June / July 2024
What’s the longest you have ever gone without eating?
How did you feel when you were that hungry?
We know that food is essential to life and make it a priority to support and develop programs that address hunger and food insecurity. You have donated to Lutheran World Hunger, started a garden in a food desert, led non-perishable donation drives, packed boxes at the food bank, served lunches at the Salvation Army, and more! We are committed to working so that all have enough food to eat.
We also know that we experience more than just physical hunger.
We long for community, belonging, forgiveness, and Christ’s presence in our lives. This is why we hold Holy Communion in such high regard and share it every week in worship. That works pretty well…except for those for whom it doesn’t.
The number of people unable to regularly attend worship and receive the sacrament continues to grow: those who have to work, are ill, are injured, lack transportation, have caregiver responsibilities, or who have social anxiety. How do they have the opportunity to receive the life sustaining gift of Christ’s body & blood?
Traditionally, the pastor has traveled to their homes, care centers, and hospitals to bring the sacrament to them. When I first began serving at St. Peter’s, my goal was to ensure that home-centered parishioners would receive a visit every 4-6 weeks. This was the norm at my last congregation, but I soon realized that we were only able to do this because we had three pastors on staff plus three home communion ministers. I asked Pastor Herb how many times I “should” be visiting home-centered folks in a year. He suggested a more realistic goal of quarterly visits.
Is that enough to sustain our hungry folks who long for community, communion, and God’s presence in their lives? A suggestion was made to provide self-contained communion kits to church members when I visit (if they so desire) so they can share in the sacrament with the congregation as they worship online. Online communion was discussed with our Bishop, Worship Team, and Church Council and St. Peter’s is moving forward with this attempt to make the sacrament available to those who are unable to attend Sunday worship regularly.
This is new. This is different. It may be uncomfortable for some of us because of our training, experiences, or tradition. The Holy Spirit often calls us into uncomfortable situations in the name of meeting someone else’s needs. Our Bishop related that online communion has long been a practice in some areas of the country where distance divides and prevents regular corporate worship like in Alaska.
So, we will try! Is it the same as being in church? Not likely, but it may be similar to takeout food from a fancy restaurant. Is it as good as eating it in the restaurant around the table with your family and friends? Probably not, but it is life sustaining because Christ promises to be there!
-Pastor Jim
