Who serves Communion in your Church?

[Angie Miller]

Who serves Communion in your Church and how often does your church offer it?
After I get some feed back I would like to share what our church does and get your thoughts on it. Thanks, Love in Christ Angie

 

[donnA]

Deacons, quarterly.

 

[Bible-boy]

Hello Angie,

When you say "who serves" communion, do you mean who prepares the plates of communion waffers and fills the little cups with grape juice, or do you mean who stands at the front of the church with the pastor and then takes the plates and moves them from pew to pew?

Anyway, at my church the deacons prepare the plates and fill the cups. Then they stand with the pastor and take the plates to the pews and move the plates from one pew to the next. However, I guess if you want to be "technical" the person sitting next to me actually "serves" the communion elements to me because they hold the plates while I pick up the elements. Then I do the same for the person sitting on the other side of me.

Oh yeah, we have a commuinon service once per quarter. Although, I would not mind it if we observed the Lord's Supper more often.

 

[Dr. Bob]

As Pastor, I oversee the distribution and readings. The elders (5-6 men) serve it; the deacons prepare the elements.

We have it first Sunday each month, and every Sunday in Advent as well as Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter (no matter which Sunday of the month they fall on).

Unique at my present church - trays have rings of glasses and a plate with matzoh in the center, so it is just one passing of elements. I've never had it/seen it and I've preached in a gajillion churches over the past 35+ years.

 

[Rev. Joshua]

We do communion weekly. One of the clergy serves as the Celebrant (consecrating the elements) and then either clergy or deacons serve.

The congregation comes forward to receive communion, and we use wine on the pulpit side and grape juice on the lectern. We rotate communion liturgies, although the one from the Book of Common Prayer is my favorite by far.

Joshua

[ November 11, 2002, 02:14 AM: Message edited by: Rev. Joshua ]

 

[jonmagee]

Communion in our church is celebrated weekly, usually in the morning except on the 4th sunday of the month when it is in the evening. It is served by differing members of the church in rotation
yours, Jon.

 

[Bible-boy]

Originally posted by Rev. Joshua:
We do communion weekly. One of the clergy serves as the Celebrant (consecrating the elements) and then either clergy or deacons serve.

The congregation comes forward to receive communion, and we use wine on the pulpit side and grape juice on the lectern. We rotate communion liturgies, although the one from the Book of Common Prayer is my favorite by far.

Joshua

Hello Joshua,

The terms you used and the method that you have outlined above sound very much like Roman Catholicism or at very least Anglican. Are you sure that you serve in a Baptist church?

[ November 11, 2002, 06:06 AM: Message edited by: BibleboyII ]

 

[Deacon]

The deacons prepare the plates and fill the cups. Previously selected members (including deacons) of the congregation stand with the pastor (and an assistant, who may be a deacon, an intern, or a visiting missionary). The selected members take the plates to the pews.
We serve communion one a month, usually on the first Sunday.

 

[Ben W]

The Pentecostal Church I was in had a weekly communion, Served by the Elders. It consisted of small plastic cups of grape juice and broken up crackers.

Seventh Day Baptists can take communion in any way a congregation feels led. Some have weekly communion and others have communion once a year on the Jewish Passover. There is a line of thinking that suggests that Jesus did away with the passover and replaced it with communion.

I think it is likely that the Deacons in the Early church organised the communion and also took it to the sick who were not able to be there for it.

 

[Rev. Joshua]

Originally posted by BibleboyII:
The terms you used and the method that you have outlined above sound very much like Roman Catholicism or at very least Anglican. Are you sure that you serve in a Baptist church?

Positive BibleBoy. We're very high church, so our worship has a very Anglican "flavor" to it, but we are definitely baptist. It was at a baptist seminary (Mercer) that I learned how to plan a liturgical worship service.

Joshua

 

[Abiyah]

Originally posted by Angie Miller:
Who serves Communion in your Church and how often does your church offer it? . . .

The head of each home serves it in our homes
on Passover. If the home has invited guests,
and people usuallly do, it is till the head of the
home who does it. If there are several gusts
and more than one table, besides than the head
of the home, a head of each other table is
chosen, and each head serves.

The next night, in the synagogue, we have our
public seder; there, again, it is the head of each
table.

We have Passover once a year.

 

[Angie Miller]

Originally posted by Dr. Bob Griffin:
As Pastor, I oversee the distribution and readings. The elders (5-6 men) serve it; the deacons prepare the elements.

We have it first Sunday each month, and every Sunday in Advent as well as Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter (no matter which Sunday of the month they fall on).

Unique at my present church - trays have rings of glasses and a plate with matzoh in the center, so it is just one passing of elements. I've never had it/seen it and I've preached in a gajillion churches over the past 35+ years.

We just purchased those type of Communion trays, they are really nice to have!

 

[Tony F]

At our church we have communion weekly at the end of the service. The ushers pass out the trays with the bread and the juice. Everyone in the congregation takes communion together led by one of the assistant pastors from the pulpit.

Personally I feel that having it weekly deludes from its meaning and makes it seem more liturgical. I would prefer to have it monthly as part of a Sunday evening service.

In Christ
Tony

 

[Angie Miller]

Okay now I did not know you could only have a maximum of 8 little pictures so my entire post got deleted! YIKES!
Anyway, the members of our church prepare the Communion on a rotation. We pertake in Communion weekly and I enjoy that, as long as people do not become complacent about it.
My biggest hang up is that about 6 months ago the church asked for families to serve. This includes Husband, Wives, and their children who have accepted Jesus into their hearts and have been baptized. Also we have a few people who are single and they too serve. Sometimes they serve with married men including my Hubby. No not jealous just don't really think it is right! Now perhaps it is my Baptist upbringing and my strong convictions about this but I have a problem with it! For the record I am now a member of a Non- Denominational Christian Church, have been for 3 years. I want to go back to a Baptist Church, and do visit one a lot, shhhhhhhhhhh, but my Hubby is not ready to make that move yet. Another Forum would be needed for that story! LOL
I also do not want to come across legalistic!!!!
Yesterday during Communion time one of the Elders was serving, as he did his 7 year old Son was standing in front of him the entire time. For some reason this just weirded me out! I just did not find it acceptable. Why? Well I guess because he is not saved and he is so young. On the other hand I am all for teaching our children to serve The Lord but not in that capacity at that age. No he did not actually serve but he was kind of serving. Oh I don't know, it is confussing me! Ahhhhhhh!!!!
I chose not to be a part of serving, but I do on occasion do Communion Meditation and offering Meditation. Is that wrong? I really hate that I feel this way and I just want to worship but it distracts me. Thanks to Satan! Bad thing that he is!
What do you all think about these issues? Also please understand that I am NOT trying to come off like someone who believes women should not serve in the Church, of course they should. I am just not sure about Communion and some other areas.
Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!
Love in Christ Angie

 

[LauraB]

I have been a member of my church for 2 yrs 7 months now, and a few months back I missed on a sunday because I was sick and my husband said they served communion. So once in 2 and a half yrs...

I also thought that was only a Catholic thing..

 

[Jeff Weaver]

We have communion annually.

It works like this.

One of us (usually me) grow the grapes, Either I or another of the Elders makes the wine . It is brought to the meeting house on the appointed day. After preaching services and concluded, three Elders are selected, one handles the Wine, makes remarks about its significance, the deacons then distribute two chalices to the members who are present. One chalice for the women, another for the men. The bread is done likewise.
After the bread and wine have been distributed, the third Elder makes remarks about feet washing, and then that part of the service takes place. After that is done, a hymn is sung and the congregation goes out of the meeting house.

Communion service day usually takes all day.

 

[Thankful]

The Deacons serve the Lord's Supper under the guidance of the Pastor on every fifth Sunday, which, I believe, is quarterly. This is in the morning service.

Then in the evening, we have fifth Sunday Sing.

 

[Daniel Dunivan]

When I was pastoring (I'm doing full time doctoral work, which make pastoring too much right now), I would do communion twice a month with varied approaches (liturgical, contemporary, traditional for that church, etc.). The church that I attend now hasn't done it in 2 years. I really miss it! This is one thing that even done ritually is better than not doing it at all, in my opinion. There is just something about physically experiencing all of the richness of communion theology.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Originally posted by Rev. Joshua:
It was at a baptist seminary (Mercer) that I learned how to plan a liturgical worship service.

For what it is worth, every church has a liturgy, whether is be a high church, low church or something in the middle. At Southwestern Seminary (an SBC institution), I learned how to plan a high church liturgy. If you understand "high" church, you can do "low" church easily.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Originally posted by Angie Miller:
Who serves Communion in your Church and how often does your church offer it?

The LORD serves communion at our church (it is HIS table), but mere humans help with the distribution.

We observe Communion usually once a quarter (and special days like Maundy Thursday and Christmas Eve).

The deacons of our church assist the pastor with the serving (both men and women).

After I get some feed back I would like to share what our church does and get your thoughts on it.

Can't wait!!