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Dear Congregation,
September seems to have flown by and here we are on the brink of
October already! In the Christian church that means that this Sunday
we’ll celebrate World Communion Sunday.
World Communion Sunday is one of the most venerable of the “special
Sundays” in the Christian church. It has taken on even more relevancy
and depth of meaning in a world that is divided into countries, but even
more so, divided by inequalities in so many areas of human life.
One way that countries have been categorized is by being labeled
Developed, Developing, or Least Developed. “Developing Countries tend
to have some characteristics in common, often due to their histories or
geographies. They commonly have such problems as: low levels of
access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene; energy poverty:
high levels of pollution, high levels of poverty and disease, poor
infrastructure, high crime rates, low education levels, government
corruption, political instability, inadequate access to family planning
services, etc.
Developed Countries, of course, are not without their own problems.
Even though citizens of those countries may have better opportunities
for having their basic needs met, there are plenty of things to prevent
them from having a peaceful, worry-free life, The ever-evolving Covid
virus, the effects of global warming, racism, and terrorism to name a
few. But on World Communion Sunday we celebrate our oneness in
Christ, the Prince of Peace, in the midst of the whole world we are
called to serve—a world desperately in need of the lived-out love of
Christ.
This year of 2023 marks the 87 th year for World Communion Sunday,
which was originally called Worldwide Communion Sunday and
originated in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It began in the winter of
1935 when a group of ministers met to study the spiritual needs and
possibilities of the church in the midst of the Great Depression. They
called for a Worldwide Communion Sunday the following year on the
First Sunday of November, close to “Armistice Day” which celebrated
the end of World War I. Their idea was that worldwide communion
would supersede worldwide conflict, that the church would lead the
way in ending violence between nations and bringing peace to all
people. It was celebrated in 1936 for the first time and was eventually
moved back to the first Sunday of October.
This is the day when we celebrate the worldwide unity of the church in
the body and blood of Christ—One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism,
through all the years and in every place. Whether shared in a grand
cathedral, a mud hut, out on a hilltop, in a meeting house, in a
storefront, or at home in front of computer screens or on smart
phones, Christians celebrate communion in as many ways as there are
congregations.
And so, as we share in the sacrament of Holy Communion, we are
called to expand our vision outside these walls to the wider world
where our sisters and brothers taste the bread and the juice in other
forms, in other places. We are called to remember the mandate that
Christ has given his followers to love and to serve.
I pray that you’ll join our congregation on Sunday, whether in person in
our beautiful Sanctuary or on Facebook, as we share the sacrament
together.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Candy
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