Communion During COVID

So last Sunday we celebrated communion.  It was… interesting.  Well we did our best to administer communion during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.  There were a lot of changes that we felt we had to do.  Firstly, we ordered these pre-packaged communion wafers and juice.  I’ll talk more about that soon.  Secondly, we did not pass out the elements to the people.  Congregants picked up there communion at the entrance of the sanctuary that was spread out on a tray.  Lastly, during the pre-recorded service for the people that stayed home because of the pandemic, we did communion through video.
​
Are we supposed to do communion this way?  Well, no… it’s not ideal, but we can.  We can do communion like we did in the sanctuary and we can do communion through video.  First of all, those pre-packaged communion things were nice to have, but those dang things were hard to open.  And during the time of blessing the elements, what usually is a time of peace, serenity, and silence was met with a bunch of crackling sounds as people needed to open those hard to open communion packages.  I had a hard time, so I know most congregants had a hard time as well!  If we do this again, I may tell people a week before we do communion to bring a friend, neighbor, son, or daughter that have the strongest and most dexterous fingers in the world to open these dang things!
​
How can communion be done through video, well because we are Presbyterians that’s how.  As Presbyterians we believe the Lord’s Supper is the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ. Sealing of all the benefits thereof to the true believer.  Spiritual nourishment and growth for the believer.  Further engagement in and to all the duties which they owe to him *Bond and pledge of the believer's union with Christ and each other.  And the elements used in the Lords Supper means, Christ is present spiritually and he enables believers to enjoy mystical communion with him as they are spiritually nourished. 

The elements used in the Lord’s Supper does not have to be bread or wine.  Like most churches we substituted wine with grape juice and suddenly, bread and juice became the norm.  But we have to remember as Presbyterians, we can choose any item to represent the body and blood of Christ.  It doesn’t have to be bread or juice.  So during the video service, I asked people to get one item to represent the body and blood of Christ, whatever you have at home.  Because for us Presbyterians, what matters that the elements are blessed before partaking.  And that we believe that the elements are distributed in a manner that is most suitable for the occasion.  Well, COVID-19 really changed how we do this, doesn’t it?

What we have isn’t perfect, but it works, at least for communion.  But rather focusing on what we did for tradition we focus on the fact that the Lord’s Supper brings us all together.  And that the Lord’s Supper is the joyful feast of eucharistic celebration, we offer our praise and thanksgiving to God for this amazing gift.