The evangelical Lutheran worship book is teh crazy.
this is a pretty theological post, so read only if you really, really want to.
Went with my friend's family to church this morning to check out the cranberry book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, which is the service book. My friend and her mom had mentioned to me that the Nicene Creed and the Apostle's Creed had been changed and that the whole ( Read more... )
Went with my friend's family to church this morning to check out the cranberry book, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, which is the service book. My friend and her mom had mentioned to me that the Nicene Creed and the Apostle's Creed had been changed and that the whole ( Read more... )
To cite the Episcopal Catechism, "Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God." Baptism is the means by which one becomes part of the Church. One can still love God outside the Church, yes, but one is not considered part of the Church without baptism. And anyone can be baptized, provided they are instructed in what it all means. I was baptized into the UCC without nearly enough instruction, and, looking back, that was problematic. Did I understand fully what it meant to be UCC? To be part of the Body of Christ?
Being a saint is being a member of the Church; that's why we Anglicans don't separate between All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. We call them saints after death because they have entered God's rest. Catechism again: "The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer and praise."
One innovation of Anglican and Protestant liturgy (a good innovation) was that non-confirmed/non-Christian people aren't kicked out of the sanctuary during the Eucharistic prayers. It used to be that they could stay for the "Mass of the Catechumenate" (the readings and sermon) but then had to leave for fear that they would contaminate the Body and Blood by their presence. Now we realize that they should join us for the Eucharistic prayers but that they should abstain from consuming the Body and Blood. They should certainly come forward for blessing and should spend time meditating on God's love and presence, but the actual sacrament should be reserved for when they have been brought into Christ's body.
I wouldn't want them to eat or drink unworthily which they would do without really understanding what the Sacrament is or what it signifies for us. As Article XXIX (of the 39 Articles of the Church of England) says: "The Wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." (A bit extreme in its wording, perhaps, but it expresses the discipline) There are times when ever the baptized should abstain from receiving Communion, such as when we haven't fully confessed and repented of our sins or when we are not spiritually prepared for communion. The Body and Blood are not to be received lightly because they are the most powerful and beautiful means of uniting us with God.
It seems mean to deny them Communion, but do the unbaptized have the proper spiritual life for the grace of God to grow in? One needs a good instruction in the faith and a good prayerful relationship with God before receiving the Body and Blood. Similarly, should they be receiving the fruits of Christ's life, death and resurrection without having been united with him in his death and resurrection through baptism?
I took the Sacrament before baptism (I was Mormon). The Mormons don't have a high view of the Lord's Supper; it's just standard operating procedure and has no really important place in their theology.
Love you, darling!
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