Communion too rushed?

JCFantasy23 · May 3, 2016

Does anyone else find it troubling how communion differs with UMC churches?

My regular church which shut down (sadly) got me used to the way they did things. We would follow a line to the front to receive, and then we would go to the kneeling altar and drink/eat and ponder and pray. When done in our own time, we would put our small cup in a circle receptacle. They would play music and it was soothing. Some would choose to go right back to their seats and partake there, which is fine as well.

When my pastor transferred, we followed him to the second church. We did not stay with that church as my mother and I never felt as comfortable there. It was very casual and fully contemporary. They did communion less frequently and it was halfway down the aisle, people would gather in a loose circle, hurry up and drink and then sit right back down without walking the long way back to their seats.

With this third church that we're now regulars of, communion is feeling so rushed lately. My mother and I was discussing that a few weeks back. You leave with your aisle line, walk to the front to receive, but then they have the disposal bin a few steps nearby where you have to be done quickly so you can toss everything away and not hold everyone up. Maybe six steps if you're lucky.

I feel so rushed! Everyone is shuffling behind you to make sure you don't slow down, when I get up to get the cup and bread it seems to be so quick, and I don't have time to pause, stop, pray, or ponder before I have to keep moving. There's no area to stop, pray or pause. If you stopped, it would hold up the tight line that keeps wanting to move. My mom told me it's clear people just want to get it over with. I get some people do want to rush through it, but to me the way the church we're going to set it up leads to that rushed feel as well.

Last time I took it, I feel half lucky to have escaped with my legs and limbs intact in the stampede. It almost felt like one of those Black Friday opening lines into Sears. ^_^

Cappadocious · May 3, 2016

Are these paper cups, then?

AngelAmidala · May 4, 2016

We are a smaller congregation, so we have been having Communion with everyone standing at our prayer rail area. The pastor gives everyone bread, and then whoever is assisting her follows with the juice cups (small plastic cups), and one of our Sunday School children (usually whoever is acolyte) follows with a basket to deposit the empty cups. The pastor then offers a blessing and dismisses everyone back to their seats.

I can see what you mean about it feeling rushed though. If you are one of the last people to receive the bread and juice, you do not have as much time to pray and be thankful for the gift of Communion. But usually there is a brief period of time when everyone is back at their seats where they can continue to pray.

JCFantasy23 · May 4, 2016

Cappadocious said:
Are these paper cups, then?

Small plastic cups

JCFantasy23 · May 4, 2016

AngelAmidala said:
We are a smaller congregation, so we have been having Communion with everyone standing at our prayer rail area. The pastor gives everyone bread, and then whoever is assisting her follows with the juice cups (small plastic cups), and one of our Sunday School children (usually whoever is acolyte) follows with a basket to deposit the empty cups. The pastor then offers a blessing and dismisses everyone back to their seats.

I can see what you mean about it feeling rushed though. If you are one of the last people to receive the bread and juice, you do not have as much time to pray and be thankful for the gift of Communion. But usually there is a brief period of time when everyone is back at their seats where they can continue to pray.

That sounds like a wonderful way to do it. I love the church here and the pastor, but I guess I still miss the communion and blessing and the non-rush that was with my old church.

Cappadocious · May 4, 2016

JCFantasy23 said:
Small plastic cups

Is that done out of a concern over disease?

AngelAmidala · May 5, 2016

Cappadocious said:
Is that done out of a concern over disease?

I can only speak for my church, but I think it was a blend between concern if the glass cups were not cleaned well or were cleaned too much (leaving a soapy taste) and ease of clean up. Now used cups are put to be recycled with our other things to be recycled. I was not part of the original decision to move from glass to plastic, but we still do have the glass cups if we were to ever want to switch back.

JCFantasy23 · May 6, 2016

Cappadocious said:
Is that done out of a concern over disease?

Angel answered better than me most likely, but I'm not sure - I imagine it is hygiene related.

Paidiske · May 6, 2016

I suspect that Cappadocious is more familiar with the use of wine, which has less hygiene issues, and therefore a common cup is easier...?

OP, would your church be open to creating other ways for people to pray after receiving communion? In my parish we have a candle stand, and many people go and light a candle and pray for as long as they like after receiving, which gives them that pause you seem to be looking for.

Not sure how Methodist churches go with candles...?

Destiny2015 · May 6, 2016

Yes! Since moving a year ago, we've tried a few Methodist churches, and communion is always fast. Our last church actually did it kneeling at the rail, and after doing that for 5+ years, you get used to it. No one batted an eye if you stayed longer and prayed. I realize that's in no way typical of the UMC, but IMO, it's a lot more sacred than the fast assembly line I've experienced since.

JCFantasy23 · May 7, 2016

Paidiske said:
I suspect that Cappadocious is more familiar with the use of wine, which has less hygiene issues, and therefore a common cup is easier...?

OP, would your church be open to creating other ways for people to pray after receiving communion? In my parish we have a candle stand, and many people go and light a candle and pray for as long as they like after receiving, which gives them that pause you seem to be looking for.

Not sure how Methodist churches go with candles...?

That's a good point about the wine.

I love your idea of a suggestion, but don't think it would work in this case - I don't feel comfortable approaching the church as a general new member and asking them to consider layout changes. Plus sadly it's so many of the members who seem in a rush too. I think your suggestion sounds wonderful though - I haven't seen candles used this way in a Methodist church before though.

JCFantasy23 · May 7, 2016

Destiny2015 said:
Yes! Since moving a year ago, we've tried a few Methodist churches, and communion is always fast. Our last church actually did it kneeling at the rail, and after doing that for 5+ years, you get used to it. No one batted an eye if you stayed longer and prayed. I realize that's in no way typical of the UMC, but IMO, it's a lot more sacred than the fast assembly line I've experienced since.

So I guess we're in the same boat. I'm glad it's not just me feeling picky. The quick assembly line makes me feel like it's almost an afterthought people are getting over with so they can leave. I'm sure a lot of members taking communion aren't thinking that way and I'm probably being too harsh, I just can't help feeling that way.

GraceSeeker · May 10, 2016

JCFantasy23 said:
Does anyone else find it troubling how communion differs with UMC churches?

No. I've received communion in several different ways and each manner has spoke to me in its own unique way. I do think that when we get used to one particular way it is possible that we become comfortable with it in both good and not so good ways. Good because we are comfortable and that lets us relax and enjoy rather than having to think about the experience. On the other hand, thinking about communion can be a good thing and not thinking about it can lead to doing things rather perfunctorily.

I also think that lots of things in this world that we like/value are not because they are actually superior, but simply because that is what we got used to. My wife grew up putting peanut butter on pancakes. I can't imagine it. But the other day I took a couple of my grandkids on vacation and when we stopped at IHOP for breakfast they asked for peanut butter for their pancakes. My wife had taught this unique behavior to our children and they to theirs. My grandkids can't imagine people doing something as strange as putting maple syrup on their pancakes. I suspect our preferred way of taking communion is a lot like our preferred way of eating pancakes. We like what we've gotten used to, but one way isn't really inherently better than another, it's just different.

With this third church that we're now regulars of, communion is feeling so rushed lately....

I feel so rushed! Everyone is shuffling behind you to make sure you don't slow down, when I get up to get the cup and bread it seems to be so quick, and I don't have time to pause, stop, pray, or ponder before I have to keep moving. There's no area to stop, pray or pause. If you stopped, it would hold up the tight line that keeps wanting to move. My mom told me it's clear people just want to get it over with. I get some people do want to rush through it, but to me the way the church we're going to set it up leads to that rushed feel as well.

Click to expand...

I don't think it is fair to assume that people just want to "get it over with." Unless we've had people actually tell us their motivation we shouldn't be trying to ferret out their reasoning for doing something. We really don't know and shouldn't guess.

How you feel with regard to your own experience is quite another matter. I would talk with your pastor about how you experience communion, the fact that you feel rushed, and ask him if he has any suggestion as to how you might address those. For instance, we take communion by intinction, but I still encourage people to take time at the altar rail for some personal time in prayer if they desire it. They can do so either before or after receiving. Nothing requires them to simply file through just because others around them are doing so. Some of them do take a moment at the altar rail, some don't but either way works for us.

Click to expand...

JCFantasy23 · May 10, 2016

GraceSeeker said:
but I still encourage people to take time at the altar rail for some personal time in prayer if they desire it. They can do so either before or after receiving. Nothing requires them to simply file through just because others around them are doing so. Some of them do take a moment at the altar rail, some don't but either way works for us.

We don't have an altar rail or a place to do this - people keep walking behind you to keep you moving and there is no space to move to the side to pray without returning to your seat. They serve the communion near the aisle/seats where you only have space to do a line and keep it moving.

circuitrider · May 12, 2016

Our church has an altar rail. We take communion by instinction from a chalice of grape juice. Then people can go to the rail to pray if they like. I'm not a fan of the small cups nor is that what is recommended by the UMC in "This Holy Mystery" our official doctrinal statement on communion.

revanneosl · May 13, 2016

I believe that when it comes down to brass tacks, the amount of time given over to the celebration of Holy Communion in any given congregation is largely in the hands of the pastor, as is its frequency.

Back in The Olden Days we would commune kneeling at the rail, in groups usually called "tables", and it would take forever, but we would only do it 4 times per year. As we moved (with really quite surprising speed) to the now-common practice of monthly communion, we also decreased the amount of time it took to celebrate the rite: first by cutting down on the liturgy (the older Cranmerian words were usually observed in full, but with the publication of the 1989 Hymnal many pastors decided that they could cut it down to suit their timeframe), and second by speeding up the reception of the elements by moving in various ways toward efficiency with the cup (whether through easy, standing disposal of the little plastic shot-glasses or through full-on intinction).

What I'm about to say is a bit controversial, and I don't mean to be judgmental of my fellow clergy, but I really think that this dilemma is our fault. My sincere belief is that pastors were more than willing to give sufficient time to the people's reflective reception of the sacrament as long as it happened rarely. Once it happened more frequently, we were less inclined to give it serious time within the Sunday service because we are so very in love with our sermons.

Preaching is awesome if it is well done, and I am saying this as somebody who is really (ask anybody!) an excellent preacher. But preaching is also an awesome temptation to the ego. It is extremely hard to find a pastor who will admit to being not-very-good at preaching, even though statistically some must be so.

Time devoted to the reflective reception of Holy Communion is time that can't be spent on listening to the sermon. It's really as simple as that. I think that many pastors give short shrift to the Eucharist because they're not willing to give up minutes from their sermon time.

AlexLL · May 21, 2016

circuitrider said:
Our church has an altar rail. We take communion by instinction from a chalice of grape juice. Then people can go to the rail to pray if they like. I'

That is the way my church does it, and it really makes it feel like a special and significant part of the worship service. I really love it.

I would have the same feelings as you OP, I would not enjoy rushing communion at all.

Albion · May 21, 2016

JCFantasy23 said:
I feel so rushed! Everyone is shuffling behind you to make sure you don't slow down, when I get up to get the cup and bread it seems to be so quick, and I don't have time to pause, stop, pray, or ponder before I have to keep moving. There's no area to stop, pray or pause. If you stopped, it would hold up the tight line that keeps wanting to move. My mom told me it's clear people just want to get it over with.

If it's any consolation, what you describe sounds similar to the manner in which Anglicans, Lutherans, and many other Christians of well-established denominations have communed over the course of many generations. Having time to meditate is not unimportant, but it's expected that the communicant will do that after he's returned to his pew or seat while the rest of the people are being communed. In these churches, kneelers are usual, and so the meditating communicants normally kneel for a few minutes before sitting back. In churches where individual cups are the rule, and no one goes to the front, the meditating customarily is done on the spot, but again, it's encouraged.

circuitrider · May 24, 2016

revanneosl said:
I believe that when it comes down to brass tacks, the amount of time given over to the celebration of Holy Communion in any given congregation is largely in the hands of the pastor, as is its frequency.

What I'm about to say is a bit controversial, and I don't mean to be judgmental of my fellow clergy, but I really think that this dilemma is our fault. My sincere belief is that pastors were more than willing to give sufficient time to the people's reflective reception of the sacrament as long as it happened rarely. Once it happened more frequently, we were less inclined to give it serious time within the Sunday service because we are so very in love with our sermons.

I agree with you! I always use one of the approved liturgies and while some are longer and some are a bit shorter, I never cut what is supposed to be there. The odd part about cutting liturgy is that it isn't the liturgy that takes the time, it is the serving of communion. Yet pastors cut the liturgy for speed probably not even saving 5 minutes in the service.

We make kneeling optional because many people in our congregation can't comfortably kneel. Intinction works well for us though I have a few germaphobes who wish we'd use wafers and wine rather than bread and juice.

Can anyone with some liturgical expertise tell me why we are using loves of bread in the UMC (which really doesn't look much like the bread Jesus used) rather than wafer as is used in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere? The problem with bread is finding something that isn't crummy and doesn't then look yuck floating in the chalice.

Albion · May 24, 2016

circuitrider said:
Can anyone with some liturgical expertise tell me why we are using loves of bread in the UMC (which really doesn't look much like the bread Jesus used) rather than wafer as is used in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere? The problem with bread is finding something that isn't crummy and doesn't then look yuck floating in the chalice.

Why the UMC does this, I don't know. However, the suggestion in any church that it would be good to use actual leavened bread seems to come from a mistaken idea that this would be more historic. As compared with the bread used at the Last Supper, it certainly is not. The Eastern Orthodox usage (leavened bread) is also sometimes cited,

However, the hosts (wafers) seem to many people not to really be bread, even though it is. And the idea that you can tear the loaf apart, unlike the way it is with the hosts, suggests some sort of authenticity in itself.

Personally, I agree with you on this. Don't you have to option to use hosts (or else those cracker-like squares) if you prefer?

Communion too rushed?

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