Every first Sunday of the week, Pastor has the privilege of being the first one to smell the freshly baked bread. To ensure that the bread breaks nicely, I knife the bread beforehand. As the loaf represents the body of Christ, I have always instructed the communion stewards to give away all the bread, everyone to have their share in it. Here is why Pastor felt the baked loaf is a better symbol and reflection of the Body of Christ.

The portion of the bread represents your participation in the body of Christ. Sometimes, you have a small portion, other times you have to take a bigger portion. Other times, I don’t get to eat the soft parts of the bread, I get the crust. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12? He says,

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

I am not too sure what other Holy Communion stewards do, but I do look at the recipient. To young children (the indispensable yet weaker among us), I give the softer parts of the bread. Most of us like the softer parts, but what do we do with the crust? It is part of the loaf. There will be some of us who will have to eat the crust (parts should have equal concern for each other). Taking turns to eat the crust is part of showing that concern for each other. Then again, there are those who felt the portion given was a little too big unlike the equal sized wavers. We need to acknowledge that the body of Christ cannot be broken into equal parts. The eye and the hand are different not only in size but in function as well. That’s one important reason to use the baked loaf for the differentiation created by the breaking of the loaf better reflects the fact that we are different yet belong to each other.

Thankfully we grow in the Lord. We are never the same size forever. From weakness, we become strong and then God assigns to us a larger portion of responsibility in His church. Perhaps, God even assigns us the portion that is particularly difficult to chew (the crust). Do we refuse Him? So to me, one of the important spiritual formative experiences is this coming forward to receive the bread.

i. Don’t think “chewing the bread (esp when it’s big) it’s going to be embarrassing.”
ii. Don’t think “I prefer the soft parts, aiya today I get the crust.”
iii. Don’t even think “I will spew it out later on when I go back to the pew.”

Don’t allow the flesh (your taste buds and other physical senses) to decide your participation in the Holy Communion.

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

Eat and drink at the Lord’s table in a worthy manner (think community not self)! Discern your place in the community that the Lord has called you to.

The Nomination Committee meets soon with tasks assigned to different committee members to speak to those who have been nominated. They will be inviting some to shoulder the responsibilities in our household, some easy, some difficult and unpopular. Make the Holy Communion a special time of dedication to Jesus and His household. I hope you will allow yourself time to reflect each month as you come to the table about your part and place in the Body of Christ.

Growing up in a church that sings and gives emphasis to the choir ministry has made me accustomed to catching melodies quickly, singing accurately both the rhythm and the pitch. Coming to Charis opened up a whole new world for me in terms of worship songs and I would say that most of the songs that I sing here, I do not know from before. This is even more challenging when I worship at Worship 2 where the songs are even more new. I should have, I could have picked them up quite easily without too much trouble, but my heart would be fussing over the number of new songs I had to learn each week. There were days when I simply refuse to exercise those marvelous gifts to sing along.

But last week, as I was worshiping and catching up with the tune and the new words, I had this misgiving: The lyrics are so rich yet so out of reach (most are new) as it were. But I recalled the words of the Psalmist, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” (Psalm 96:1) Then I decided to put away my misgivings and worship. Besides telling our Praise Leaders to choose songs that we are more familiar with, I have found that it is possible to sing songs that are unfamiliar in these NEW ways:

Ÿ~ Sing as we are able i.e. we may not sing as smoothly as the Praise Leader the lines in the new songs, but we can still sing. Don’t worry about singing with “mistakes” i.e. not musically accurate. I may sing the tune with 2 or 3 notes out of place or even with whole line out of place (by the way, modern choruses have monotonous tunes: that line can sound the same 3 times over in the stanzas. After the first line, chances are the 2nd line will sound exactly the same as the 1st, only with different words).

~ I sing a harmonizing tune which is not the main melody. (This is especially helpful for people who are musical).

~ I sing differently, echoing at times, if the song has long pauses between the lines (I may be the only voice in that section, but it doesn’t matter because God is my audience).

~ I sing a completely different tune because the tune is unfamiliar or I am tone deaf.

I believe that God is not as affected by how we sound as He is by how we respond in the hour of worship. While we get our praise leaders to be aware of our difficulties catching up with new songs, it is important to check our attitude. Will we stay sullen, angry (I was like that at times), disconcerted, uncooperative? Or will we choose to say, “Lord, I am not familiar with the songs but I will sing them, these new songs to You. I will mean every word that I sing so even if I am not musically accurately and perhaps even out of tune, You know I am making a joyful noise unto You.”

“When I worship, I would rather my heart be without words than my words be without heart.” – Lamar Boschman

Is the communion table becoming more about personal preference than church unity?

Imagine the scene. Jesus has gathered with his followers in the upper room. He takes the bread, breaks it, and gives thanks. Then he says, “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Then, in the same way, he takes another loaf and says, “This is my low-carb body which is given for you South Beach dieters.” And then he takes another loaf and says, “This is my gluten-free body which is given for you.”

You get the idea.
 
Over a century ago, many American churches began to abandon the use of fermented wine in communion in favor of grape juice (much to Charles Welch’s delight). Today, most evangelicals give little thought to the substitution. It’s just the way it is. But last Sunday I was unexpectedly jarred into reconsidering the nature of the communion elements when the bread, and not just the cup, departed from tradition.

I sat down after preaching the sermon and another pastor began to lead the congregation in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. He invited people to come forward, receive the cup, and tear a piece of bread from a single large loaf. The use of a single loaf, he explained, was a symbol of our unity in Christ. (This metaphor, by the way, dates back at least to the Didache from the first century.) But then he added something unexpected. Gluten-free crackers would also be available for anyone unable to eat the bread.

The additional comment caught me, and many other congregants, off guard. It just seemed really odd, even out of place, amid the liturgy of the table. The sacredness of the moment was lost as we were all jolted back to contemplating individual needs and preferences rather than our collective unity in Christ. The remark deconstructed the symbolism of unity the pastor was trying to convey with the single loaf.

Now, before you unleash the Gluten Gestapo on me for being insensitive to those with serious allergies, let me explain myself. I happen to be friends with a woman in the church with Coeliac Disease who must avoid gluten in her diet. I recognize that it is a significant medical issue for a growing number of people. And I certainly don’t think they should be prevented from participating in the Lord’s Table. (I’ve heard that some churches encourage those with medical restrictions to bring their own bread, pass it to the officiate for blessing, and then partake. That seems both reasonable and less distracting from the symbolism of the traditional communion liturgy.) But at what point should the dietary constraints of a few be imposed upon the many? And when should these needs be addressed and incorporated into the liturgy of the Table?

For example, I’ve heard that some in the congregation have requested the use of sugar-free juice during communion. Apparently the thimble cup of grape juice contains enough fructose to agitate their insulin levels, or disrupt their strict adherence to Dr Atkins’ low-carb lifestyle. I know another church where people have insisted that only whole-grain bread be used for communion. Heaven forbid constipation-inducing white bread be used.

The issue is not the presence of those with legitimate dietary restrictions at Christ’s table, but rather the growing expectation that the church must accommodate every personal need or preference. When the church is expected to supply not only a variety of programs, service times, worship styles, but now even communion bread and cup options – can we finally acknowledge that we have crossed the line into absurdity? Have we elevated personal preference so far above corporate unity that we have little imaginative framework for even understanding the corporate intent of the Lord’s Table?

I wonder if our first step down this slippery slope was the move away from a communal chalice to those ubiquitous communion cups – those hygienic disposable vessels that fit comfortably between thumb and forefinger but seem designed to never relinquish the final drop of Christ’s blood. The stylish fluted cups reinforce the cultural assumption that communion is really about “me” and not “us”. Once communion ceases to be communal, the door is opened for personal preferences to be expressed, accommodated, and even demanded.

I wonder if decades from now when every communion service includes a variety of beverages choices (wine, all-natural grape juice, sugar-free grape juice, fair trade grape juice) and bread choices (whole grain, unleavened, gluten-free, vitamin enriched, low-carb) will we even think twice about it? Or, like the substitution of wine with juice today, will we simply say, that’s just the way it is?

*Skye Jethani is the managing editor of Leadership Journal, a publication of Christianity Today International, and a teaching pastor at Blanchard Alliance Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

(http://www.outofur.com/archives/2008/06/this_is_my_lowc.html)

In accordance to the Methodist Book of Discipline, Charis MC has a Nominations Committee which is made up of members of the local church. It comprises not more than nine elected members, the lay leader and the Pastor-In-Charge who is the Chairperson.

The elected members serve a 3 year term, with a new set of 3 elected every year.  Care is taken to ensure that the Committee is representative of the age, gender, as well as economic, social and theological orientation of the congregation. In Charis MC, all 3 congregations are represented in the Committee.  

The Nomination process begins in August. Members of the current LCEC will be asked if they wish to continue serving in the following year. Those who have served the maximum number of years allowed for their positions will also be confirmed to step down. The Nomination Committee will then meet to register the vacancies that need to be filled for the new LCEC team. It will identify possible candidates who have the gifts and graces to fill the vacancies. Members are then assigned to speak to these individuals to encourage, challenge and pray for them to give of themselves to serve the LCEC in the new year. The Chairperson (PIC) will then consolidate and prepare the list for election at the Local Conference.

The 2nd Local Conference (chaired by the District Superintendent) convenes in September or October. The list prepared by the Nomination Committee will be presented. The Chairperson (DS) will then call for additional nominations from the floor and the election process will be conducted for each post. All members of Charis can attend the Local Conference but they will not have any voting rights.

At times, we are unable to fill the vacancies at the 2nd Local Conference.  There will be no election for these posts. The Nomination committee will then continue its work of identifying possible candidates and the election will then take place during the 1st Local Conference of the new year i.e. by the end of March.

Members who would like to serve or nominate suitable persons, may contact any of the Nomination Committee members before the end of August. They are:

Serving the 1st of 3 years
WS1 – Wong Li Jie
WS2 – Gabriel Tham
MWS – Tan Soh Cheok

Serving the 2nd of 3 years
WS1 – Lim Chin Leng
WS2 – Jean Ho
MWS – Hannah Tan

Serving the 3rd of 3 years
WS1 – Kwok Wan Yee
WS2 – Ian Yeo
MWS – Goh Lay Hoon

Compulsory member of the Nomination Committee
Lay Leader – Andrew Loh

Since my last attendance at the MSM seminar in January when I learned that the one leading the prayer should not be the one uttering the “Amen”, I had been tempted many times to refrain from saying the “Amen” at the end of my prayers. But I felt that till I let you know, I can’t be doing this to all of us worshiping together. When I the pastoral prayer and say “Amen” to it myself, it is me saying “yes” to the prayer that I have uttered. But this is not how it should be.

Liturgically, “Amen” is a communal response to be recited at certain points during the prayer service. It is recited communally to affirm a blessing made by the person leading in prayer. It is also mandated as a response during the kaddish doxology [during a Jewish prayer service]. The congregation is sometimes prompted to answer “Amen” e.g. “and [now] say”, or “and let us say”. May be I should do that. Contemporary churches that use these prompters reflect this ancient practice: As early as the 4th century BCE, Jews assembled in the Temple responded Amen at the close of a doxology or other prayer uttered by a priest. This Jewish liturgical use of amen was adopted by the Christians as a concluding word for prayers and hymns and express strong agreements.

The liturgical use of the word in apostolic times is attested by the passage from 1 Corinthians cited above, and Justin Martyr (c. 150) describes the congregation as responding “Amen”, to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist. In some Christian churches, the amen corner or amen section is any subset of the congregation likely to call out “Amen!” in response to points in a preacher’s sermon. At times we sing the three-fold Amen after the benediction or the choir sings a eight-fold “Amen”. This is to say “I agree” [emphatically] with the word of encouragement that has been given to the people as they go out to lives of Christian service after their church gathering and worship is over.

Can I invite all of you to join the pastor to say “Amen” to our communal prayers? Without your communal agreement, it is but wishes expressed by the pray-er. Jesus has promised in Matthew 18:19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” When you say “Amen”, you are saying “Yes, Lord” I myself up as one who agrees and one who would avail myself to the Spirit to see the prayer answered in the midst of the church. It is my desire that throughout the service, there will be people in the congregation saying “Amen” to ‘this’ or ‘that’ prompting whether given by the Worship Leader, Prayer Leader, Lector (Scripture Reader), the choir and others. It is not “noisy” as some of us would have it. It is saying “Yes, Lord! I agree. I am here to do Your will.”

~ Rev Tan-Yeo Lay Suan