As a mainline Protestant I cannot believe in transubstantiation. Here are a few things I **do** believe regarding communion.
1. Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit is with us everywhere and always, as he promised, but no more at communion than any other time. "Lo, I am with you always...."
2. However, communion provides us with a special opportunity to focus on this continuous presence of Christ.
3. There is no change whatsoever in the physical elements. They remain bread and wine - well, grapejuice, 'the fruit of the vine', in many of our Protestant churches. Grapejuice is used so that people who wrestle with alcoholism are not endangered when they receive communion. And both the bread and the cup are distributed to all.
4. Communion is a 'family feast...so to speak. We cannot gather everyone in our homes, as early Christians often did, so we celebrate together in church at the communion table.
5. We remember Christ's crucifixion along with his resurrection as we observe communion. To focus only on his sacrifice is to omit the more important reason for the family feast. So, it is not a memorial service, though there is a memorial aspect.
6. In many of our Protestant churches, communion presents a particular time for a general confession and the assurance of forgiveness to all who truly repent. It is a time when we seek reconciliation with God but also reconciliation with one another.
7. Many Protestants, while regarding other faiths with respect and viewing communion as an important sacrament or ordinance, also recognize that it can easily become loaded down with superstition unless care is taken. This may have been understandable in medieval times, when people generally believed in ghosts and such, but not today. The idea that the elements are changed in any physical way whatsoever through priestly consecration is not embraced by Protestants. If a change occurs - and we hope it does - it is in the hearts, minds and/or souls of the faithful.
8. Protestants generally respect those who have different and/or additional interpretations of communion. As in other areas of theology, diversity of opinion is acceptable - well, with reasonable bounds, of course. None of us can claim to have the full truth about the endless mysterious of life and this mammoth and magnificent universe.
9. The Protestant denominations I identify with - such as Presbyterians, Methodists, UCC, etc. - have open communion. The worshiper decides whether or not to receive. If there is anything invalid about that person's communion, that is between God and him/her. The church is not in a position to judge a person's right to the sacrament.
10. While communion is important, most mainline Protestants don't give it the extraordinary status that Catholicism does. The Eucharist is central to the Catholic faith and worship. It is important to most Protestants, but such 'good works' (speaking sacramentally) don't play as major a role as in Catholicism. One of the most commendable Protestant groups, the Society of Friends (Quakers), doesn't observe communion at all, and I would not criticize them for that. They certainly have a faith rich in reaching out for peace and justice, and I personally view that as important as communion.
That's everything that comes to mind that is not of book-length. God bless Catholics, Protestants and people of every creed, color and country. May religion become a bridge rather than a barrier.
