Protestant communion four times per year

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I have served as a substitute organist/pianist in several local Protestant churches, and here are some examples. As you see, not all churches within a certain denomination do things the same way.

Congregational (UCC) church and United Methodist church #1: first Sunday of every month
United Methodist church #2: weekly during Lent and Advent; otherwise, once a month
Lutheran (ELCA) #1: first and third Sundays of the month
Lutheran (Missouri Synod), Episcopal, and ELCA #2: every week
Seventh-day Adventist: quarterly; they also do foot-washing when they have communion
 
callmecharles said:
As an added bonus, I’d like to add that one time I received communion was actually against my will. It was in sunday school when I was like eight, and the teacher had just explained that if we had an oath against our brother, we shouldn’t receive. About an twenty minutes before that, I had been stuck in a corner for doing something wrong. I tried to explain to the teacher that I had an oath against her for sticking me in that corner, but she’d hear none of it. “WOULD YOU JUST MIND AND EAT THE CRACKER?!” she exclaimed. :rotfl: Good times.
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http://bestsmileys.com/lol/7.gif That is TOO funny! Thx for sharing!
 
Nine_Two said:
My parents go to a church that only has it sometimes, and the dates don’t seem to make a difference. They didn’t have it at their Easter or Christmas services this year, for example.
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How bizzar, to not have communion on Easter!!! Particularly since I’m guessing they didnt’ have a Holy Thursday service?
 
MarkBrown said:
When I was a Baptist, the church I belonged too did it quarterly. When they had business meetings, I guess in an attempt to keep the business meeting civil!

The last church I pastored as a Baptist minister, when I arrived they did it once a year. Once a year was good enough for Jesus so it is good enough for us…as the head deacon told me.:eek: Usually around Easter. Staying with the literal interpretations, I tried to show them that Jesus in scripture only did it once. So if we are to be like Jesus, let us do it every Easter and then never again. Sad thing, a few were ok with it. A few months later the congregation asked me to make it more frequent, so we when to the 1st Sunday of each month.

choy, protestants hold to a wide view on the Eucharist. Baptist pure memorial. No presence etc. Then you have Lutherans or some Anglicans for example who hold to the real presences and believe it is the Body and Blood of Christ. Maybe not fully transubstantiation but very close. Though some do hold to the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. With protestantism, there is no one set of beliefs. Trying to pin all protestants down to a particular belief, well you can nail jello to the wall easier. Why you can not get all Baptist or Anglicans to agree on basic faith beliefs or much less codify them.

Fr. Mark
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When I was Presbyterian, we had communion quarterly. It was so long ago now I’ve forgotten which months they were, but it was regular. It was also quite solemn. They had a couple of quite moving hymns to go with it. But it was regarded as purely symbolic, and of course the ‘wine’ was unfermented grape juice. One would think the accusation of Christ’s enemies that He was a ‘wine bibber’ would have cleared up the question of whether He drank wine or not.

I think the Wesleyan Methodists, which I joined briefly, had it monthly, and my wife’s Baptist church hold communion monthly.

As my old Pastor used to say, “When it comes to theology, Protestants couldn’t agree how far to spit.”

The same old pastor said to me in the privacy of his office that he sometimes wondered if Protestants get to heaven. And technically, when you think about it, they don’t partake of the real presence once. I mean a lot of them are very good Christians, but at the same time one wonders how far God is going to ignore a deliberate watering down of Christ’s statement, “This is my body … This is my blood …”
 
lutherlic said:
Not true. Some do refer to it as Communion and some also believe in the Real Presence (although we Catholics believe otherwise for them as they lack valid Holy Orders).

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

See also: John 6:48-66
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As a majority, what I stated is true. It’s ***remember *** not “I am in this”
 
Catholicnow said:
As a majority, what I stated is true. It’s ***remember *** not “I am in this”
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Did you read that whole verse or just half of it?

this is my body, do this in memory of me…

How about

kjv
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
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How about this
Joh 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63** It is the spirit that quickeneth**; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
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Did you catch that? The Spirit gives live, my words are spirit. What is the Spirit? It’s life, what are the words of Jesus? Life? Which words of Jesus are life? I refer you back to John 6:55 and on.
 
My church is affiliated with Assemblies of God, and we have Communion the first Sunday of each month, and also at special worship services held occasionally. Our theology comes from the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition, and we’re memorialists. We use unfermented grape juice and freshly baked artisan bread (which is very good – wafers are not at all appealing).

Personally, my preference would be to use real wine and to have it every week. And I agree with the Lutheran version of Real Presence, as I do with some other Lutheran theology. But I love my church, and this isn’t something I feel strongly enough about to switch churches over.
 
Catholicnow said:
Cool for you, however grossly misinterpreted. It’s just bread and wine period, no hocus pocus stuff
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Talk about grossly misinterpeting, Christ reenforices the idea that it’s his real body and blood numerous times and in numerous ways in John 6… And you’re going to just blow that off?
 
crazzeto said:
Talk about grossly misinterpeting, Christ reenforices the idea that it’s his real body and blood numerous times and in numerous ways in John 6… And you’re going to just blow that off?
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Okay…
 
That’s what happens when you choose to listen to self professed preachers that proclaim that their holy spirit gives them the interpretation.
 
Catholicnow said:
No Protestants call it Communion and it’s a memorial as the verse says:

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
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The word translated as “remembrance” is “anamnesis” which doesn’t really have an English equivalent. It means, to bring the past event into the present, and fully and actually participate in it, in a ritual manner - it’s not “remember” in the sense of looking through a photo album, or recounting stories.
 
Catholicnow said:
Okay…
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Lets address the “spirit” of the matter shall we? Since you bring this up as a clear rebuttle of Christ throwing away roughtly 40 verses of John 6:

*** All taken from the KJV**
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
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Christ has set up a word assocition for us,

Spirit = Life i.e. Justification
Flesh = No avail or I think we can interpret eternal damnation

Jesus says “the words that I speak unto you, they are sprit (life, justification), and they are life” that second part hammers the word association home.

Next question, what words?? Well the previous two verses give us a clue:
Joh 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, **he said unto them, Doth this offend you? **
Joh 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
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Doth what… offend you?

Could it be…
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
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And maybe it offends them particularly because the Jews were remembering
Deu 12:23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
Deu 12:24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
Deu 12:25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
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From Dueteronomy?

It’s worth noting that the Douay Rheims renders:
Deu 12:23 Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh:
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Jesus was telling the Jews, drink my life, drink my soul, my divinity…everything…
 
With that attitude, I have to wonder why in the world you are here. What made you register and post in this Catholic forum?
 
One of the reasons its not a weekly event in every protestant church is that there is always a fear that something becomes rote and done with little thought. Breaking up the pattern makes one pause for a moment to consider.
 
Loboto-Me said:
With that attitude, I have to wonder why in the world you are here. What made you register and post in this Catholic forum?
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I erroneously thought I wanted to be catholic again. I panicked because I had a severe reaction to my meds where my eyes got blurry so I posted many places for prayer
 
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