| Author |
Message |
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 4623
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 10:51 pm: |     |
Yes, I liked the communion bread, too. I also remember how competitive the deaconnesses could be over who made the better bread. My goodness!
Colleen |
Snowboardingmom
Registered user
Username: Snowboardingmom
Post Number: 167
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 12:51 pm: | |
Ha! That's so funny, Colleen! In Pathfinders, we learned to make communion bread, too. Is it a unique recipe to Adventism?
This is a stupid question, but I'm also curious about another aspect of communion. I know when we had communion when I was younger in the SDA church, my parents (since my dad was one of the elders) had to burn the leftover bread and juice because it had been blessed. Is that just an Adventist thing, or do all churches do that? Or is it maybe just a midwest Adventist thing? And what's really the reasoning behind it? Is it just because it's blessed (like I was explained) or is there more to it?
Just curious.
Also, why don't other churches do the footwashing as part of their communion service? Or rather, how come Adventists have it as part of their service?
I have to admit, I don't miss this part at all. I appreciate the symbolism behind it, but it was always kind of an uncomfortable thing for me. |
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 4626
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 2:03 pm: | |
Grace, I called Trinity Church to ask what they do with their leftover communion wafers (broken matzo crackers) and grape juice. The lady I talked to giggled when I asked the question and said, "We're all about practicality." So here's the current scoop: Olaf, the church custodian, gathers all the broken unused pieces of matzo and puts them in a plastic bag in the freezer to be used next time. I gather that even the leftover juice is getting frozen now.
Before Olaf took charge, the leftover grape juice was poured into styrofoam cups, and the people who work in the church would drink it.
I believe the Adventist tradition of burning it is likely deescended from the Catholic belief that the wafers and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus. Possibly this tradition is also related to the Lutheran belief in consubstantiation, or that the wafers and wine are a means of grace. They are, thus, holy. While Adventism does not teach transubstatiation or consubstantiation, they nevertheless do believe the wafers and juice are "blessed" and set apart, holy, and cannot be used for common purposes.
Evangelical Christians do not believe the communion symbols are holy in themselves. They are representations of the body and blood of Jesus. They are done in remembrance of Himóthe Holy Oneóand are not themselves holy.
Colleen |
Susan_2
Registered user
Username: Susan_2
Post Number: 2384
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 2:53 pm: | |
I thought the SDA's took the leftover grape juice amnd bread that had been blessed and thew poured it out on the ground. My aunt was the head communion server at the SDA church she attended and that is what she did with it. |
Snowboardingmom
Registered user
Username: Snowboardingmom
Post Number: 169
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 3:27 pm: | |
Wow, thanks Colleen for the research. After posting that question, I "googled" it to see what I could find. And just like Trinity Church, lots of people freeze the leftover emblems.
The websites that talk about burning it, all turned out to be Adventist websites, so I guess it's an Adventist thing. The reasoning the websites said this was to be done was because it was in accordance with the Passover custom (and there were some verses from Leviticus that they quoted that talked about burning leftover unleavened bread; I couldn't find the webpages again, and I didn't jot them down earlier). The proper disposal according to the Adventist website was to dump the remaining juice on the ground (so you're right Susan), and the bread is burned.
When I have more time later, I'll try to find those verses or some of the websites.
Grace |
Snowboardingmom
Registered user
Username: Snowboardingmom
Post Number: 170
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 3:29 pm: | |
Here's one link:
http://www.plusline.org/article.php?id=199
"Disposing of the Leftover Emblems. Explain that in church we donít usually see what happens to the leftover wine and bread. In accordance with the Passover custom, the remaining wine is poured out on the ground, and the bread is burned before they become stale, because Christís body did not decay in the tomb. In a safe place (take the group to the parking lot) pour out the wine and burn the bread. While the bread is burning, sing ìRedeemedî (any version)." |
Jeremy
Registered user
Username: Jeremy
Post Number: 1502
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 3:53 pm: | |
WOW! I never even knew about this. It sounds like a sacrifice!
Jeremy |
Tisha
Registered user
Username: Tisha
Post Number: 188
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 4:25 pm: | |
In our small Church we only saw our "pastor" on Communion Sabath. So one day he showed up for Communion, but had failed to inform the deaconess that he was coming. So she ran across the street and bought grape juice and wheat thins. WELL - that just wouldn't do because they were purchased on Sabbath. So he came back to next week to do Communion. Guess what we used? The same things we had purchased the Sabbath before. Somehow, the week in between made it all OK!! We laughed about that for months! |
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady
Post Number: 2824
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 4:47 pm: | |
That is funny Tisha. I am so thankful, I do not have to think of these things any more.
Diana |
Tisha
Registered user
Username: Tisha
Post Number: 189
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 4:55 pm: | |
What do I miss? Not much. We have found a great Church and feel right at home. I have made more real friends here than I ever made in all the years I was in the SDA Church. I think it is becasue we are more open about our personal lives - nothing to hide when works aren't required for Salvation! We really care about and pray for each other. I still have a few good friends that have remained SDA, even though I know they have their questions. I pray that someday they will have the courage to leave SDAism as well.
I DON'T miss the contentious board meetings, the finger-pointing and two-faced, hypocritical attitudes of many SDA's. I DON'T miss the cover-ups of sexual misconduct, and other evils that exist within the SDA Church. I DON'T miss the feeling of never being able to live up to all the rules, regulations, and standards that the SDAs require of one to be a "good" SDA - note: not good Christian, just good SDA.
I guess the thing I miss most is that I could choose to live where ever I wanted and never had to worry about if there was an SDA Church nearby! Now, as we face retirement and possibly moving, I need to consider if there is a Church in the community that we can attend!! But that is a SMALL price to pay!!
And we still make Haystacks sometimes, so not all is lost! |
Insearchof
Registered user
Username: Insearchof
Post Number: 88
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 7:45 pm: | |
I remember Communion bread as a hit-or-miss thing. Sometimes good, most times not. I much prefer motzo crackers!
I find it odd that the SDA tradition is to pour the wine on the ground and burn the bread since I never felt that (at least in the churches I attended for years) that the membership felt deeply spiritual about the service. When I was head elder, I always tried to impress the deep spirituality and special presence of Jesus, but most of the pastors I served with did not give it a lot of thought.
At the PCA church I have been attending, there seems to be a much deeper experience and realization of just what it means to partake of the bread and wine. This may be due to the fact that PCA churches feel that there is something inherently spiritual in the sacrament while SDAs (and other Evangelical churches) look on the whole things as merely a rememberance.
What has been your experience?
InSearchOf
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Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 4631
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 10:35 pm: | |
Our evangelical church looks on communion as a remembrance, not as a means of graceóbut it is a deeply spiritual experience. There's nothing flip or shallow or superficial about it. It's holy, reverent, and profound. The simultaneous remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice and the looking forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb when Jesus will once again drink the wine with us is so amazing.
Colleen |
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