Enriching Communion

Image by Michael 1952 via Flickr

The sharing of Communion is still one of the most difficult issues the churches face.  A few years ago a group of people spent a week in Parmour, near Oxford, studying our different takes on communion.  Like, I suspect, many Methodists I find it difficult to 'see what all the fuss is about' or to feel the pain people in other traditions experience.  Of course, I can't change the way I feel but I can listen to what others say and appreciate it is not so easy for some people.

Here are a couple of resources from Churches Together in England, which Methodists might find helpful.

Enriching Communion is a book, written by Bill Snelson, based upon the Parmour experience.  It is a useful summary of the different takes the traditions have and some of the differences in language and understanding that drives divisions over this topic.  I'm sorry I can't find a better link, you will need to scroll down until you find it about halfway down the table.

The other resource is free and is a series of accounts from Anglicans and Roman Catholics about their experiences of sharing communion.  Remember communion can refer to the narrow experience of sharing bread and wine or the wider experience of communion between friends across the traditions.  It's called Spiritual Communion and can be found on the CTE website.

For a Methodist take on Communion, nothing beats His Presence Makes the Feast in my view.

Related articles

• Methodist Responses to Embracing the Covenant (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)