Holy Communion
From Mayfield Salisbury Church Website
Some call it the Lord's Supper or the Holy Communion, while others refer to it as the Eucharist, the Mass or the Breaking of Bread.
The invitation to this sacrament comes not from any church or individual, but from Jesus. Therefore, all who hear his invitation and who wish to respond by receiving the bread and wine are welcome at his table in Christ's name.
1. Following the uplift of the Offering, the Invitation of Jesus to everyone present, to sit at His Table is made by the Minister.
2. During the singing of the the Communion Hymn the offerings of money and bread and wine will be brought to the Table. This is called The Great Entry. "All that we have and are" is brought, in symbol, and placed upon the Table. All that we have and are will be transmuted, as the Reformers called it, changed by the fact of Christ's Presence. Our whole life transfigured, and so therefore our relationships with Christ and each other. So bringing in the bread and wine, along with our money, is an offering of ourselves to Christ to be transformed in this act of worship. Once the elements have been transformed through prayer calling down the Holy Spirit (epiklesis), the Bread and Wine become for us the Body and Blood of Christ distributed to those in need of it and desirous of it. Historically, the Bread and Wine would also be taken from the church to those sick at home. Our money, now also blessed by the Holy Spirit,is,at the end of the service, taken from the sanctuary to be used for God's purposes.
3. The Narrative is our biblical warrant (authorisation) for the service of Holy Communion.
4. Holy,holy,holy Lord (Sanctus)is from Isaiah 6, and is part of our Prayer and Thanksgiving. To say this is to know ourselves to be not only one community on earth; but, here and now, part of that one family in heaven and earth that is Christ's whole Church, with whom we are now united.
5. O Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)is an anthem which came to the West in the seventh century from the Eastern Church and which originally was repeated for as long as it took to break enough bread for the people.
6. The sharing of the Bread and Wine is the climax of the service and the highest point of Christian Worship. the Priesthood of all Believers comes before us in our tradition's practice of the distribution of the elements. In the words of Revd. George MacLeod
"During the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving the elements were consecrated; and thus Believers are reminded that our natural lives and relationships can be transformed in Christ. Yet it is not our belief that the elements were transformed by the act of the presiding minister. It is in response to the prayers of the whole Body of Believers, through the office of one of them set apart for that purpose. It is not only the minister who distributes the Life of God; nor just the elders. As the Bread and Wine are passed, we all fulfill a priestly function. Better off, to less well off; saint to sinner, sinner to saint; young to old, we all have to share Christ one to another. This symbol challenges our weekday life..."
7. The Great Entry.
The Great Entry originates in the Eastern Orthodox Church, though has long been part of the Reformed practice. The elements of bread and wine, symbols of the Presence of God, being brought into the sanctuary reminds us of King David entering the city of Jerusalem carrying the Ark of the Covenant, which was the symbol of God's Presence entering the city. Psalm 24, "Ye gates, lift up your heads on high", tells of the "King of Glory" being symbolically brought through the gates of the city so that He may be seen to be amongst His people.
Our use of the Great Entry is equally incarnational: God with us in this place, the sign of which is the Bread and Wine.
One final word: the Little Entry is the name given to the entry of the Bible.