Communion Class Notes

From Church Officer Training, 17 May

References: 
Called To Serve - Brown (ed.)
Chapter 9: “Calvin on the Eucharist”
Chapter 10: “Table Manners”
Church Order of the URCNA, articles 41-46
Belgic Confession, article 35
Heidelberg Catechism, questions and answers 75-82
Canons of Dort 14, 17
With Heart And Mouth - D. Hyde
Calvin's Institutes 6
1 Corinthians

1. How was Calvin’s view of the Lord’s Supper different than Zwingli’s?
   1. Opposed to Zwingly, the supper is not just a memorial, but a true sacrament, means of grace and a sign connected to the thing signified by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a mystery, and Calvin says so in his writing, quite clearly. Zwingly was a rationalist, as was Rome – Calvin achieved the realistic view in his conception of the Supper, both objective in its flow from Scripture and its experiential aspect in sensory impression

2. Does Calvin’s view of the Lord’s Supper conform to the view outlined in in our confessions?
   1. Calvin’s view actually is the view of the Reformed churches. The Three Forms of Unity and the Westminster Standards are outworkings of Calvin. 

3. What was Calvin’s argument with regards to frequency of communion?
   1. Calvin was thoroughly for a frequent observation of the eucharist. At least weekly. Geneva rejected his petition for frequent communion and he complied with the quarterly schedule. 

4. What frequency of the Lord’s Supper observance is permissible according to our confessions and church order?
   1. URCNA church order indicates no less than quarterly.

5. Why is it necessary for the elders to supervise the Table?
   1. Elders are commissioned to preserve the purity of Word and sacrament. They are to both promote the supper to those who are to be permitted and to engage, educate and limit, if necessary, those who may not be fit for the Table. Since the event comes with both blessing and curse, the mission is to protect those who do not understand or are not qualified and to ensure that the means of grace is offered rightly for those who will benefit from it.

6. Who is permitted to come to the Lord’s Table?
   1. Those who are confessing believers, baptized members of churches that confess the ecumenical creeds (“Bible-believing churches”) and are not openly rebellious, impenitent, unrepentant and are of maturity to discern the supper. IOW: Local members, similar non-members, no others.

7. What are the different categories and/or methods of fencing the Table?
   1. Open, which includes anyone who professes belief, which is usually a minimum of the simple gospel. Contemporary churches will either not require this profession or the requirement results in at best an unintelligible assent to general Christian doctrine.
   2. Closed, which limits participation to local church or denomination
   3. Close, which includes and excludes those in questions 5 and 6 above

8. Is the practice of “paedocommunion” permissible according to our confessions and church order?
   1. No. This is the sacrament that requires a conscious state capable of discerning the value and meaning of the event, to be able to receive it by faith. “Discerning the Body” includes knowing what is to happen. Conversely, an infant could not eat and drink judgement on himself, therefore the idea of paedocommunion is absurd.

Notes from discussion:

The table, as offered by the Reformed churches, is what sealed me to the Reformed, biblical system of theology, piety and practice.

How does a member of the Reformed churches approach the Supper as it is practiced in non-reformed churches? For instance, while on vacation, the only option is a church which may preach the Gospel, but teaches that the Supper is only a memorial and does not fence the table.” – Are our church standards to guide our participation outside the Reformed church? Or does communion of the saints have a place in consideration? Intinction practiced? 

It is remarkable that rationalists are all about the unmediated personal experience, mysticism, bordering the magical. The Reformed confession is realistic, objective, and yet has a mediated experiential model that does not violate the Scriptures.

If people knew what the Reformed churches actually believe about the sacraments, they might not be as likely to bypass directly to Rome or the Orthodox.

Bonus notes

“I’m not smarter with age, I have simply achieved a different type of stupid”

Bumper sticker idea

“The Reformed – Confessing the dogging of Rome since 1564”