Protestant communion four times per year

[Digitonomy]

I’ve heard at more than one church that they have communion for the congregation four times a year.

I’m wondering if there are specific occasions, or if it is just spaced out evenly, but on no particular Sunday.

 

[the_hazel_nut]

Anecdotally, my friend goes to a United Methodist Church, and they have it once a month.

 

[Pilgrimage]

Anecdotally, my friend goes to a United Methodist Church, and they have it once a month.

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

A collective circadian amnesia perhaps?

God bless

 

[Nine_Two]

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.

 

[Dylpickleh8]

My Grandma is a UM, her Congregation has it every sunday, but only at the early 7:00 service, and on the first sunday of the month at every service.
(9:00 Contemporary Family Service, 10:45 traditional, the one she goes to)

 

[TriuneUnity]

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.

Ours has it every other week. Which, believe me, is infuriating to no end. Fortunately, many of our congregations are taking a serious look at weekly communion again, which was always our practice up until the blight of American Enlightenment philosophy.

Incidentally, and I am sure it goes along with the infrequency of their reception…Memoralist churches do not actually have communion in any way, shape, or form (though obviously, Catholics/Orthodox would hold the same view of Lutherans due to apostolic succession, but aside from that).

 

[blazerdave]

My parents’ Presbyterian church observed the Lord’s Supper 10 times per year, skipping June and July because so few people were in town. But under their new pastor, they’ve gone to the 4 times per year model. Amazingly, nobody even complained or questioned that move. Calvin wanted it weekly, but the Calvinists aren’t too similar to Calvin these days.

My Episcopal church has three services each Sunday morning…7:30 Eucharist, 9:00 Morning Prayer, 11:00 Eucharist, or 7:30 Eucharist, 9:00 Eucharist, 11:00 Morning Prayer. I think they mainly keep Morning Prayer in the mix because it’s a gorgeous service when sung and they don’t want Matins to die out entirely. But as long as you don’t mind bouncing between 9 and 11 each week (or waking up really early), you can receive each Sunday.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing! LOL

but the Calvinists aren’t too similar to Calvin these days.

 

[blazerdave]

I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing! LOL
blazerdave;6577444:

but the Calvinists aren’t too similar to Calvin these days.

I hear ya. I guess it’s good where he was excessive, but it’s bad where he was more “catholic” and they’re more “evangelical.” He’s a better theologian than those who followed him in his tradition, but I lack the expertise to say more.

 

[Digitonomy]

But under their new pastor, they’ve gone to the 4 times per year model.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the schedule of those four times? Do they correlate with ember days, or are they the Sundays before cleaning week, or what?

 

[LilyM]

The only non-Catholic church I can speak of is the nearby extremely High-Church Anglicans. They have daily Eucharist just as Catholics do.

 

[blazerdave]

Is there any rhyme or reason to the schedule of those four times? Do they correlate with ember days, or are they the Sundays before cleaning week, or what?

I think that they are around the Ember Days. Not sure why they do it that way, or why they changed from third Sunday of the month to that. But I think that somebody, somewhere in that church leadership has been exposed to the Calendar before, so yes…I think that’s it.

 

[choy]

just curious? do these protestant denominations call in Communion? and why? do they believe it has the same effect that the Eucharist we have has? or is it purely a reenactment?

 

[MarkBrown]

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. 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

 

[Contarini]

My parents’ Presbyterian church observed the Lord’s Supper 10 times per year, skipping June and July because so few people were in town. But under their new pastor, they’ve gone to the 4 times per year model. Amazingly, nobody even complained or questioned that move. Calvin wanted it weekly, but the Calvinists aren’t too similar to Calvin these days.

I’m sorry to hear that they’ve moved in that direction. Most Protestant churches are moving in the direction of more frequent communion, but as your story shows it largely depends on the pastor.

One big problem I had in the UMC (I never belonged to it but I attended it for some years with my wife, before she switched over and became Episcopalian) was that sacramental piety was almost entirely a top-down, elite movement. Seminary professors and liturgists: very sacramental. Pastors: sometimes sacramental, in part depending on where they went to seminary. Laypeople: generally don’t see much in it. (Though my wife had a Methodist friend in Illinois, a laywoman, who not only valued the sacraments but prayed the Rosary. . . )

This pattern is one of the reasons my wife is no longer a Methodist.

Edwin

 

[callmecharles]

The protestant churches I’ve attended almost never have communion. Once a year if we’re lucky. Heh heh. As others have said, it’s mostly dependent on the the pastor and the level of importance he places upon it.

In fact, I’ve only received communion once in my entire life. That’s not to say it that the churches I’ve been to wait decades on end before having communion, but rather that it’s so infrequent that you could easily go that long without receiving it.

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. Good times.

 

[jmcrae]

I’ve heard at more than one church that they have communion for the congregation four times a year.

I’m wondering if there are specific occasions, or if it is just spaced out evenly, but on no particular Sunday.

The one I used to go to had it every Palm Sunday (but not Easter, because there were too many visitors in Church on Easter), the Sunday nearest June 10th, Thanksgiving Sunday (2nd Sunday of October, in our case) and the 4th Sunday of Advent.

Later on, we started having it every Wednesday at noon, for the workers. We also at the same time started having it at the children’s service on Christmas Eve, and once a month, we had a communion service after the regular service in the minister’s study.

It made perfect sense at the time, but looking back, it’s totally baffling to me, why we needed to have two services on the first Sunday of every month.

 

[eureka525]

just curious? do these protestant denominations call in Communion? and why? do they believe it has the same effect that the Eucharist we have has? or is it purely a reenactment?

In my Presbyterian church, we have Communion on the first Sunday of every month as well as on the major holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc.) but for us it is only a representation of the sacrifice of Christ, not his physical body and blood.

 

[Catholicnow]

just curious? do these protestant denominations call in Communion? and why? do they believe it has the same effect that the Eucharist we have has? or is it purely a reenactment?

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.”

 

[lutherlic]

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.”

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