Communion

To paraphrase the bumper sticker that reads “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could,” I feel as though I could write one that states “I wasn’t born an Episcopalian, but I made the leap as soon as I could!”

Growing up in the Methodist church, I always loved the first Sunday of the month when we celebrated communion. To be honest, I felt sad that we only had communion once a month and not every Sunday. There was a feeling of reverence in hearing the familiar words spoken by the ministers before each pew silently walked to the altar rail to take communion, where we were served grape juice and one teeny, tiny saltine cracker!

While I was in high school and college, I somehow dated guys who invited me to Christmas Eve services at their Episcopal churches, and there I realized how special and holy the Eucharist is. I fell in love with the way the Episcopal church celebrates communion – the prayers, the kneeling, the hymns we sing and the overall feeling that communion completes the circle of our worship service. Luckily for me, I married a cradle Episcopalian, became confirmed in the Episcopal church and have never looked back.

At our Membership 101 classes, after the final presentations, we walk into The Church for an Instructed Eucharist, which, to me, is the icing on the cake. New members are led through the Eucharist portion of the liturgy with our Rector while learning why we say particular words at this time in the service, why we kneel at a point in the Eucharist and hear what the Eucharist means to us as Christians.

Recently, I was preparing for a membership class and watched the Instructed Eucharist video our Rector filmed for those who couldn't attend in person. As he spoke the familiar and comforting words, I immediately experienced a feeling of calm and serenity, once again knowing God knew what I needed in my spiritual life.

The overall beauty of the language in our Book of Common Prayer, pulling down the kneeler, closing my eyes and saying the familiar prayers from memory, singing or, in my case, humming with the communion hymns, all of these acts together make for a rewarding, fulfilling worship service. I am blessed to have found “my place.”