My posts have been few for a while. I was busy last week with a project that was part of my continuing studies. I had to write a twenty page paper for a class I was taking. The paper had to do with what is called open communion. Those of you at New Season know we practice a weekly communion and that we invite all who want to experience the presence of Christ to come and receive.
There is great debate among people in churches that hold the Lord's Supper in high regard like we do at New Season about who should be welcomed to come and receive communion and who should not. Open communion used to mean that people from different churches could go to each other's church and receive no questions asked. Today, the definition of open communion has expanded to mean not only that but also that unbaptized people can receive and even non-believers.
My paper examines these issues and arguments and argues for an open table where all are welcomed recognizing that this was a practice of Jesus and key to his ministry of hospitality with sinners and outcasts like you and me.
I invite you to read the paper here. It is a good read if you are interested in that type of issue or having trouble sleeping. As you will see writing is not my gift so all you English teachers do not need to hand me back a copy all marked in red!!
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