Track Nine: Communion

We are Christians, and Christians participate in sacraments that bring us together and help us remember who and what we believe in, they draw us closer together as believers. Many of these sacraments are ancient things done in various denominations right now and throughout history, time, and the world. One of those sacraments is communion, and it involves food. 

When a Christian takes communion, there are two elements, bread or crackers that represent the body of Christ and wine or grape juice that represents the blood of Christ. Depending on the denomination, the way these sacraments are given, eaten, etc, can be wildly different. 

I grew up in mostly non-denominational churches, and communion generally consisted of a very small piece of bread and individual cups of juice. I’ve been in churches where they were passed out while we stayed seated, ones where there are tables either at the front of the sanctuary or around the room and individuals just go and take them, and probably several more versions along this spectrum. 

Before we had Eli, and he was diagnosed with food allergies, I never really thought about anyone not being able to take communion or what they might feel like for an individual who can’t but wants to. 

Church post pandemic was complicated for us, it took a long time for us to find our way back in and even longer to find a church that still held to Chrstian, rather than political, beliefs, values, and ideas (for a flavor of how I view church and politics, you can listen to this podcast Church Politics, whose tagline is: Grab your Bibles, get your minds right, and prepare yourself to think not like a democrat, not like a republican, but a Christian in the public square). 

We are very involved in our local elementary school, and therefore our neighborhood, and there is a church literally one block down from our house. Despite having only known people from the denomination and never having attended a denominational church, we decided to just walk to it and we’ve been there ever since. Nazarene churches, at least at this one, take communion by having pastors hold a communal cup and a basket of small pieces of crackers. Everyone lines up, and when you get to the front, you take a piece of cracker, dip it in the juice, and eat. As you do this, the pastor says “The body of Christ, broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you.”

Asking and explaining about food allergies and working things out is always a back and forth, and we’ve learned this is just a part of the whole food allergy thing. Our church is small, so we directly talked with and worked out a way for Eli to participate in communion with the pastor. 

We were so happy when the pastor took it upon himself to explain to the whole church that anyone with a medical issue could have individual servings of the communion sacraments and participate that way (Eli brings his own, ingredient checked, with him to the front, and to be fair, he is probably the only one). It doesn’t just stop at his individual servings (cheap inclusion), instead, he stands in line with the rest of us, and when he reaches the front, the pastor says over him as he opens his little communion packet, “The body of Christ, broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you.”

I asked Eli what it has meant to him to be able to participate in communion at church. He says,

“I like it because I feel like I am a part of the church, you know? Not like I have to fit in, but that I am a part of it.” 

Thank you Hillsboro Nazarene and Pastor Ryan, for including my son. I honestly didn’t know if he would ever get to participate in this part of his faith. I cried at the first service he did.

In communion, we remember our savior who gave himself up for our sake, and changing things so Eli could participate is a small acting out of that value every Sunday. I am thankful for it, and in true Eli fashion he tells me “Taking communion is my favorite part of church.” (to be fair, every part of church is his favorite part of church).