A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: A NEW LOOK FOR COMMUNION
If I was hard-pressed to name my favorite part of Christian worship, I think I would finally have to say it is the Sacrament of Communion. Communion, of course, has been one of the more challenging aspects of worship to include during the COVID pandemic.
Sacraments, after all, are tangible “signs and seals” of God’s 
acts of grace towards us; that is their point. So to celebrate Communion, you have to really have bread and wine (or things that are related in some way to them, such as wafers and juice), and you really have to be in, well, communion with others.
In the Reformed theological tradition from which Presbyterians come, you can never celebrate Communion on your own; that would simply be a snack! Communion requires at least two people, because it is a gift to the church, not to any individuals.
When we first entered the lockdown phase, then, the question arose: can you celebrate Communion digitally? For our friends in some other Christian traditions, such as Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, and most Lutherans, the answer they arrived at was “no.” That’s because their theology is that the common bread and cup used in the sacrament during worship are literally transformed in their inward substance into the body and blood of Christ, which is how worshippers then commune with Christ.
Reformed theology is different on this, though; it says that we do, in fact, commune with the real presence of Christ in the sacrament, but Christ’s presence is spiritual, not material. In other words, the Holy Spirit transforms us rather than the bread and wine; the Spirit moves in and through the experience of celebrating the sacrament together to lift us up spiritually into the presence of Christ.
And that meant, for us, going to digital-only Communion was possible, because Scripture says that the Spirit, as the Wind of God, blows where it chooses (John 3:8), and Jesus promised to send the Spirit to his disciples to remind us of everything he said (John 14:26), which is part of what happens in Communion.
Given that, saying that the Internet could prevent the Spirit from joining us together in communion with Christ and one another is almost heresy! It’s also why we insisted on doing livestream digital worship rather than prerecording, though, because that way everyone was communing at the same time and in the same movement of the Spirit.
In some ways, returning to an in-person option for worship was a little more complicated for Communion. We adopted a set of protocols to both ensure that the sacrament did not become an opportunity for transmitting COVID, which is why we needed to make the juice “portable” for people to take back to their seats rather than everyone in the Sanctuary removing their masks and potentially exposing the server while they communed.
Now that we have gone to mask-optional worship, however, and given the ongoing low rates of transmission in Northampton County, we have decided to change this policy. You will still have the option of picking up a pre-packaged juice container, if you prefer to continue with Communion that way. However, starting this Sunday, we are returning to the practice of offering an open chalice for people to come forward and commune by “intinction,” or dipping your bread in the juice of the cup, communing on the spot, and then returning to your seat.
While the pre-packaged juice has been a gift in managing risk so far, I am grateful we are in a place to return to our traditional practice of Communion. But whichever way you choose to commune on Sunday, I look forward to being with you in worship and communing with you in Spirit this Sunday!
Grace and Peace,
J.C.