World Communion Sunday
World Communion
“This is my body . . . this cup is the new covenant in my blood . . . do this in remembrance of me” (I Corinthians 11:23–26). Many Moravian congregations will celebrate Holy Communion today—on World Communion Sunday. As we do, we stretch the horizon of our prayers beyond the walls of our sanctuaries—to God’s beloved, scattered throughout the world and gathered at Christ’s table. Today we remember and give thanks that we are bound together in faith with Christians throughout the globe.
Yet not all Moravians nor all Protestant denominations with whom we are in full communion observe World Communion Sunday. Our Lutheran and Episcopal siblings celebrate the Eucharist weekly and do not take special note of World Communion Sunday. Our United Methodist siblings, who observe Holy Communion monthly, do mark this occasion. Moravians in Germany and South Africa tend to observe this day, while Moravians in Great Britain and Denmark generally do not.
The tradition of World Communion Sunday was started in the US in 1933 by Presbyterian pastor Hugh Thomson Kerr to bring churches together in a spirit of Christian unity. In 1940, the National Council of Churches promoted the idea to Christian churches worldwide.
No matter how it started, or how it is observed, those gathered around Christ’s table today are invited to eat and drink and “do this in remembrance of me.” As Bishop Sam Gray has often pondered, “Just what is the ‘this’ we are invited to do?” To eat and drink, to be sure—but perhaps even more, it is to model our lives after Jesus: to feed the hungry, pray for peace, welcome the stranger and resident alien in our midst, love our enemies, and welcome all. For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Betsy Miller, ecumenical officer, Northern Province,
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania