Instructed Eucharist
Adapted for Christ Church, Newton, NJ
Lent IV

By: The Rev. Joe D. Reynolds
& The Rev. Bradford G. Whitaker
March 25, 2001

          The movement to the Great Thanksgiving, the Prayer of Consecration, begins with the Offertory.  In the Offertory we offer ourselves to God to be transformed and made new.  That offering can, indeed, be symbolized by money, perhaps the most powerful secular symbol of what we do with our lives. 

          The choral anthem, or other music, is an offering on behalf of the congregation to the glory of God.  On occasion we offer food we've collected for others or other symbols of love in action or thanksgiving for our lives.

          But, the main action of the Offertory is the bread and wine.  The bread and wine themselves represent our lives and the work of our hands.  They are brought forward by members of the congregation to remind us that they come from us.

          The blessing, like any blessing at a meal, we say is called The Great Thanksgiving.  The Great Thanksgiving is the prayer in which the saving acts of God are remembered and the actions of Jesus at the Last Supper are recalled.

          There are four different prayers that can be used for the Great Thanksgiving at the 10:15 service and two at the 8 o'clock service.  They are titled with the creative names of “Eucharistic Prayer A,” “B”, “C”, and “D” for the 10:15 service and "Eucharistic Prayer 1" and "2" at the 8 o'clock service.  All of them begin with a series of statements and responses that originate from table prayers said in Jewish families before the time of Christ.  There is a Proper Preface for the particular season of the Church year.  The beginning statements and responses culminates in what is called the Sanctus, the “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord,” which is often sung to emphasize its importance.  During the season of Lent, we are using eucharistic text taken from a supplemental source provided by General Convention called "Enriching our Worship".  These supplemental sources give us a variety of images of God and a more inclusive use of language. 

          If you read your Prayer Book you’ll find that after the Sanctus the option is given for the congregation to either stand or kneel for the rest of the Great Thanksgiving.  There is nothing wrong with  people doing whichever feels more comfortable to them even though it might mean having some people kneeling and some people standing.  (Generally, those persons who are vested for the service are asked to be uniform in their posture) The general custom at Christ Church is to stand at this point.  However, during the seasons of Lent and Advent, many choose to kneel.  During the season of Easter we will stand to mark the message of redemption and resurrection; that we are raised UP with Christ.

          At the end of the Great Thanksgiving there is printed the response of the congregation, “AMEN,” in all capital letters,  It is, I believe, the only time the Prayer Book prints anything in all upper case letters.  It is the Great Amen.  It means “so be it” and “let it be so.”  It marks the congregation’s participation in the consecration of the bread and the wine.  It should be said with enthusiasm and conviction. A strong and powerful AMEN.  Lets try this together….1, 2, 3…..AMEN!!!

          The Great Thanksgiving concludes with the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus gave us to pray.  There are two versions provided for the Lord's Prayer.  During the season of Lent we are using the so called "contemporary version".  The fact is they are both contemporary and we have adapted them from the Greek and from Jesus' instruction to Hayes disciples.  Look it up in the Gospels for yourselves.

          The bread is then broken as Christ’s Body was broken.  The importance of the action is symbolized by the fact that we sing, or say, an anthem to mark it.  Also note that the Prayer Book calls for a moment of silence to be kept between the breaking of the bread and the anthem.  That silence is intended to be a time for each of us to remember that Christ was broken for us personally.  During Easter last year we started using real bread, rather than "communion wafers" for our offering of Bread.  Why?  The answer is simple; someone once said, "That it takes more faith to believe a communion wafer is actually bread than it does to believe it is the body of Christ!!" Loaves of Bread are a more real symbol for us.

          God has transformed our gifts of bread and wine to be signs and seals of Christ’s sacrifice for our sakes.  The Celebrant holds the bread and wine and says, “The Gifts of God for the people of God.”  Our imperfect gifts have been made God’s perfect gift to us.

          Immediately following this invitation the congregation should come forward. There is nothing extra holy about watching the priest, acolytes and chalice bearers receive communion.  Don't wait; come forward at the invitation.  Someone has pointed out that there is an altar call every Sunday in the Episcopal church.  Coming forward to receive communion is an outward and visible action of commitment and faith. 

          As we offered the bread and the wine as gifts we also offered our lives.  Those lives are transformed and given back to us as something new so that we can go forth into the world as agents of God’s love.

          The Eucharist is not yet over.  There remains one vitally important act and that is to give thanks to God for feeding our spirits and our souls.  It is customary in the Episcopal Church to return to our seat after receiving communion and kneel and say a personal prayer of thanksgiving.  That act of thanksgiving is concluded in a corporate way when we all stand, and together, give God thanks.  (When someone leaves right after receiving communion their absence diminishes the community and the thanksgiving that we offer.)

          Usually the Celebrant then pronounces God’s blessing and at the 10:15 service we sing a closing hymn, once again related to the Propers of the day, but also reflecting that we are a renewed people going forth into the world.

          The Dismissal is spoken to underline the movement from in here to out there.  The ultimate purpose of worship is not to retreat from the world, but rather to be transformed and sent into the world.

We are a people who pray what we believe and believe what we pray.  We use all of our senses and invite God's Spirit to move into us during worship.  Know that the word "liturgy" comes from the Greek word meaning "work of the people".  In our worship we do God's work.  Thanks be to God.

AMEN……..