Blessings of Weekly Communion – Review

The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth W. Wieting

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kenneth Wieting’s plea for weekly communion had many strengths, and also a few weaknesses. Wieting is a pastor, though I think this book was originally some form of a dissertation. At times, Wieting the pastor seemed at odds with Wieting-writing-a-dissertation. Wieting writes from an exclusively Lutheran background, and from the Missouri Synod at that. So, his conservative Lutheran mindset seemed to prevent a more objective account. For instance, to take one of the most obvious examples, John Calvin only receives a mere two pages of treatment, even though Wieting takes on the whole of church history! Calvin and Melanchthon are clearly the bad guys, who corrupted the pure teachings of Luther.

What will keep this book from gaining a wide acceptance is the Wieting’s exclusively Lutheran emphasis. Of course, one cannot cover everything in a single book. I’m starting to write a dissertation on the weekly communion debate in the Reformed tradition, and I will blithely leave the Lutherans on the periphery. But, I acknowledge that we Reformed have much to learn from the Lutherans! Wieting repeatedly refers to Luther, and the Lutheran confessions/ catechisms, in terms that make Luther the interpretive standard. Reformed writers can do this with Calvin, which is also problematic. We need to meditate more on how 1 Cor. 12 might apply to denominations, traditions, and our own theological heroes and mentors.

Although Wieting relied extensively on secondary sources in his historical overview, he did conduct a very interesting survey about communion frequency practices in the Missouri Synod. Additionally, he develops a helpful practical theology of communion, which should aid any pastor working through these issues.

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John M. Mason’s “Letters on Frequent Communion”

Naphtali Press has kindly made John M. Mason’s “Letters on Frequent Communion” available for free.

Featured Resource – Dr. Michael Horton on Weekly Communion

Dr. Michael Horton - “At Least Weekly:  The Reformed Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper and of Its Frequent Celebration,” (from the Mid-America Journal of Theology, no. 11)

Calvin and Weekly Communion

“The Eucharist in the Reformation by Lee Palmer Wandel

Wandel asserts the centrality of frequent communion in Calvin’s theology:

“Perhaps most important of all, however, was Calvin’s insistence on frequency.  Most evangelicals condemned the medieval requirement of annual communion as nonscriptural.  Luther condemned it as well for denying the laity that moment of intimate communion with Christ, which, as he said, nourished faith.  But no other evangelical so explicitly situated the Eucharist within a dialogic process not simply of deepening faith, but of the increasing capacity to read the signs of the Supper itself, and by extension, of God in the world.  The Supper, for Calvin, was not “external”—a ceremony to be performed regularly—nor even “worship” in the sense that other evangelicals, such as Zwingli and Luther, used:  a mode of honoring God.  The Supper was, for Calvin, mutual:  Christ “is made completely one with us and we with him.”  One was not “made completely one” with Christ in a single communion; one was “made completely one” over time, through the interdependent activities of the Holy Spirit: preaching and the Supper.  Frequent communion, therefore, for Calvin was essential to one’s growth as a Christian—it transformed one in one’s being and epistemology.  When Calvin’s liturgy was instituted in Geneva, however, the City Council restricted the number of times the Supper would be offered to four:  Easter, Pentecost, mid-September, and Christmas.  On this essential point, the government of Geneva did not follow Calvin.” [1]

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[1] Wandel, The Eucharist in the Reformation, 171-72.

Welcome!

This blog exists to gather empirical evidence of current practices in American Reformed churches. (Until we get actual funding, it will remain a free WordPress blog.  Anyone wishing to contribute to our noble cause and help us get a real web-site going is free to do so!)

The Weekly Communion Project is a research project under the auspices of the Reformed Liturgical Institute.  The primary goal is to collect statistical evidence about when, and to a lesser degree, how Reformed churches observe the Lord’s Supper in America today.  The evidence gathered here will be part of a dissertation, and will hopefully be published in some form.

A secondary aim of the project is to give pastors and elders tools for research and teaching as they meditate on the nature of the Lord’s Supper and consider how often it should be celebrated.  The issue of weekly communion can be quite divisive in some churches, and so we hope to facilitate (in some small way) a charitable, if earnest, dialogue.  The Lord’s Supper is the sacrament of unity, and we hope all our readers will share our desire of attaining real communion in our churches.