Do this in remembrance of Me

[Fiosh]

We take it once a week. We do it like this -

1. We start out by an opening prayer

2. The opener reads scriptures why we must meet together to worship God

3. Then scriptures how we must offer a worship free of sin and to be able to take communion

4. If we have any public sins we stand and confess those sins

5. Moderator leads prayer for confessions

6. 2 songs are sung

7. Lord's supper is done

8. another song

9. giving is done

10. another song

11. Sermon

12. last song

You stand and confess your sins? Wow, that must take courage.

Thanks, cardcaptor.

Peace,

Fiosh

[Floatingaxe]

1 Corinthians 11...

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying,

[LightofJesus]

1 Corinthians 11...

25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying,

[RebekahDavid]

Wonderful to see the different response!

love your sister in Christ,

Rebekah David

[Guest Biblicist]

We take it once a week. We do it like this -

1. We start out by an opening prayer

2. The opener reads scriptures why we must meet together to worship God

3. Then scriptures how we must offer a worship free of sin and to be able to take communion

4. If we have any public sins we stand and confess those sins

5. Moderator leads prayer for confessions

6. 2 songs are sung

7. Lord's supper is done

8. another song

9. giving is done

10. another song

11. Sermon

12. last song

Sounds like a beautiful worship service! Thanks for posting that.

I am curious though, what do you mean by "public sins"? I am sorry I do not know, could you possibly give an example? That must take a lot of intestinal fortitude! And what is the prayer of confessions, I have never heard of that before?

In His Grip,

Biblicist

[Fiosh]

We take it once a week. We do it like this -

1. We start out by an opening prayer

2. The opener reads scriptures why we must meet together to worship God

3. Then scriptures how we must offer a worship free of sin and to be able to take communion

4. If we have any public sins we stand and confess those sins

5. Moderator leads prayer for confessions

6. 2 songs are sung

7. Lord's supper is done

8. another song

9. giving is done

10. another song

11. Sermon

12. last song

Sounds like a beautiful worship service! Thanks for posting that.

I am curious though, what do you mean by "public sins"? I am sorry I do not know, could you possibly give an example? That must take a lot of intestinal fortitude! And what is the prayer of confessions, I have never heard of that before?

In His Grip,

Biblicist

There are three ways that we can sin:

1. In the mind (bad thoughts) - ask forgiveness from God in prayer

2. Sin against somebody - ask their forgiveness then pray to God

3. Sin in the public eye - yell at my kids in the store (lose temper), road rage, run a red light, etc. - basically anything that I can do in the public eye that is a sin that would bring a reproach upon the church.

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The prayer for the public confessions is basically the same as when I go to God to ask forgiveness for my sins but on a larger scale of when the moderator asks in prayer for God to hear the confessions and forgive them. We do this in order to be able to take the Lord's Supper properly.

1 Corinthians 11:26-28 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

Interesting approach. Thanks for the explanation.

[WillingToDie]

We do it on the third Sunday of every month, I believe. And I think the General Assembly decided that, however many years ago.

Thanks, "Sparky"!

If you ever get the chance, would you ask the pastor why it's offered once a month?

Peace,

Fiosh

Hey, Fiosh, I forgot about that

I just happen to have a Book of Order (the governing document for Presbyterians) and it says (Summary to follow, for the lazy ):

W-2.4009: The Lord’s Supper is to be observed on the Lord’s Day, in the regular place of worship, and in a manner suitable to the particular occasion and local congregation. It is appropriate to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as often as each Lord’s Day. It is to be celebrated regularly and frequently enough to be recognized as integral to the Service for the Lord’s Day.

and

The session is responsible for authorizing all observances of the Lord’s Supper in the life of a particular church and shall

ensure regular and frequent celebration of the Sacrament, in no case less than quarterly. Any other governing body of the church, also, may appoint times for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper during their meetings. A governing body may also authorize the celebration of the Sacrament in connection with the public worship of some gathering of believers which is under its jurisdiction or in institutions where it has a missional witness or authorized ministry. A governing body may delegate the authority to approve the celebration of the Lord’s Supper to an appropriate overseeing body in the institutions for which it has responsibility.

SUMMARY

Basically, teh Lords Supper can be served as often as every week, but at least once every 3 months or so. The session (which is the governing body within each church) sets how often it is observed, not the pastor. FYI, as I understand it, the pastor has very little power in the Presbyterian Church

so, there ya go

-edit-It should go without saying that Communion is served on special occasions, such as baptisms, christmas, easter etc. Also, we have World Communion once a year in which, to my understanding, churches all around the world have communion on the same day, in which we symbolically participate in communion with thousands of other believers. For this, we have different wines and breads from all over the world, which is neat.

RE: "W-2.4009: The Lord’s Supper is to be observed on the Lord’s Day, in the regular place of worship, and in a manner suitable to the particular occasion and local congregation. It is appropriate to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as often as each Lord’s Day. It is to be celebrated regularly and frequently enough to be recognized as integral to the Service for the Lord’s Day."

Thanks for the info, Sparky!

One of the reasons I ask the question is that it puzzles me why Communion isn't offered at every Sunday service. The usual response I've gotten is that it would stop being "special". To follow that line of logic we would then have to reason that we should not pray too often, or read the Bible. We shouldn't have worship every week and should probably eliminate any services or studies during the week.

It's interesting that your denom states that The Lord's Supper should be observed every week, but your church has it once a month. Hmmmm.

I appreciate your taking the time to post the guidelines!

Peace,

Fiosh

The Book of Order states that we MAY take part in Communion as often as once a week, but we are REQUIRED to take part in it at least once every quarter. It therefore gives the churches a great deal of freedom on how often it is partaken. This allows each church to decide what they feel is best for their own particular church, since no two churches are the same.

Sorry for any confusion on my part.

BOOK OF ORDER???

I thought the WORD of GOD was the book of order??

We get so caught up in rituals and ORDER of man that we forget that we are to follow the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT!

Communion is an opportunity to check your heart and to have the heart cleansed. You do not JUST take communion you are also recieving from God a moment of reflection on who we are in Christ. Communion is sacred and very important to a born again believer. Communion can be done in your own home just with Jesus and you. All you need is the Holy Spirit and whatever bread you have or even just water if you have nothing else. I hope I do not sound to harsh but we have so many rituals that make everything so Religious! Jesus did not die to make more religion but to make more disciples!!!

I do love you all and I guess I just get frustrated when we get caught up in ways that man has made everything so orderly and do not allow the Holy Spirit to move in their lives relax and let Him do what He does best, move wihin us all!!

Oy. I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone commented on this. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is a complex organization, with a fully functional government, with the Book of Order, quite literally, being the (second part of the) constitution of this government. While the Bible is indeed the book of order, it does not cover all the mundane, day-to-day functioning needed for running the PC(USA). Scripture is used to guide much of the Book of Order, and that which is not covered in the Bible comes from...somewhere. I woulds assume tradition, furious debate, etc.

-edit-in response to the rest of your post:

The Directory for Worship includes the theological guidelines for worship within PC(USA) churches. In order to allow for a diversity of expression in worship, the Directory for Worship does not provide set orders for worship, but instead suggests the boundaires of worship that is in line with Reformed Christianity and the Scriptural warrants for worship. It is concerned more with standards and norms than any particular way or formulation of a liturgy or order of worship.

Taken from wiki

[Guest philiplynch]

Our Church offers communion every week, in fact, every day. Jesus said, Eat my body, drink my blood, and do this in memory of me. So, that's exactly what we do, we eat the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the Source and Summit of the Christian life, and it is something which has been understood as such since our earliest records of Christianity.

Many of the Early Church Fathers wrote about the Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving". They all understood it to be a true sacrifice, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, an eternal sacrifice, which Jesus gives to all generations. Jesus makes it clear at the last supper that we are to truly receive his Body and Blood. Many would not accept his teaching on this because they found it too hard to believe, but Jesus insisted on it, and never once corrected them, or said it was symbolic. Why, then, should we? Think about the fact that some of those who rejected this had experienced Jesus's miracles, including curing the blind, walking on water, and other miracles. Jesus also said, "You must eat my body and drink my blood or you will have no life in you."

As Catholics, we partake in this divine mystery each and every week at Mass. The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and receiving Him Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity has been part of our celebration ever since.

Edited December 3, 2006 by philiplynch

[Floatingaxe]

Our Church offers communion every week, in fact, every day. Jesus said, Eat my body, drink my blood, and do this in memory of me. So, that's exactly what we do, we eat the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the Source and Summit of the Christian life, and it is something which has been understood as such since our earliest records of Christianity.

Many of the Early Church Fathers wrote about the Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving". They all understood it to be a true sacrifice, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, an eternal sacrifice, which Jesus gives to all generations. Jesus makes it clear at the last supper that we are to truly receive his Body and Blood. Many would not accept his teaching on this because they found it too hard to believe, but Jesus insisted on it, and never once corrected them, or said it was symbolic. Why, then, should we? Think about the fact that some of those who rejected this had experienced Jesus's miracles, including curing the blind, walking on water, and other miracles. Jesus also said, "You must eat my body and drink my blood or you will have no life in you."

As Catholics, we partake in this divine mystery each and every week at Mass. The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and receiving Him Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity has been part of our celebration ever since. For more information on this, please go to holymotherchurch.blogspot.com or email me at philinaberdeen@gmail.com Thank you.

No thanks. I think I will pass on that. I follow how Christ suggested we do it.

[Ovedya]

Our Church offers communion every week, in fact, every day. Jesus said, Eat my body, drink my blood, and do this in memory of me. So, that's exactly what we do, we eat the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the Source and Summit of the Christian life, and it is something which has been understood as such since our earliest records of Christianity.

Many of the Early Church Fathers wrote about the Eucharist, which means "thanksgiving". They all understood it to be a true sacrifice, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, an eternal sacrifice, which Jesus gives to all generations. Jesus makes it clear at the last supper that we are to truly receive his Body and Blood. Many would not accept his teaching on this because they found it too hard to believe, but Jesus insisted on it, and never once corrected them, or said it was symbolic. Why, then, should we? Think about the fact that some of those who rejected this had experienced Jesus's miracles, including curing the blind, walking on water, and other miracles. Jesus also said, "You must eat my body and drink my blood or you will have no life in you."

As Catholics, we partake in this divine mystery each and every week at Mass. The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, and receiving Him Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity has been part of our celebration ever since.

I suppose that it's either been rejected or never considered that when the Lord was talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He was not talking about the Last Supper, or partaking of "the Eucharist." We don't read that from the Bible at all. In fact, He later identified that His teaching regarding this was "Spirit and life."

We would need extra-Biblical teaching in order to believe that He was talking about taking the Eucharist.

I'm with Floatingaxe. No thanks. I'll believe the Bible first.