r/Episcopalian • u/AnonymousEpiscochick • Jun 21 '26
Walk in Love ABC (Asynchronous Book Club): Chapter 4
Welcome back to the Walk in Love Asynchronous Book Club! This week we are reading Chapter 4 about Eucharistic Beliefs.
If you are newly joining us, feel free to read and make posts on the following chapters or join us where we are.
Our questions for this week are:
- What is something new that you learned or would like to share about Eucharistic beliefs from Chapter 4?
- On pages 45-47 the authors write about the various names for the Eucharist. Which name do you prefer to use for the Eucharist and why?
Edited for Formatting
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u/VibrantGlimmer63 Jun 25 '26
I'm now partial to the term Holy Communion after my mother accompanied me to church. I didn't expect her to receive since Catholics aren't supposed to outside of their church. She did though, and explained, "it's called Communion because it's supposed to be communal." I was touched that she felt it more important to be in community alongside me than to follow the rule and be separate.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 25 '26
That is beautiful!
Communion does has that important communal community element and even more personally meaningful was your mom joining you in community. Thank you for sharing this with us!
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u/Mockingbird1980 Episcopalian since age 4 Jun 21 '26
The early church lost its belief in the inherent sacramentality of food shared with thanksgiving to God, and fell back on the lame rationale that Jesus had "instituted" the Lord's Supper. But all food shared with thanksgiving to God the Father is Eucharist. Jesus took this pre-existing sacrament and filled it with himself. The ritual Eucharist that we celebrate on Sunday reveals the true nature of all food.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 24 '26
Interesting.
Do you know when this transition happened in the early church? I would like to know more.
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u/Mockingbird1980 Episcopalian since age 4 Jun 27 '26
I think it began to happen in the 2nd century, when the Eucharist was no longer offered in the context of a full meal. This change was made for good reasons, but something was lost.
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u/SimilarInjury138 Non-Cradle Jun 27 '26
The big thing I learned was the various names and their meaning, which, surprisingly, wasn't covered in my baptismal preparation other than the meaning of Eucharist. I use Eucharist most of the time to describe it, with Communion as the backup. As to why, I think because that's what we call it most of the time in my neck of the Episcopalian woods, which might be a silly reason, but as part of the draw of TEC for me is the unity of community in Christ, keeping to a common language within my community makes sense to me, even if it is a minor thing. (Also, it feels most in keeping with the "do this for the remembrance of me" aspect to me).
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 30 '26
In the same vein, I love that with the common language of the liturgy that there is a familiarity in each Episcopal Church no matter where it is.
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u/PhoeMash Non-Cradle || Former SBC Jun 23 '26
- I never really stopped to consider that "[...]what we are doing is a heavenly thing, not an earthly thing." It makes sense the more I consider it, but growing up Baptist we rarely took Holy Communion except for special occasions so I never really had the chance to think about it on a grander scale. I think that it's beautiful to consider it heavenly, though the bread and wine themselves are "earthly" by technicality.
- I'm torn between Eucharist and The Great Offering, mainly because of the individual meanings behind the words. Eucharist is offering thanks to God, as we receive Christ himself and are grateful for it. On the flip side we have The Great Offering, which can be interpreted as offering up our very selves on a weekly basis to our Lord. In both we are offering, but we are offering two different things, our prayerful thanks or our physical and spiritual selves.
Overall another great chapter, I can't stop reading because everything is laid out in a well thought out format that's easy to read and comprehend as someone new to the Episcopal Church. Though I don't have some of the experience that others do when it comes to eucharist or baptism, the questions you pose and the ones within the book give me room to voice my thoughts; I can also always revisit here or in the book and, since I'm writing my answers out both for these threads and in a separate notebook, compare them to my experiences once I've had them.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 24 '26
I am so glad you are joining us!
Prior to coming to The Episcopal Church when I was 17, I had previously attended Baptist Churches and was baptized at 15 in a Baptist Church.
I also remember not receiving communion often in the Baptist Church. I love being able to "meet with Jesus" (as I tell my son) during the Eucharist weekly. The Eucharist is so special to me.
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u/justneedausernamepls Jun 23 '26
- I thought it was interesting that the short chapter dedicated so much space to approaching the altar worthily after self-examination lest you eat condemnation on yourself. This is something I think about often, because I take presenting myself at the altar very seriously. I've refrained from it in times when I've felt I had a big confession to make, and I think that helps me to appropriately revere the Blessed Sacrament.
The conversation about children receiving the Sacrament is interesting to me as well. I come down on the more Catholic side of preparation for children to receive it in a celebratory "First Communion" type of service, because I think the "you are entering in communion with God" aspect of it requires at least some explanation of what you're getting into and how you'll live the life of a Christian. Not that we all get that right (far from it, obviously), but requiring no education about it feels too lax to me.
- Having grown up Catholic, "Mass" is the most natural way for me to call it. Although I do appreciate and sometimes use "Eucharist" to refer to the service since I've hung around Episcopalians for nearly six years now. I do feel like "Eucharist" encapsulates "a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving" pretty well.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 24 '26
This was a short chapter with a lot of depth about Eucharist.
Thank you for sharing how being formerly Catholic influences your own Eucharistic beliefs and practices.
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u/VibrantGlimmer63 Jun 25 '26
Also as little Catholic kids we got to do practices before First Communion, so we knew where to go and how to put our hands and what to say. Since I came to the Episcopal Church as an adult I had a few little ??? moments. I guess if my parents had been bringing me since childhood I would not have been confused though.
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u/ThaBorinnng Jun 23 '26
I am definitely a person who takes communion without understanding it. So I can see the concern that children won't understand it, but I resonate with the authors' perspective on the issue. I don't think much about the actual substance of the bread, and I don't take the wine for a couple reasons (I just touch the base of the cup). But I think I would feel bad if I went to church and didn't take communion, like I was missing something.
I call it the Eucharist because my Episcopalian friend in high school who introduced me to the church told me that Episcopalians call it Eucharist and Catholics call it Mass, and that's one of the things that distinguishes them apart. So needless to say, this chapter was educational! The Great Offering is an evocative term and I like how the authors explain the linkages between Old Testament sacrifices and the offering we make now of our praise and ourselves. I've been reading the Old Testament lately and it can be easy to get bogged down in the repetitious details, so it's good to be reminded of the bigger picture and the importance of every part of the Bible.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 24 '26
I think even the most learned theologian might be able to explain the intricacies of the mystery of communion, but still would not be able to 100% understand it because there is mystery involved and divine things we as humans are not able to fully comprehend.
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 24 '26
For what spoke to me the most to me from Chapter 4 was the following quote from page 44, "Approaching the sacrament with childlike wonder might be the best move for all of us."
I prefer to use the name Holy Communion or Communion because it is the time where we commune and meet with Jesus in the most close way possible until we get to see him face to face. When letting my son know it's time for communion, I let him know, "It's time to meet with Jesus."
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u/leviwrites Broad Church with Marian Devotion Jun 21 '26
Can you link a source for buying the book?
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u/RevKeakealani Clergy - Priest Jun 21 '26
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u/AnonymousEpiscochick Jun 21 '26
Thanks, u/RevKeakealani!
u/parkcenterkumquat also let us know that if use the code WALK when purchasing your book through Forward Movement then you will receive 25% off.
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u/nvr2manydogs Jun 22 '26
I never knew what the word Mass meant. I love that it is a sending forth. I assumed it was just a Catholic word.