The way you conducted communion is fantastic and I think I may do that someday as a preacher (I'm not a preacher yet). However, the simple fact is that there is no community in the majority of church communions now (maybe there never really was after the NT Church). Taking a wafer (really? A processed wafer?) and a small drink of grape juice does not constitute or foster community.

And so we serve coffee in the fellowship hall. I'm not saying we failed with the "old" style of communion, but it's definitely not about a group of believers accepting that we as a community have taken up our cross. At least this will be the case until more churches take your example.

I absolutely love that model of communion that you shared there. Some of the most meaningful times in my journey with Christ have been during very relational and intentional times of communion, similar to what you shared. Awesome.

Can someone fill me in on what exactly "The Lord's Table" is? I started going to church in the 90's and I am not familiar with the meaning. It sounds like communion is involved but maybe not in the way that I am used to. Thanks.

Our congregation is out of the restoration movement (heavy emphasis on communion and baptism). But in our efforts to be seeker friendly, we have sort of isolated weekly communion to a back room (a prayerful and silent space that's perfect for an individual who happens to want communion that particular Sunday). Meanwhile, we have a 1,000 square feet of lobby space that functions as a coffee bar. A coffee bar I love and frequent!!

I don't think coffee and communion are inherently at odds, but as Paul rightly observes, the rise of one happens to be correlating with the decline of the other.

IMHO, the house and simple churches who practice a full meal Lord's Supper probably are best positioned to convey the type of community our Lord desires and the type of community our current culture desires. Yet, many of us are too limited by our pragmatism to practice communion in a community-oriented way.

I like the fresh idea of participating in the Lord's Supper gathered around "round" tables. Not sure I've heard of churches giving up the Lord's Table for Coffee Bars/Tables. Are you suggesting they have quit taking the Lord Supper all together and now sit around and drink coffee? If so, I wonder where the thought of "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes." (1 Cor 11:26) ... comes in? We cannot abandon culture for biblical practice of Christ's ordinances. Love coffee, but also love the community around the Lord's Supper.

Ooops ... said it backwards ... we cannot abandon biblical principled practices such as the Lord's Supper for culture. Culture changes all the time ... the Lord, His Word does not.

Most churches have no community at all. I think a coffee bar is a step in the right direction. There is no community around communion as you suggest. I love your example of people sitting around tables and sharing about their lives, that is much less communion and much more people simply sharing. This should be happening in the Church, but it's not!

I'm w/ Chad Hall. I participate in house church, and for me it's much more like the example of communion you heralded, Paul, then what our churches do today in any arena (except for home groups). To me, that is where true community is found, around talking and sharing - something we don't do in the modern church.

Paul, I think it's a mistake to criticize the coffee thing, or think this kind of community must happen around communion. Why do you suggest it must happen around communion & not coffee? What are the practical implications?

Jesse, the community I think Paul talks about here is more of the transcendent type - communion of saints, a sacred communion that doesn't quite make tangible sense. His definition of coffee=consumer; communion=sacrifice is spot on. Relationships shouldn't be consumerist in nature to begin with. They should be interdependent between people, and with God.

Holy Communion or Eurcharist is not just about community. It is about the symbolism, if your not orthodox, or the literal representation of Christ's body and blood. We participate in this sacrement or ordinance to Remember Christ (Do this in rememberance of me).
Why evangelical churches have nearly quit the practice of communion (as well as chucked out anything else that seems traditional) is beyond my comprehension. You can go months without it. We may not all agree together from a denominational stance, but regardless if we go back to the earliest records of Christian Worship and the Lord's Day (Sunday) Holy communion is present as the centerpiece of the service. I say we bring it back. Some of you may read this and challenge my ideals as old fashioned, but I, in return, challenge you to pray about it and try incorporating it in your life. Save the Starbucks for Starbucks.

I like this post. I like the clarity regarding the difference between the coffee bar (consumer) and the communion (table). I don't think this has to be an either/or (either a coffee bar or a communion table). Yet, at the same time, I think what he is stressing here is very important. It is telling when we get more excited about something that connects with our consumerism than with a practice that flows out of the sacrifice of Christ.

I like this post. Specifically, I like the clarification between what is consumerist and what is sacrificial (the Lords's Supper). It is telling when we seem more consumed with what appeals to our consumerist urges than what might appeal to the transcendent, the sacrificial.

The fact is, we have no indication from the NT that Jesus ever intended to start another "temple-based" religion. Yet this is what we have! He envisioned his Jewish followers to experience Him and then to extend that experience to their real worlds (salt and light). Our contemporary "communion" services do as Paul says, "more harm than good" (1 Cor. 11:17). Jesus wants coffee and communion--he modeled a consistent ability to be in the world yet not of it--but we must be engaging culture and our gatherings should reflect that (i.e., coffee and tea). I think the real problem is that church has become the end instead of the means--we "sabbath" together so that we can have our hearts recalibrated so we can venture out again as light in a dark world.

What about having the coffee time with the emblems on each table and as you come together with others, in the lobby or wherever you serve coffee, out of relationship with each other as Christs body we share in the emblems thus remembering what was broken and shed for us. Because that is what has brought us together in the first place as believers. Out of that relationship we want to share the word and the coffee.

My pastor understands completely that we need to serve coffee in the lobby. It gives us a reason to stand around and commune with one another and also be there when someone new comes into the building.. It's just basic hospitality.

However, he doesn't understand communion other than it's "a memorial service that's hard to make meaningful".

So, I agree with that the coffee bar could possibly be a substitute for communion, but I think we should do both--the coffee as an act of hospitality and communion as a nourishing act for believers.

Like Chad, I too have a long history with the Restoration Movement. I grew up in it, attended one of their colleges and worshiped in their churches for 50 years. Traditionally, they observe the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day. Some do it better than others. For the past 20 years I have been a part of the Baptist General Conference. Communion at our church is usually on the first Sunday of the month. But the leadership does not have any real compunctions about moving it to the evening (we have no regular evening service), moving it to the second Sunday when other programming gets in the way or eliminating for the month altogether. Over my lifetime in the Evangelical Church I have notice a gradual deemphasis on communion (we observe it as long as it doesn't interfere with whatever else we are doing. Baptism (immersion) has already suffered this fate within Evangelicalism, with few exceptions. These two ordinances or sacrements were instituted to help us understand and remember the atoning death and resurrection of Christ. In our rush to be all things to all people and to program to death, we are destroying two important elements of the Christian life and corporate worship.

A modern-day writing on the wall?

"You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways." (Daniel 5:23)

"Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?" - Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest"

I may be missing the point but I don't see the conflict. In every church I have ever been in, communion was and is a ritual in which everyone silently eats a piece of bread and drinks a tiny cup of wine or juice. This does signify unity and fellowship but not as it is commonly understood as talking with each other, etc. As another commenter said, that is why we have a coffee hour. Even the circular table idea doesn't seem to give the same kind of fellowship. But each church should do what they think is best.

Yes,you are on the right track....we must outlaw coffee and music and kites....women must stay at home...and men must grow beards or be flogged....The Taliban considers most forms of music to be "shirk" or associating anything with GOD ...and judging from the illustration of folks worshiping a huge pot of coffee, you must feel that way about the hot beverage....come on man, lighten up it's only COFFEE!

@Steve H.: I think you've missed it. Metzger is not advocating getting rid of coffee as much as he is putting forth the idea that what we emphasize is telling of where our values lie. In this case, that the current trend is a prominence of the coffee bar over and against the Lord's Table is a good illustration of how we are emphasizing a consumer mindset and not the emphasis of the Lord's Supper of consumption.

The coffee bar and communion create very different sorts of community, the coffee bar tends to be a place where those of us with similar likes gather together over our similarities, whereas the community represented in communion is one that gathers us in spite of our differences, even though outside of communion in Christ we may have no reason to associate with each other.

Thanks for the fantastic article. I have been struggling with this since our last church opened a new building and the coffee bar is the most prominent feature to all visitors. When church looks the same as Starbucks, have we missed something? Shouldn't the home of God's people be a different kind of light to the lost? I love your congregation's creative way of transforming communion to help build community.

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Hello. I guess I've decided to read this article because I haven't gone for sacramental communion in a church for a few months, but have been enjoying stopping in to Starbuck's locations for a coffee once a week. I took it to heart when I heard a priest warn his large, casual, sometimes impersonal congregation not to let communion become too "routine." For some it seems to be mostly a social tie anyway.

There are some things I've been thinking through, and dropping in for a cup of coffee and occasional scone, observing others and taking silent notes on "life," is sometimes a peaceful scenario for that. Other days, nothing but a pew in a prayer chapel will do. Mostly stopping in for a cup of coffee is just to have some coffee, and people shouldn't read judgmental interpretations into such a harmless activity.

When thinking about this discussion, one fact that comes to mind is that, every church or monastery giftshop I've ever visited sells coffee mugs! Some places have their parish, mission, or monastery name on them. Other cups have little scripture sayings glazed on them.

We believe the sacraments impart something that cannot be received any place else. That is most often true, though that may be dependant on the atmosphere people have created. I've gone up for communion and received it from someone wearing a T-Shirt advertising their country club. Is that really going to make me holier or better secure me with a guardian angel 24/7 moreso than having coffee amidst others who reflect a subtle agape-love in their countenance, and continually remembering God in mine?

If you want people to get serious about the sacraments, time to enforce the way people approach them.

The coffee mug may not be able to replace the chalice, but if God is truly omnipresent, it is possible to sip one's coffee with implicit reverent love of God in your heart.

If one isn't in a monastery, isn't that partly what the sacrament is supposed to instill: the grace of God to go out into the world and be strong?

When I'm ready, I'll go back for communion.
But I'm not going to go up while feeling any doubts, wondering what's taking God so long to end the war, or what's the point when it didn't prevent the priest scandals in the media, etc.

To stop in for a coffee doesn't mean that one has forgotten God or is a "prodigal child." God has merely expanded my interests.

Charmaine

Posted by Charmaine at August 30, 2010

Hello. I guess I decided to read this article because I haven't gone for sacramental communion in a church for a few months, but have been stopping in to Starbuck's locations for an enjoyable cup of coffee once a week. I took it to heart when I heard a priest warn his large, sometimes impersonal congregation not to let communion become too "routine." For some it seems to be more of a social event anyway.

There are some things I've been thinking through, and dropping in for a cup of coffee and occasional scone, observing others and taking silent notes on "life," is sometimes a peaceful scenario for that. Other afternoons, nothing but a pew in a prayer chapel will do. Mostly stopping in for a cup of coffee is just to have some coffee, and people shouldn't add their judgmental interpretations into such a harmless activity.

There have been days a secular ecumenical environment has seemed more loving and peaceful than the sanctuary. Maybe because the people present have different "calls" and after imbibing the teachings and discerning their gifts, God has set them free.

When thinking about this discussion, one fact that comes to mind is every church or monastery giftshop I've ever visited sells coffee mugs! Some places have their parish, mission, or monastery name printed on them. Other cups have little scripture sayings glazed or engraved on the side.

We are taught that the sacraments impart something that cannot be received any place else. That may be most often true, though this could be dependant on the atmosphere the people have created. I've gone up for communion and received it from someone wearing a T-Shirt advertising their country club. Is that really going to make me holier or better secure me with a guardian angel 24/7 moreso than having coffee amidst others who reflect a subtle agape-love in their countenance, and continually being grateful to God in mine?

The coffee mug may not be able to replace the chalice, but if God is truly omnipresent, it is possible to sip one's beverage with implicit reverent love of God in your heart.

If one isn't in a monastery, isn't that partly what the sacrament is supposed to instill: the grace of God to go out into the world and be spiritually strong?

When I'm ready, I'll go back for communion.
But I'm not going to go up while feeling any doubts, wondering what's taking God so long to work out solutions for whatever, why hasn't going to church improved my family relations, or what's the point to the sacrament when decades of communion didn't prevent the priest scandals in the media, etc.

Jesus said, "Do this in memory of Me." He also said, "Your faith has made you whole."

To stop in for a coffee doesn't mean that one has forgotten God or that they are a "prodigal child." God has merely expanded my interests.

Charmaine

Dang this little windo w, it

There is something true beyond my comprehension, Christ is truly present in the Catholic Eucharist. He continues to form me and transform me. I pray that one day all have the opportunity, while living, to meet Christ body, blood, soul and divinity. Peace.

I am having a hard time finding the link between the coffee bar, communion, and community? Communion is clearly-by Scripture-inherently a paradox-both a private (examine yourself) and a public-whenever you are together. What is not debateable is that it is a commandment for His church. However I have been in a lot of churches that have communion on a regular basis and no community what so ever. I honestly believe community is occurs when a group of people are growing together in Jesus, serving together, living together, and sharing together. A church with 20, 000 members may have a lot of little communities within that are more of a community than a small church where people are isolated and not involved together. Size and adherence to communion have nothing to do with community.

I live in northern Washington state, and saw a sign in my small town advertising a new church that said, "We like coffee, too." No joke.