of God), partly by his outward providence, giving us the opportunity of using sometimes one means, sometimes another, partly by our experience, which it is whereby his free Spirit is pleased most to work in our heart. And in the mean time, the sure and general rule for all who groan for the salvation of God is this, -- whenever opportunity serves,

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use all the means which God has ordained; for who knows in which God will meet thee with the grace that bringeth salvation?

4. As to the manner of using them, whereon indeed it wholly depends whether they should convey any grace at all to the user; it behoves us, First, always to retain a lively sense, that God is above all means. Have a care, therefore, of limiting the Almighty. He doeth whatsoever and whensoever it pleaseth him. He can convey his grace, either in or out of any of the means which he hath appointed. Perhaps he will. "Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?" Look then every moment for his appearing! Be it at the hour you are employed in his ordinances; or before, or after that hour; or when you are hindered therefrom: He is not hindered. He is always ready, always able, always willing to save. "It is the Lord: Let him do what seemeth him good!"

Secondly. Before you use any means, let it be deeply impressed on your soul; -- there is no power in this. It is, in itself, a poor, dead, empty thing: Separate from God, it is a dry leaf, a shadow. Neither is there any merit in my using this; nothing intrinsically pleasing to God; nothing whereby I deserve any favour at his hands, no, not a drop of water to cool my tongue. But, because God bids, therefore I do; because he directs me to wait in this way, therefore here I wait for his free mercy, whereof cometh my salvation.

Settle this in your heart, that the opus operatum, the mere work done, profiteth nothing; that there is no power to save, but in the Spirit of God, no merit, but in the blood of Christ; that, consequently, even what God ordains, conveys no grace to the soul, if you trust not in Him alone. On the other hand, he that does truly trust in Him, cannot fall short of the grace of God, even though he were cut off from every outward ordinance, though he were shut up in the centre of the earth.

Thirdly. In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every outward thing, look singly to the power of his Spirit; and the merits of his Son. Beware you do not stick in the work itself; if you do, it is all lost labour. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, eye him in all, through all, and above all.

Remember also, to use all means, as means; as ordained, not for their own sake, but in order to the renewal of your soul in righteousness and true holiness. If, therefore, they actually tend to this, well; but if not, they are dung and dross.

Lastly. After you have used any of these, take care how you value yourself thereon: How you congratulate yourself as having done some great thing. This is turning all into poison. Think, "If God was not there, what does this avail? Have I not been adding sin to

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sin? How long? O Lord! save, or I perish! O lay not this sin to my charge!" If God was there, if his love flowed into your heart, you have forgot, as it were, the outward work. You see, you know, you feel, God is all in all. Be abased. Sink down before him. Give him all the praise. "Let God in all things be glorified through Christ Jesus". Let all your bones cry out," My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: With my mouth will I ever be telling of thy truth, from one generation to another!"

Acknowledgements

Text from the 1872 edition - Thomas Jackson, editor.

Edited by Darin Million, student at Northwest Nazarene College (Nampa, ID), with corrections by George Lyons for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.

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