Communion During COVID-19

A Letter from Senior Pastor Josh Moody

Dear College Church Family,

While our circumstances at present are unusual, they are certainly not (as I have heard them described) unprecedented. In fact, the church historically is well-accustomed to dealing with times of plague or pandemic. In 1918-19, during the flu pandemic, churches in America and around the world went through lengthy seasons where all gatherings ceased.

During this season, we are seeking to make the best use of modern technology to coordinate leadership, continue and even increase participation in ministries and stream worship services into the homes of congregants. The natural question arises, “Why not do the same with communion?”

There are a number of reasons why communion is not the same as streaming worship songs, prayer, a Scripture reading or a sermon. To begin with, communion is a community event. Paul said to the Corinthians, “When you come together…” (1 Corinthians 14:26). While Paul was well able to do Word ministry through the then-modern technology of letter writing via the communications network of the Roman world—and massively made the most of it—he did not attempt to have a communion service by mail. This is because communion happens “when you come together…”

In addition, theologically, communion is not only the community meal for the church when it gathers together, but also the “back door” of the church. While baptism is the front door (you are baptized when you believe as an expression of becoming a part of the church through faith), communion is the back door of the church. When we partake of communion, we do so in mutual recognition that we are participating as Christians in a covenant community. Churches “fence” the communion table out of recognition of this theological principle. At College Church, we do not strictly fence the table to prevent anyone who is not a member of College Church from participating (as many churches in our tradition in times past did), but we do deliberately fence the communion table to protect, as best we can, those from participating who are not yet Christians.

The importance of fencing the table also goes back to biblical texts, such as when Paul told the Corinthians that the reason why there were sick among them was because they were eating communion in “an unworthy manner” (1 Corinthians 11:27). In that instance, eating communion in an unworthy manner was not only related to the extreme sin that some in the Corinthian church were guilty of, but also to the selfish and greedy way in which class rivalries were being expressed in the church to cause division at the table, rather than unity.

This “back door” function of the church and the fencing of the table are why, when a church member is brought to the final stage of church discipline when they are removed from the church, they are said to be “ex-communicated.”

The decision then to give approval to congregants to have communion in their own homes is not as simple as the decision to stream other elements of a worship service. Communion is a church matter over which the pastors and elders of a church have responsibility and in which the body of a local church expresses their unity around Christ, their common faith and their participation together as they meet.

On this basis, my recommendation is that we reserve taking communion until we can gather together again physically.Additional thoughts to consider:

• We do not want to give the impression that if we do not take communion, then we are somehow endangering our spiritual status. Communion or the Lord’s Supper is not something that is necessary for our salvation. In other words, we do not hold to a Roman Catholic view of communion whereby we must find a way for the church to participate or they are in spiritual danger.

• It is not wise to encourage anyone to be going out to buy—or to purchase through online means—grape juice, crackers or bread beyond what is absolutely essential at this time.

• While we should not judge or condemn anyone who goes ahead and takes communion on their own, I think this gives us a teaching opportunity to reaffirm that communion is about the body physically gathering together.

• We understand that virtual platforms are redefining what it means “to gather together,” for now, we want to emphasize the importance of being in the physical presence of each other.

• Communion and baptism are local church ordinances. For a church to allow or encourage anyone to participate in communion without church oversight could risk someone participating “in an unworthy manner.” It also further confuses the line between a local church and other parachurch ministries.

• We don’t want to say more than the Bible says on this matter. We understand that the early church met in homes, so this is not a statement on the location of eating communion.

• While virtual platforms are redefining how we gather together, particularly for small groups, at this time we want to emphasize the importance of the physical gathering for communion. Therefore, even as gathered small groups, we ask that you hold off on taking communion.

Finally, we want to be open handed on this issue. Should these unusual circumstances surrounding COVID-19 persist, we will revisit this recommendation. Until then, let us pray for a swift end to this pandemic and allow this time of separation to cause us to long to be physically gathered as Jesus’ church.

For His Glory,

Josh MoodyMarch 31, 2020