My Church Hasn't had Communion for Two and a Half Years!

[InTheLight]

Whew! I've been wanting to say that here for a long time. This is another one of the issues I mentioned in another thread. Don't bother going to check on my profile to see where I attend, I've removed the church name AND I'll see who visited my page.

My church has not had communion since it was started over 2 years ago. I've asked the pastor about this and I get a somewhat run-around answer of "since we are a church plant and are still under the auspices of the planting church I can't give communion because we are not an autonomous church yet. I don't have the authority to give communion on my own."

Well, I'm not feeling as if I'm obeying my Savior, who said "Do this in remembrance of Me" and of the scripture that says, "If you love me, keep my commandments."

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

"Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him."

So what do I do? I could ask the pastor again, but I fear I will get the same response. I know that others have asked the same question and gotten the same answer.

Go to another church for communion?

Pastors who are reading this, have you ever heard of this excuse for not having communion? Can someone explain how this is a legit reason not to have communion?

Please give me suggestions on what to do. This is REALLY bothering me.

 

[Revmitchell]

My church has not had communion since it was started over 2 years ago. I've asked the pastor about this and I get a somewhat run-around answer of "since we are a church plant and are still under the auspices of the planting church I can't give communion because we are not an autonomous church yet. I don't have the authority to give communion on my own."

Has he been given direction not to hold the Lord's Supper? Just based on what you posted here I do not understand the reasoning. Being a church mission really has nothing to do with it. Can he preach? Can he Baptize? Does this mission do anything to act like a church at all? If you do only one of these things why not the other?

 

[InTheLight]

Has he been given direction not to hold the Lord's Supper?

I don't know, but based on his answer it sounds like it.

Can he preach? Can he Baptize? Does this mission do anything to act like a church at all? If you do only one of these things why not the other?

Yes, he preaches, baptizes, visits the elderly, visits the sick, does funerals, etc.

 

[Revmitchell]

I don't know, but based on his answer it sounds like it.



Yes, he preaches, baptizes, visits the elderly, visits the sick, does funerals, etc.

That is just weird. Now it may be there is some info we do not have, but I cannot imagine anything that would justify this. Being a church plant has nothing to do with it in reality. That has no real bearing on having the Lord's Supper.

 

[mont974x4]

Scripture does not limit who serves Communion and neither should we. I encourage men as heads of the home to lead in this way. Serve your family Communion. Wives can ask their husbands to lead in this way too.

A pastors failure to lead in this should not force you to miss out on this sacred remembrance and honoring of Christ's work on the cross.

 

[Alive in Christ]

InTheLight...

Are there a few others who want to have communion?

If so, just gather at someones house and have communion. There is no need for a Pastor to be there.

If 2 or more christians are gathered together you have a church and Christ is in the midst blessing it.

God bless

 

[MNJacob]

There may be an issue with church by-laws. Several of the churches I have attended have restricted the service of the elements to ordained individuals, in our case deacons specifically, a plant may not have those individuals available.

Please don't shoot the messenger on this one. But local church polity may be the issue here.

 

[Tom Butler]

I'm not sure I have enough information to give an opinion. So I have questions.

Isn't a church plant still a church?
If the pastor baptizes, into what church is he baptizing them? That one or the "mother" church?
If the plant is not yet considered a church, why not go to the mother church for communion?
Why doesn't the mother church cut them loose if they're functioning as a church?

If baptism and the Lord's Supper are church ordinances, why is there any thought of doing communion outside the authority of the local church?

I have real problems with "Lone Ranger" communion.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Monte....

You posted...

Scripture does not limit who serves Communion and neither should we. I encourage men as heads of the home to lead in this way. Serve your family Communion. Wives can ask their husbands to lead in this way too.

A pastors failure to lead in this should not force you to miss out on this sacred remembrance and honoring of Christ's work on the cross.

I agree with you completely regarding any man can serve communion. But after saying...

Scripture does not limit who serves Communion and neither should we.

...you then said...

Wives can ask their husbands to lead in this way too.

Woulnt it be better to say anyone (man or woman) can searve communion?

 

[mont974x4]

Church by-laws should play no role in what happens in your home unless the issue involves sin as defined by God and the goal is repentance and restoration.

As to being inside our outside the authority of the church, I (and most Baptists I think) believe in the preisthood of the believer. This means any of us can lead Communion or baptize someone. It is local polity that sees baptism as a means of joining the church, not Scripture. We are acting as members of the Church and honoring Christ when we observe these ordinances. Remember in Acts 8 Phillip did not require anything but a profession of faith before he would baptize the eunuch. He did not require a church vote, a special class, or set location. The profession was made, water was available, and God was glorified by their obedience.

Christ's death and resurrection tore the veil and there is no excuse for man to rebuild it.

 

[Sminasian]

I understand what you are saying about communion. The more contemporary baptist church has it the first sunday of the month in the evening service.

The conservative baptist church has it once a year, the day before Thanksgiving.

Now lets flip over to the Armenian Apostolic church. They had it every week, and dozens of people would pile in at the last minute to get communion, and then leave.

I can truely say " each church is different". I should know, I have attended enough of them LOL

 

[Jerome]

Sounds like the mission station and its sponsoring church are bound by some knotty Landmark Baptist dogmas. Is the OP aware of this?

From the Landmark Baptist forums:

some churches get really "dictatorial" about this, as in not "allowing their mission" to organize into a church unless they have so many members, are "self-supporting", have a building paid off or what not.

You see, the problems with this traditional methodology was made evident a few years ago when an ABA missionary was leveled with the charge of OPEN COMMUNION when, to my knowledge, all that was done was that he celebrated the Lord's Supper with the mission congregation, which in all practical reality is a SEPARATE ASSEMBLY. This (claiming a mission's members are a part of the sending church when they are separated sometimes by thousands of miles and even continents) causes some very real conflicts with our Biblical practice of local church.
. . . . .
I am not someone chasing every liberal fad. I am a hard-headed Landmark Missionary Baptist that believes everything must be done THROUGH THE CHURCHES. The difference is in HOW the authority is TRANSMITTED. I have not offered to divide fellowship with those who believe churches must be started as "missions". We all know that it wasn't always done that way in our Missionary Baptist history. However, fellows on the other side of the issue would almost insinuate those who agree with me to be heretics.

You need to find out what hoops this faraway sponsoring church has erected for your mission station to jump through to prove itself worthy to become an independent local church and thus capable of having its own Lord's Supper.

 

[mont974x4]

Monte....

You posted...

I agree with you completely regarding any man can serve communion. But after saying...



...you then said...



Woulnt it be better to say anyone (man or woman) can searve communion?

I mentioned wives specifically because I am sensitive to the place God put husbands in to lead their homes. I did not want to appear to suggest a wife should usurp that authority. It would be great if the following conversation took place:

Wife: Honey we have not had Communion in so long at church I think we should honor Christ and have it in our home.
Husband: You're right, it has been awhile. Let's plan our own service, maybe invite some friends or family to join us.

I have read about men leading their soon-to-be wives in Communion, and have maintained it as an act of worship in their home and this worked out to be a great blessing to them. I have led my family in it at my own initiative and at suggestion of others.

The point is to honor God.

I see no biblical reason to say a person, man or woman, cannot serve themselves Communion. A mom leading her kids in Communion while dad is off to war, of if he is an unbeliever, would be an awesome thing I think.

By-laws would play a role in cases where they state who can serve/administer these ordinances and the person wants to do so within the church facility or as part of another church function. Personally, I would not likely be in a church that had those types of restrictions.

 

[mont974x4]

Sounds like the mission station and its sponsoring church are bound by some knotty Landmark Baptist dogmas. Is the OP aware of this?

From the Landmark Baptist forums:



You need to find out what hoops this faraway sponsoring church has erected for your mission station to jump through to prove itself worthy to become an independent local church and thus capable of having its own Lord's Supper.

OUCH!



Still, it is not an issue if the person is leading their own family in this rite.

 

[jaigner]

Scripture does not limit who serves Communion and neither should we. I encourage men as heads of the home to lead in this way. Serve your family Communion. Wives can ask their husbands to lead in this way too.

Why can't wives do it?

Husbands and wives are equal before God. The husband has no special "headship" in this way.

 

[jaigner]

I mentioned wives specifically because I am sensitive to the place God put husbands in to lead their homes. I did not want to appear to suggest a wife should usurp that authority. It would be great if the following conversation took place:

Wife: Honey we have not had Communion in so long at church I think we should honor Christ and have it in our home.
Husband: You're right, it has been awhile. Let's plan our own service, maybe invite some friends or family to join us.

I have read about men leading their soon-to-be wives in Communion, and have maintained it as an act of worship in their home and this worked out to be a great blessing to them. I have led my family in it at my own initiative and at suggestion of others.

I see no biblical reason to say a person, man or woman, cannot serve themselves Communion. A mom leading her kids in Communion while dad is off to war, of if he is an unbeliever, would be an awesome thing I think

Men do not have some special "headship" over their wives in this way. They are equal before God and women need no special mediator. Men and women are to mutually submit. I think it would be beautiful for a wife to sometimes lead in this, just as it's right and proper for female ministers to serve communion at corporate gatherings.

 

[mont974x4]

Actually, husbands are to be the head, the servant-leader, of the home. If the husband loves and leads the way He should and the wife won't have any probably respecting him as she should. My answer to the previous question was an effort to support that atmosphere within the home. I don't think God really cares who passes out the bread or pours the wine. How we get to that point matters though.

Of course, I suppose much of this is impacted by how we understand submission.

 

[mont974x4]

Scripture is clear. Women are not to be in authority over men. They are not to be spiritual leaders (elders/bishop/overseer). They can be deacons. If you see serving Communion as the job of an elder, then no a woman cannot do it at all.

 

[jaigner]

Actually, husbands are to be the head, the servant-leader, of the home. If the husband loves and leads the way He should and the wife won't have any probably respecting him as she should.

Except her opinion and decision-making rights are suppressed and ignored, which is abusive. We are to mutually submit to each other.

Scripture is clear. Women are not to be in authority over men.

For one, serving communion isn't exhibiting authority. Secondly, women can be pastors, elders, and anything else if we look at the whole thrust of Scripture. Male hierarchy is only arrived at if we cling to a few uninterpreted proof-texts.

 

[Revmitchell]

Except her opinion and decision-making rights are suppressed and ignored, which is abusive.

Uh...what!?

What happened around here while I was gone?