By Mark A. Taylor
Once in awhile an article actually brings us to tears while we”re preparing it for print. Not often, mind you. But it does happen.
It happened this week as one of our staff was formatting Ethan Magness”s articles about the Lord”s Supper. His insights are among several powerful pieces in this issue to help readers think afresh about Communion.
He challenges us to lift our weekly observance above thoughtless routine. “The danger posed by meaningless ritual is no reason to stop the ritual,” he says. And he suggests how to keep our Communion celebrations alive.
Another writer, Jim Tune, confesses how his new church plant wrestled with whether to serve Communion to everyone every week in every service. All of us can take something away from the conclusion his thriving congregation reached.
Paul Blowers ponders the power of memory and considers how enriched we are by remembering, how strengthened the church through the ages has been because of this memorial.
And Victor Knowles winsomely reminds us of the Lord”s Supper”s central role in Thomas Campbell”s agonizing decision to turn away from denominationalism toward unity.
Indeed, observing the Lord”s Supper has been a constant thread through the history of the Restoration Movement, and it remains so today. Victor and “Reflections” writer Doug Foster explain how we can participate in history again this October. With the worldwide celebration of the bicentennial of Thomas Campbell”s Declaration and Address, we can once more pursue the unity Christ prayed for just before his death. Now is the time for your church to plan a Great Communion celebration for Sunday, October 4. Discover how and why as you read their articles.
We planned this special issue in anticipation of that celebration, but that”s not all. It”s good to reconsider why and how our weekly Communion observance can be more than a habit. As Paul Blowers writes this week, “Christ . . . is with us still . . . in the breaking of the bread.” Our wish is that you will be energized anew every time you meet him there.
NOTE: As announced earlier, this is another of our special two-week issues. Look for a new edition not next week, but July 26.
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