One of the things we are currently working out at Connections is our "positive proclamation." Let me unpack that - Too often, and very easily in a church as broad as what Anglicans are, we find ourselves doing something or saying something "just because." This is a topic in itself, but I have a specific example - and that is communion.As a young church plant one of the things we reacted against was the impetus in traditionalist congregations to have communion every week. So we reduced the frequency of having it. And in the end, to be frank, it became a bit of a "tack on" - a something we did because we "ought to." And when we did celebrate communion it was therefore ambiguous and unclear as to why it was there and what it was doing.
The difficulty of course is that in Anglicanism there is a whole range of ways in which communion is treated. And so by not actually "positively" proclaiming something about it, we end up not saying anything at all, or (perhaps worse still) confirming in people something that it is not!
So what is the "positive proclamation" of communion? It has to be from the place we believe the Bible takes us with regard to it. And there's no point throwing around the theologically technical terms (I'm not a Zwinglian by the way) because while they may teach they do not proclaim.
And so we developed a very simple communion prayer based on Luke's gospel - prettied it up for the data projector - and we now surround that prayer with language which gives purpose and clarity to what we are doing. Let me give you and example from this week's service notes:
Of course this is a work in progress, and of course the exact wording of what I say changes in interaction with where the congregation is at. But this is a "positive proclamation." The example above uses the theme for the week of the first verses of Hebrews 12.
- In this congregation, we share together bread and wine in a time of communion.
- This is a time when we look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
- At the meal just before he died, Jesus used bread and wine as symbols of the new covenant – the promise he made to his people that he would save them from death and give them freedom in life.
- And so, as often as we can, we gather around a table to grasp and be grasped by these promises of Jesus.
- It's an open table – you are welcome to join us.
- But this is not something that we do lightly but in full recognition of our need of him.
- The same person who told us to look to Jesus told us: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sins that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
- And so if you are entangled in something that is not of God, here is a time to turn to God and be free. Here is a time to confess to him those things of which we are ashamed, and be lead by him in a way that is renewed and restored.
- (Pray to confess, declare the gospel truth, lead on into communion)
In the end, though, we want communion to speak. We want it to proclaim gospel truth. And so, maybe not every week, but over time, the people need to recognise things like this:
- That this is to do with Jesus and the covenant he makes and enacts through his death and resurrection.
- That it's not a passive thing - we don't just "grasp" Jesus through communion, but we are "grasped" by him.
- Therefore it not only speaks of the gospel - freedom from sin and the burdens of the powers of this age, but it becomes a means of engaging with the gospe - it facilitates change in us. We are not to be unmoved by communion.
- There is complete freedom to not partake, because of undealt with sin or broken relationship - and that is not a bad response - as long as it as part of a process of faith and response to Christ.
- It is evangelistic - it should so speak of the gospel and the blessings we have in Christ that non-Christians who see it should say "I want some of that."
Cheers,
W.
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