Pastor’s Corner: World Communion Sunday

September 28, 2022

This Sunday is World Communion Sunday.

When it arrives on the calendar each year, I confess to a small sigh. World Communion Sunday was founded as a symbol of Christian unity. On this Sunday around the globe, went the idea, Christians divided by history, theology, and geography would come together in the meal founded by our Founder. Begun in 1933 by the Rev. Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, it has successfully crossed national and denominational boundaries, observed by a good number of churches around the world.

I sigh because it is a better demonstration of Christian division than Christian unity. Though contemporary communion practices vary a great deal in how often, how presented, and how understood, there are any number of Sundays during the year when a substantial number of Christians have gathered at Jesus’ table. I grew up in a church that celebrated communion just four times a year during my childhood – plus a fifth time on Maundy Thursday, the night that Jesus instituted the sacrament. There is already a day on which we can count on nearly every worshiping Christian having the opportunity to receive the blessed bread and cup.

So, okay, Maundy Thursday is not on a Sunday.

A World Communion Sunday constitutes a small movement in the right direction. The Church has been divided primarily by stubbornness, self-righteousness, greed, and power. For the Church to find its unity, it must rely upon repentance, embrace, and the nourishment of the Spirit. In other words, the Church’s members must all find their place at Jesus’ table.

Come to the table this Sunday, friends, aware of those at other tables in other places, and know they are your companions on the journey of life and faith.

Blessings to you,

Pastor Eric