Belong: Communion for the Ages

I serve University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a 1,600-member congregation that has existed since 1843. It was founded as a ministry to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, campus, which is our country’s first state university, chartered in 1789. The majority of the congregation is white, but it is served by diverse (in age, race, sexuality, and gender expression) clergy and program staff members. University United Methodist Church seeks to be a bridge between “town and gown.” In some ways, the church is regional, serving students and faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Some members drive in from surrounding areas.

Methodist clergy and scholars speak of John Wesley’s sermon, “The Duty of Constant Communion,” which has shaped the church’s ecclesial imagination around Holy Communion. John Wesley received Holy Communion at least once every four or five days. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, participants in the early service on our main campus took Communion every Sunday; those in the later service took Communion on the first Sunday of the month and on occasions such as the beginning of a liturgical season or during Advent or Lent. Following the pandemic, we merged those two services. We moved to serving Communion on the first and third Sundays of the month and on feast days like Pentecost, the beginning of major liturgical seasons, and during Lent. At our second campus, which is more “contemporary,” we serve Holy Communion weekly as a part of Sunday morning worship. There are other occasions where Communion is offered, such as certain pastoral care visits, some weddings, the occasional funeral, and youth retreats or other retreats.

We typically follow “Word and Table 1” in the United Methodist Hymnal or Book of Worship with slight modifications. We are always mindful of the time in services when we celebrate the Eucharist or Holy Communion. I wish time (holding the worship service to an hour) were not a factor, but it has been built into our church culture across many decades of our 180-year history. I once heard a professor of worship say that a standard Word and Table service without extra “bells and whistles” should last around an hour and twenty minutes, assuming an eighteen- to twenty-minute sermon and Holy Communion.

One of the delights we experience each month is when children (usually between twenty and forty) gather around the Table during the Great Thanksgiving and participate in the liturgy. They mirror the presider’s hand motions as they celebrate Holy Communion. Many of the children have nearly memorized the words of the liturgy, and they sing the sung responses and recite the Lord’s Prayer with full voice. We follow the rubrics in the United Methodist Hymnal and Book of Worship, and the service often resembles what might occur at an Episcopal Church. The presider’s motions have significance and meaning and certainly enliven the experience. For instance, the orans posture (where the presider’s arms are open to the sides of the body with the palms facing upward) is one of the oldest and perhaps most natural prayer postures. Orans is translated as “praying” or “the one who is praying.” It is meaningful for children to see adults and children with their arms outstretched to God in prayer and thanksgiving. Such moments are formative. They will shape how children think about and feel connected to the sacrament. The choreography of the moment, the words used, and the joy and reverence matter. At our second campus, we still carefully consider the choreography of the celebration of Holy Communion, even though the service has a contemporary feel.

We believe the sacraments, these means of grace, inform and shape our lives. When we gather for fellowship meals after church or for a church picnic and potluck, we see these moments as extensions of the Table. When we gather at our annual Love Feast in the Moravian Tradition during Advent, we see the bread and spiced coffee as extensions of the Table. When we harvest produce from our Giving Garden and give the food to a local nonprofit that serves food-insecure children and their families, to the local shelter for unhoused neighbors, or to neighborhood immigrants who volunteer to tend the garden, this is also an extension of the Table. Although these ministries are not sacraments per se, we can view them sacramentally through our theology of the Eucharist.

When we celebrate Holy Communion on All Saints Sunday, we read the names of church members and families closely related to our church who have died. During the proclamation preceding Holy Communion, I often remind the congregation that we commune with Christ when we come to the Table. Because our God exists in our time and beyond our time, we commune with all those who have previously communed with Christ and all those who will. Though we cannot see it, we commune at a very long Table with all the saints who were, are, and ever will be. Amen.

Reflection Questions:

• How often does your church celebrate Holy Communion? How does that rhythm shape your congregation’s understanding of its importance? What might change if Communion were celebrated more or less frequently?
• The author describes communal meals and acts of service as extensions of the Table. In what ways does your church extend the spirit of Communion into everyday acts of hospitality, fellowship, or service?
• How might reflecting on the idea of a “long Table” that connects believers across time and space deepen your understanding of Communion and its meaning in your church?
• How accessible is Communion in your church to those unable to attend regular services, such as the homebound or those with limited mobility? What steps could be taken to make Communion more inclusive for all members?

Rev. Justin Coleman is the senior pastor of the University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.