One of my favorite verses in scripture is Acts 2:42: [They] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. This is what the first followers of Jesus did. This is what we do even now.
As with a lot of things, we will have to be a little creative to continue devoting ourselves to the breaking of bread during this pandemic. We haven’t been able to gather in person for Holy Communion since early March, and even then, we could not share the cup. We have moved our worship online, our classes online, and our vestry meetings online. We are learning all sorts of creative ways to stay connected and keep functioning as a church, and I believe that the time has come to apply that creativity to the breaking of the bread and the prayers!
I want to invite all of you to an Agape Meal this coming Sunday at 5:00 PM in which we will share communion, with each of us at home and connecting online.
Here’s how it will work. We will gather in a Zoom meeting (see links). Each of you is invited to have a candle, a piece of bread and a glass of wine. We will light a candle, have an opening prayer, hear a reading from the Gospel, and then I will say the words of the Eucharist. When I light my candle, you will light yours. When I hold up the bread in my home, you will hold up bread in yours. When I break the bread, you will break yours. When I eat the bread, you will eat yours. When I drink the wine, you will drink yours. Then we will visit.
If you have a smartphone, tablet or computer with an internet connection, you can join us with video and sound. Here is the Zoom meeting: https://zoom.us/j/96765045274?pwd=dG1EQ09hcHZjMVNMYzZnQ3daYjE5UT09
You can dial in by phone at (253) 215-8782.
You will be asked for a meeting id and password. Here they are:
- Meeting ID: 967 6504 5274
- Password: 679194
I hope you will join us on Sunday for this creative approach to sharing communion. I miss you all so much and hope this can be another way to stay connected as Christ in the world.
With love,
David