Bethel 10/04/20 Service

World Communion Sunday was started in 1940 as a Presbyterian-led initiative of the Federal Council of Churches toward ecumenical celebration of Communion by some Protestants in the United States on the same Sunday at a time when most U.S. Protestant denominations celebrated Communion infrequently (quarterly at most), and rarely on the same schedule. Not all churches involved in the Federal Council at the time chose to participate, but there was fairly strong uptake by Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists (now known as UCC), and some Baptist groups at the time. These, in turn, generally promoted the idea across their missionary networks outside the United States so there would be more of a feel of worldwide Communion on that day, even if the practice was (and remains) in fact largely limited to a few U.S. Protestant denominations.

Among those Protestant churches prominently absent from World Communion Sunday observance are Lutherans (generally) and Anglicans (Episcopalians). There is also no such observance in Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America observes a variant called “Global Church Sunday,” which focuses on the global connections of ELCA rather than on a worldwide practice of Holy Communion on that Sunday.

United Methodists worldwide continue the practice, as do the Methodist churches outside the United States we and our predecessor denominations autonomized in the twentieth century. We also mark this observance with a special offering that supports scholarships worldwide and in the U.S. and ethnic in-service training programs.

Today’s service is an opportunity to recognize the ways God answers our prayer at the Great Thanksgiving: “Make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.” What is most evident from the Scriptures for today, as well as the struggles of our cultures worldwide, is how often we erect our own barriers to God’s bountiful provision for us in and through the sacraments. Rather than serving Christ “in union with the church Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races,” we live in and perpetuate great disharmony, complaining against one another rather than forgiving one another and letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. So today is an opportunity to see God’s bounteous provision and God’s boundless readiness to answer our prayer at the Eucharist, to confess our failures, and to seek to live into our baptismal vow and God’s hope for us more fully.

from 2020 UMC Worship Planning at: umcdiscipleship.org

Some have said that World Communion Sunday was a time when Christians all over the world shared in that celebration of the sacrament. Well, the truth is, a lot of the world doesn’t have an event called World Communion Sunday. So, what we are acknowledging on that day is that the body of Christ is bigger than what we can see, bigger than what is contained within our walls. Many congregations discovered this when they went to an online only format. Reports are that attendance at online worship experiences outstripped the in-person worship numbers in quite a few congregations. And some of these were in other parts of the world. This might be something to celebrate on this World Communion Sunday. Have you identified worshipers who are with you virtually from places other than your local community? If so, how might you introduce them to the local congregation?

Along with this view of the world through connections already present, pay attention to the connections that need to be made. What populations surround the physical building of the church? Who are the scattered people who gather in person and online? How has your community changed in terms of demographic diversity that is not yet reflected in the constituency of the church? What might we learn about the immigrants around us, the citizens who come from other places? How might we create a welcoming space for those who are near us and yet different from us?

Let us celebrate the diversity that is and the diversity that could be. Let’s embrace the fullness of the world that surrounds us. Behind the celebration of diversity is an admission that we are not as diverse as we need to be, as the kin-dom of God will be. So, you could include a confession of homogeneity, even as you long for diversity. We are pressing on to a truer reflection of the kin-dom in our everyday life.

The World Communion Sunday offering funds graduate racial-ethnic World Communion Scholarships, with at least half of the annual amount reserved for ministries beyond the United States. Donations also provide for undergraduate U.S. Ethnic Scholarship and Ethnic In-Service Training programs.