Brighton Group Meeting – Thinking Allowed Progressive Communion service
Sunday 14 April 2019
- Start Date:
- Sunday 14th April 2019
- Start Time:
- 7:30PM
- Location:
- Hove Methodist Church BN3 5DR
- Contact:
- Sue Harrington
- Phone:
- 07943 401608
- Email:
- sue@paulharrington.co.uk
- Speakers:
- Led by the Rev Deborah Cornish
- Cost:
- Free
- Website:
- hovemethodistchurch.co.uk
The point of communion is to celebrate the essential story of Christendom. For generations it has been “salvation history” – the story of our fallen nature, our struggling journey through history, and God finally rescuing us through Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. In a traditional communion, it is essential that that rescue is rehearsed in the “Words of Institution” – where we talk about what happened “on the night in which Jesus was betrayed” and go on to quote words about the bread and wine, body and blood – shed for the forgiveness of sins. In sharing bread and wine, we symbolically re-enact that evening.
Arguably however Jesus did not intend for us to focus on his death as being what our faith is about. To get to that conclusion requires believing some things about God, sin, sacrifice, blood and so on which did not feature in Jesus’ teaching. Moreover, it takes the focus off what is infinitely more important about our faith: what the incarnation teaches us about God living in us, what Jesus teaches us, what could happen to the world if we lived by Jesus’ teaching and the ultimate power of Jesus’ teaching revealed through the resurrection. So our communion needs to tell that alternative story.
Everyone is welcome to come and join us at this table of community.