Communion Upper Room is a series of gatherings for children and their parents to learn about communion. It’s held over several weeks leading up to Easter, culminating in an interactive Maundy Thursday (day before Good Friday) worship service. There the Upper Room kids take communion with the rest of the community. The kids will have helped to prepare the bread and juice, as well several experiential stations that tell the story behind communion.

Communion is receieved every first Sunday of the month at Hope, as part of our worship service. The bread and grape juice symbolize Christ’s body broken: the blood and body of Christ who died for us. If you are a Christ follower, we encourage you to partake.

Children not yet old enough to take communion are welcome to join their parents at the back centre communion station where grapes and crackers are available for kids. Upper Room is a program for kids to learn about communion when parents feel their child is ready (see right).

Why Communion?

Eating is a fact of life.  Eating together is not.  Increasingly people in our society eat alone.  Sadly, the once familiar practice of being together over a meal is fading away. God’s people on the other hand are held together by a meal  - a meal called Communion, the Lord’s Table or Eucharist (Eucharist means ‘thanksgiving’).  From the time of Jesus until now Communion has held together and shaped the very identity of Christ’s disciples. 

What is the meaning of this meal for us today?  What happens as we gather at the Lord’s Table?  How does Communion shape us to be more like Christ’s disciples in deeper and more profound ways?  The following attempts to answer some of these questions.

Celebrating Communion together is a simple event yet full of multiple meanings and themes.  For example as we gather to eat in remembrance of Christ we remember his death, we renew our commitment to Him and to each other, we seek to love Christ more, we look forward to his coming again, we ask for his forgiveness and seek to forgive, we are fed by his Spirit, and we give thanks for what he has done.

At the heart of our Communion celebration however, is an encounter with Jesus himself.  We believe, though we can’t fully explain, that as we gather at the Communion table, as we share the elements of bread and juice, we are being invited by Jesus Christ to meet with him, to know and love him deeper, and to recommit ourselves to him again.

Communion is the central act or ritual that  has guided and sustained God’s people since the time of Jesus.  We take this symbolic act seriously because of how it defines who we are; how it connects us with Christ’s disciples everywhere; how it maintains our relationship with Christ, and how it is used by Christ’s Spirit to nourish our soul.

When we read the words of Jesus to eat in remembrance of him, when we examine our lives, when we give thanks to Christ for his sacrificial death, we are not so much celebrating a past event as we are encountering Christ again through the Spirit.  Communion is a holy encounter with Christ.

Communion is a holy meal but it is also a powerful meal - a meal that shapes us to be God’s distinct society, a society that lives by God’s values of faith, hope, and love. There are many ways that Communion shapes us a congregation but consider the following shaping influences of the meal we call Communion.

  • In a culture that celebrates power and competition Communion shapes the church to be a culture that celebrates equality and unity. 

  • In a culture that glories in the individual Communion shapes the church to be a culture that highlights the communal dimension of life with God, and calls forth a commitment to the common good.

  • In a culture that attempts to convince people that the good life lies in self-fulfillment, Communion shapes the church to be a culture that states unequivocally that life comes through self-denial and sacrifice.

  • In a culture that prefers revenge and litigation Communion shapes the church to be a culture that acknowledges failure as a reality and forgiveness as the gift we receive and offer to each other, which over time bears the fruit of love.  We forgive as we have been forgiven.

  • In a culture that is afraid of the future and ignorant of the past Communion shapes the church to be a culture that embraces history and looks forward to the future with great hope.  We live by the story of God and let it shape our perspectives.

  • In a culture that encourages individuals to create their own spiritual smorgasbord in an attempt to find meaning Communion shapes the church to be a culture that shuns idolatry and fosters a single-hearted devotion to the one Lord and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

  • In a culture that teaches people the skill of self-sufficiency Communion shapes the church to be a culture that encourages dependency on Christ through his Spirit.

  • In a culture where economic independence is a way of life Communion shapes the church to be a culture that willingly shares economic resources so that everyone within the body of Christ is cared for.

  • In a culture and maybe especially in a church culture where the emphasis is placed on our personal efforts to bring about personal transformation Communion shapes the church to be a culture that reminds its people that God is always the one who initiates and sustains the transformation of his people.

Preparing for Communion

At Hope Community we celebrate Communion the first Sunday of the month and at several additional times during the year.  Below are some suggestions to help us prepare and celebrate Communion with integrity.

  • Pray for others and yourself that we might meet Christ anew as we eat and drink together.

  • Pray that Christ’s Spirit will be present as we come to the table.

  • Pray to Christ seeking his forgiveness for our sins.

  • As we eat remember Christ’s life and death.

  • Reflect on your love for your sisters and brothers here at Hope Community.  Remember that this meal is about the depth of Christ’s love for us and our love for each other.  Recommit yourself to be a person of grace and love.

  • As we eat remember to give thanks to God for Jesus Christ.

  • Renew your commitment to Jesus.

  • As we eat look forward with great hope to the time when Christ will come again and we will sit down with him and all his disciples at his table in his kingdom.

  • As we leave the Communion service think about how we can share what we have with others, so that everyone’s needs are met.