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Posts:2

02/10/2008 6:47 PM
My daughter is dating a Catholic man. She was raised in the UCC. When he visits our church is it appropriate for him to take Communion? She does not take Communion when they go to mass together out of respect for their beliefs.

Posts:468

02/10/2008 10:39 PM
Hi myjourney Even though traditions are different in different UCC churches, I have found that most have open communion -- everyone's welcome! Everyone's also welcome to not take communion, of course. I made a "UCC commercial" (homegrown -- not from the national office and not an official position) a little while ago. You can watch it here!

-Kirk Moore

Posts:2

02/11/2008 4:48 PM
Love the video! That's the way I feel too. All should be welcome at the Communion table. Our church recently opened up Communion to unconfirmed children and it created quite a buzz especially among the older members. I do think the parents need to explain to their children what the elements represent.

Posts:89

02/12/2008 12:45 PM
Your daughter's boyfriend may be welcome to receive Communion in your church, but his Catholic beliefs may not permit him to do so. In my Catholic upbringing I was taught that Catholics should only receive Communion in the Catholic Church, never in other churches. (I've never consulted the catechism as written by the Vatican, so perhaps that's not accurate, but it's also the common practice I've observed among other Catholics.) Now I'm a member of a UCC congregation that practices open Communion, as I think it should be. Receiving Communion there for the first time-- the first time I had ever received Communion outside of the Catholic church-- was the moment really signified my movement away from the RCC.

Posts:8

02/12/2008 4:03 PM
Linda, I believe that you are right in saying that the Catholic church frowns upon Catholics taking communion in other churches since they view all other forms of communion as unacceptable (I am using they in a macro sense and referring to what I believe the Vatican would say). MY wife is a former Catholic and I remember vividly a painful experience for her around communion. She and I participate in an annual mission trip to WV and we always end the week by sharing communion with over 200 people from a variety of religious backgrounds. One year upon returning home an encyclical came out from the Catholic Church stating that those Catholics who take communion in other churches need to go to confession before they are to take communion in the Catholic church. This really hurt my wife and turned her off from the Catholic church because the communion experience she had in West Virginia was so meaningful and she felt the presence of God so deeply. How could her church try to deny her of that experience? A long answer to the question, but I believe that all of you are correct in saying that most UCC churches believe in an open communion table that welcomes all people who seek know and experience Jesus through the communion meal.

God is Love! - Josh

Posts:58

02/25/2008 10:28 PM
Love the video! That's the way I feel too. All should be welcome at the Communion table. Our church recently opened up Communion to unconfirmed children and it created quite a buzz especially among the older members. I do think the parents need to explain to their children what the elements represent. [ Raises perhaps another thread question: What is the meaning of the elements? I find some substantial differences among UCC'ers. In my current UCC church---communion is pretty commonly considered as a special meal of remembrance. not much emphasis on the blood and body--other than symbol or metaphor. So it doesn't make an difference wheteer its Welch's or Mogen David (grapejuice or wine) or leavened or unleavened bread. We are so untraditional it is done of the last Sunday of the Month---have no clue why, just is. Karl

Posts:51

02/27/2008 10:03 PM
I like what some united methodist say" This is not the umc table, but for all who believe.

"Still, the Bible is like a mirror. You end up reading it not as a reflection of how it is but of how you are. If you're a bigoted, narrow person, you will find bigotry in the Bible." D. Tammet

David Holt
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Posts:6

03/03/2008 8:33 PM
Is there a trend towards weekly communion in the UCC? The congregation I attend has always had weekly communion around the communion table and I've been told that is rather unusual. I have to say I love having weekly communion and would like to see the practice spread to other congregations.

Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth.

Posts:3

03/03/2008 9:28 PM
Posted By David Holt on 03/03/2008 8:33 PM Is there a trend towards weekly communion in the UCC? The congregation I attend has always had weekly communion around the communion table and I've been told that is rather unusual. I have to say I love having weekly communion and would like to see the practice spread to other congregations. There is indeed a trend toward weekly, although unfortunately it is at an excruciatingly slow pace. As of the denomination-wide worship survey about 2 or 3 years ago, at a congregation's "main" service, 85% of UCC churches do monthly and about 5 or 6% do weekly. Now, this is a significant improvement over the 1950s, when probably a majority did communion only quarterly, but we have a long way to go!

Posts:732

03/07/2008 2:00 PM
Karl asks: "Raises perhaps another thread question: What is the meaning of the elements?" This is very personal. For me, the wine/juice symbolizes the Spiritual Essence (Holy Spirit/God), the bread represents "the body" or manifestation of the Spirit: My body, your body, everybody's body, as ONE BODY and the realization (making real) of the Christ, the Light of God within us. We are the Creative Medium that expresses the Love and Life of God/Spirit. By partaking in the eating (taking in) and drinking (absorbing) of this realization, we recognize our Unity with one another. Community + Union = Communion.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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