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INTRODUCTION
The 211th General Assembly (1999) confirmed the addition to
the Book of Order of a section providing for the extended serving
of the church's communion to members isolated from congregational
worship.The new section reads:
The serving of the elements may be extended, by two or more
ordained officers of the church, to those isolated from the
community's worship, provided
- The elements are served following worship on the same calendar
day, or as soon as practically feasible, as a direct extension
of the serving of the gathered congregation, to church members
who have responded to the church's invitation to receive the
Sacrament;
- Care is taken in the serving to ensure that the unity of
Word and Sacrament is maintained, by the reading of Scripture
and the offering of prayers; and
- Those serving have been instructed by the Session or authorizing
governing body in the theological and pastoral foundations
of this ministry and in the liturgical resources for it. (W-3.3616e)
The intent of this provision is twofold. It strengthens the
pastoral care of the church to its elderly, disabled and homebound
members by making it more feasible for them to participate regularly
and frequently in the Lord's Supper. This provision also makes
our celebration of the Lord's Supper a strong sign of the unity
of the church by regularly including in the church's communion
those who are unable to gather with the worshiping congregation.
In adopting W-3.3616e, the church has embraced opportunities
for pastoral ministry to persons in a variety of isolating circumstances.
This new provision has also opened an important arena for theological
dialogue concerning the centrality and meaning of the Lord's
Supper.
The extended serving provision both adds to and complements
the existing practice of observing the Lord's Supper on "Special
Occasions," specifically "in connection with the visitation
of the sick and those isolated from public worship". The
familiar practice or "a Special Observance of the Lord's
Supper" (W-2.4010) allows a minister, along with at
least one other church member to celebrate communion, apart
from worship, with persons unable to come to church. The new
provision for Extended Serving of the Communion of the Church
(W-3.3616e) allows officers serving together to take
the bread and cup directly from the worship service to church
members who cannot be present in the sanctuary.
Special Observances:
- Home communion is a separate celebration of the Lord's Supper.
The home visit may be scheduled at any convenient time.
- A Minister of the Word and Sacrament is required to preside.
- The home communion visit consists of an abbreviated but
complete celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
Extended Serving:
- Home communion extends the celebration of the gathered congregation.
- The home visit directly follows the Service for the Lord's
Day.
- Elders and deacons go with or without the pastor to members
beyond the sanctuary.
- The home communion visit consists of the offering bread
and cup with prayer and the reading of Scripture.
The pastoral need for this provision is significant. In the
practice of many congregations and pastors, taking communion
to homebound members does not happen often enough to provide
regular fellowship, prayer and communion for those who are apart
from the worshiping church. As the median age of church members
rises, the challenge is of including the elderly and infirm
at the Lord's Table becomes more urgent. Moreover, when the
burden of requesting communion is left to the church member,
many seem reluctant to further burden their busy pastor by requesting
a home communion visit. As a result, too many homebound members
find themselves excommunicated in practice, or are included
in the church's communion only on occasion.
The implications of this present reality are enormous. While
Special Observances make needed provision for celebrations of
the Lord's Supper that are necessarily "separate"
and "special", Extended Serving offers a way to include
homebound church members in regular celebration of the sacrament.
This is important as a witness to our homebound members the
confirming that they are part of their congregation's worship.
It is equally important as to remind the worshiping congregation
that the community of their church extends beyond the company
of those present in the sanctuary.
The provision for Extended Serving creates the possibility
of serving all homebound members every time the congregation
celebrates the Lord's Supper, serving isolated members on the
same day, and from the same Table as the rest of the church.
Elders and deacons would be sent out of the church to serve
those who are unable to be present in the sanctuary, just as
though they were in the last pew. Homebound members may be remembered
and named in prayer at the Lord's Table. Likewise, Scripture
readings and prayers from the sanctuary are repeated wherever
communion is taken.
While the practice of Extended Serving is new to most Presbyterians,
it was a practice of the early church, and is fully consistent
with a Reformed understanding of the Sacrament. In the early
church, deacons took the bread and wine to those absent from
worship. Early emphasis on the Lord's Supper as an expression
of the church's unity made leaving anyone out of the Sacrament
unthinkable. The more familiar pattern of Special Observances
of the Lord's Supper maintains this connection to the church
through the presence the pastor and a church member who together
represent the church. However, Extended Serving links the serving
of communion outside the church with the congregations celebration
of the sacrament in the sanctuary. In both practices, the unity
of the Word and Sacrament is maintained by the provision for
Scripture reading and prayer.
These two provisions for offering the church's sacramental
ministry to its homebound members are complementary. That is,
in any congregation it is possible that both Special Observances
of the Lord's Supper and Extended Serving of the Communion of
the Church may be practiced side by side. On some occasions,
the need for a timely home communion visit will be best served
by the pastor and others, celebrating the Lord's Supper as a
special observance, even when a program for extended serving
is also in place in the church. In other circumstances, the
need for more frequent participation in the communion of the
church will be better met by a regular program of extended serving,
even when the pastor also makes home communion visits.
In no instance should the extended serving provision be used
to excuse ministers from their pastoral obligation both to visit
and to share in communion with isolated church members. In extended
serving, and in special observances, the burden for including
isolated church members in the Lord's Supper must not be placed
on the member making a request, but on the church extending
an invitation. So, although church members may, at any time,
request a home communion visit, the church must not wait to
be asked before it offers, lest we violate our understanding
of the unity of the entire body of Christ.
Provision W-3.3616e directs sessions to the "liturgical
resources" of the church (W-6.3011) in carrying out a ministry
of extended serving of the church's communion. This resource
is designed to suggest the kind of liturgy by which the practice
of extended serving can be faithfully and fruitfully carried
out. A sample order of service for use by elders and deacons
is accompanied by explanatory notes and practical suggestions
are offered. The tear-off section of the back cover of this
booklet is designed to be used by elders and deacons during
extended serving visits. Local custom and preference will dictate
specific local practices and adaptation of these resources.
Further resources may be found in the Book of Common Worship
(1993).
HISTORY, THEOLOGY, AND PRACTICE
History
Extended serving is an ancient practice of the early church
with much to commend it to contemporary congregations. The practice
of serving the bread and cup from the Lord's Table to those
"absent" is attested twice in the First Apology of
Justin the Martyr (dating from approximately 155 A.D., in the
city of Rome). Paragraph 67 describes a typical Lord's Day service
of Word and Table:
When we have concluded the prayer, bread is set out to eat,
together with wine and water. The presider likewise offers
up prayer and thanksgiving, as much as he can, and the people
sing out their assent saying the "amen". There is
a distribution of the things over which thanks have been said
and each person participates, and those things are sent
by the deacons to those who are not present. (Italics
added for emphasis)
Paragraph 65 describes a celebration of the Lord's Supper following
Baptism:
When the presider has given thanks and the whole congregation
has assented, those whom we call deacons give to each of those
present a portion of the bread and wine and water over which
thanks have been said, and they take it to the absent.
(Italics added for emphasis)
While it is important to understand there is precedent for
this practice in the history of the church. the reason for us
to emulate that practice today is not merely because the early
church did it. Extended serving embodies the essence of communion
with the risen Lord. For the early Christians who lived in the
wake of the resurrection, it was unthinkable that any member
of the body of Christ be excluded or omitted from participation
at the Lord's Table. For them, the Lord's Supper was the vital
living sign of the church's unity in Christ. The bread and wine
were distributed to each and every member of the congregation
without fail, even to those who were missing from worship on
any given Lord's Day. This ancient understanding offers the
contemporary church a corrective for the inclination to limit
the importance of the Lord's Supper to the personal meaning
it has for individual believers. For our time, as for the early
church, the significance of the Sacrament as a sign of our unity
is no small matter.
There is good reason why the churches of the sixteenth century
Reformation did not practice extended serving, or make other
provision for taking communion to those who were absent from
worship. By the time of the Reformation, abuses in the sacramental
practice of the medieval church, including the "private
mass" and "reservation" of the sacrament for
devotional use, were widespread.
Proliferation of "private masses" had given rise
to the misunderstanding that while a presiding priest was essential,
a participating congregation was not. Veneration of the communion
elements mis-located Christ in the bread and wine apart from
his presence in and with the gathered church. In this context,
the sixteenth century Reformers insisted that Christ was present
in the celebration at the Lord's Table only as he was present
in the church, the assembled congregation.
Among Presbyterians, there was no provision for communing the
sick or homebound for almost 400 years. It was not until 1932,
that the Book of Common Worship first included "A Brief
Order of the Communion" to be used at the pastor's discretion
for ministry to the sick. Twenty-five years later, the Presbyterian
"Directory for Worship" (UPCUSA) added the current
provision (W-2.4010).
It could be argued that the practice of extended serving has
certain similarities to the medieval practice of "reservation"
of the sacrament, where consecrated bread and wine were carried
outside the sanctuary for later use. However, extended serving
is significantly different from sacramental reservation. Its
purpose is not to meet private devotional needs apart from Lord's
Day worship. Instead, extended serving includes isolated people
in that worship and the church's resulting common life.
For the sake of both the unity of the whole body of Christ,
and the integrity of the church's ministry to each of its members,
the practice today of taking communion to those who are unable
to join the worshiping community is compelling. Whether accomplished
through special observances or extended serving, the pastoral
need is evident.
Theology
Unity of the Word and Sacrament is basic to Reformed theology
and liturgical practice. While there are many ways homebound
church members can hear the Word of God proclaimed, they can
only share in the Sacrament when the church brings it to them.
This is a sobering reminder of our pastoral and spiritual obligation
to all the members of the church's fellowship. Extended serving
imagines the extension of both the Word and the Sacrament to
those unable to gather with the church. The Sacrament is extended
through serving the bread and the cup from the congregation's
celebration at the Lord's Table. The Word is extended in Scripture
and prayer, and other appropriate forms of preparation or proclamation.
Both the recent provision for extended serving and the older
provision for special observance take seriously Calvin's essentialteaching:
"the true church is found wherever the Word of God is purely
preached and heard, and the sacraments rightly administered."
(The Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV.1.ix).
The consecrating prayer at the Lord's Table does not make bread
and wine holy. In offering that prayer, we acknowledge that
the bread and wine are holy gifts, and we give thanks to God.
When we take these sacramental signs of the presence of Christ
to isolated church members, Christ is present, not in the elements
themselves but in the church that bears them.
Practice
The practice of extended serving carefully preserves the authority
of a Minister of the Word and Sacrament to preside at the Lord's
Table (W2.4012c) and the role of officers (and others appointed
by the session) to serve the bread and cup to the people (W-3.3616d).
Extended serving offers elders a venue in which to exercise
their proper pastoral ministry. Extended serving is one concrete,
practical act where elders can serve as more than corporate
decision-makers on a church board or administrators of congregational
programs. As participants in extended serving, elders can "strengthen
and nurture the faith and life of the congregation committed
to their charge," and they can "encourage the people
in the worship and service of God." With a particular spiritual
dimension appropriate to their office, elders can "visit
and comfort and care for the people" (G-6.0304). In addition,
since elders are encouraged to "cultivate their ability
to teach the Bible and may be authorized to (preach)" (G-6.0304),
extended serving visits, notably with persons who are still
mentally and physically alert, provide opportunity for elders
to practice offering brief interpretations of the Word.
The role of Ministers of the Word and Sacrament as presider
at the Lord's Table remains unchanged. Ministers must not allow
the involvement of elders in extended serving to excuse them
from their own pastoral obligation to visit isolated church
members and to share in the gifts of the Lord's Table with them.
Ministers must exercise careful judgment in deciding when particular
needs are better met through the ministry of extended serving,
and when it is more appropriate to offer a special observance
of the Lord's Supper. When extended serving is implemented as
a ministry of a particular church, opportunities for pastoral
interpretation of the Lord's Supper abound through the training
of elders and careful interpretation of the meaning of the Sacrament
to the entire congregation.
Considerations
It is the responsibility of the pastor to instruct those who
will participate in extended serving in basic sacramental theology.
The Office of Theology and Worship recommends study of Chapter
2 in the Directory for Worship, with special attention to the
sections on Scripture, and The Lord's Supper. Further study
on The Lord's Supper in the Book of Confessions (4.075-4.082,
5.193-5.210, 6.161-6.168 and 9.52) is also recommended.
As has been emphasized earlier, extended serving of the communion
of the church is an extension of the blessing and fellowship
of the Lord's Table to those who are unable to be present in
the sanctuary. This should at no time be regarded as a separate
time of worship or an act of private devotion for an individual
or a group. If elders and deacons are inexperienced in calling,
especially when communion is celebrated, the pastor may consider
including them in traditional home communion visits as preparation
for their own ministry of extended serving.
A Session may decide to have a portion of the communion elements
set apart for use in extended serving as an action at the Lord's
Table. This is entirely appropriate, and provides a visual reminder
to the congregation of those who are not able to be present.
Prepared "kits" for extended serving may be placed
on the Table along with the accustomed communion vessels. The
presiding minister may simply set aside bread and wine to be
used in extended serving immediately following the Lord's Day
service, or may opt to give bread and wine to designated elders
and deacons at the Communion of the People, enabling them to
leave the sanctuary immediately and begin their extended serving.
These actions are fitting reminds for the gathered congregation
of the inclusion of those who are absent from the Table.
Care should be taken to schedule the extended serving visit.
Allowance must also be made for mealtimes, treatment schedules
and other activities over which the isolated communicants have
little or no control.
It is appropriate that elders and deacons who are participating
in extended serving gather for prayer with the pastor and those
who will serve the gathered congregation. Extended serving teams
must be comprised of two or more elders or deacons as a tangible
sign that this is a celebration by the whole church. Each team
should have sufficient orders of service from the Lord's Day,
worship to leave one with each communicant. If a congregation
does not ordinarily use a printed order of worship, thought
should be given to providing each communicant with a record
of the church's worship.
COMMENTARY ON THE ORDER OF WORSHIP
The order of worship suggested here for the extended serving
is adapted from the Service for the Lord's Day, Book of Common
Worship (1993). The service is brief, but maintains the critical
link between the Word and the Sacrament. Care should be taken
that communion is not delivered casually or apologetically.
This is the Lord's Supper. It is a visible sign of the Good
News of Jesus Christ. The elders and deacons who come offering
extended serving of the communion of the Church are literally
messengers of the Gospel. Prayers, Scripture, and the communion
elements should be shared with joy and thanksgiving. Your session
may elect to add to all elements to the service that reflect
your congregations worship practices more fully.
While each communicant's circumstances will require the extended
serving team to be thoughtfully creative in their adaptation
of the order of service, the following order is recommended
as a basic pattern for worship. Particular attention must be
given to the physical condition of each communicant as well
as to their age and level of comprehension.
Because the Lord's Supper is a celebration for the whole church
with Jesus Christ as the host, bringing communion to a home
or health care facility is not simply conveying bread and cup
to the isolated, including individuals in the worship of the
whole church. Whenever the extended serving team enters a home
or health care facility, they are guests and messengers of the
Gospel. Prior to leaving the church, the presiding minister
may pray these or similar words:
Loving God,
as you sent the angel to minister to Elijah
with the bread of heaven,
send us out in this ministry of love and grace.
Strengthen and nourish
all who celebrate this sacrament
that through our communion
in the body and blood of Christ,
we all may know the comfort
of your eternal presence. Amen.
Order for the Extended Serving of the Communion
of the Church
Team members should always identify themselves by name with
these or similar words:
We are N. and N. from N. church, here to visit and to enable
you to share in the communion of your church.
Elders and deacons should take time to visit with the Communicant.
As you visit, listen for concerns and joys to remember in prayer.
When all are ready for communion, prepare the elements by uncovering
the bread and pouring the cup. Elders and deacons may invite
others present to join in this service.
GREETING
Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and
earth.
Then an elder says these words:
EXTENDING THE LORD'S TABLE
When our congregation gathered this morning for the celebration
of the Lord's Supper, we heard again the story of God's mighty
acts of love, embodied in the death and resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ. With thanksgiving we remembered that "on
the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and gave thanks,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, 'this is my
body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Again,
after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to
his disciples saying. 'This cup is the new covenant in my
blood. shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness
of sin. Do this in remembrance of me.'" We were also
given assurance of the Lord's presence through the gift of
his Holy Spirit.
Now we bring you this same bread of life and this same cup
of blessing, that you may be strengthened through our communion
in the Body of Christ.
When circumstances permit, this or a similar prayer of confession
may be said:
CONFESSION
Almighty and merciful God,
we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own
hearts.
We have offended against your holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done;
and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.
O Lord, have mercy upon us
Spare those who confess their faults.
Restore those who are penitent, according to your promises
declared to the world in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And grant, O merciful God, for his sake
that we may live a holy, just, and humble life
to the glory of your holy name.
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old life has gone: a new life has begun.
Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. Amen.
May the peace of Christ always be with you.
SCRIPTURE READING
The reading from scripture upon which the morning sermon was
based may be read.
INTERPRETATION OF THE WORD
Pastors should supply the extended serving teams with a brief
synopsis of the morning sermon, or teams may offer their own
recollection of the proclamation of the Word.
The Opening Prayer or Prayer of the Day from the Lord's Day
service may then be said, followed by the Lord's Prayer.
COMMUNION
The bread and cup are given saying:
The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Join hands to offer this or a similar prayer. Specific prayers
for the individual or the church may be added.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION
Upon leaving, identify the next date the team will return with
communion. Normally, the visit should take between 20 and 30
minutes. Team members should be alert for signs of fatigue or
discomfort and should adapt the service accordingly. |
