O thou who hast broken the Bread of Life for a hungry world, and satisfied its thirst with the Water of Life; grant to us, as we remember thee, all that makes life worthwhile. . . . We bless thee for this table around which the whole wide world may sit down and feel the Brotherhood, as from thy hand it receives the token of thy oneness with the human race. . . . from a prayer by Charles Seldon, written for World Communion Sunday, in the book "Worship Resources"
This week, as the first Sunday in October approaches, a Salt Lake woman named Una Stevenson remembers her mother-in-law and how World Communion Sunday meant so much to her back in the 1950s. Says Stevenson, "We were still recovering from the war. I think World Communion Sunday was just a link with the rest of the world, that's why it was important to her."
Stevenson belonged to the Church of England in her native Great Britain. She was Church of England, that is, until she met and married Archie Stevenson, whose family was Presbyterian from Scotland.
And now, even though her mother-in-law died more than 30 years ago, Stevenson thinks about her on World Communion Sunday. She remembers sitting with the older woman in a big brick church on a busy road in the huge industrial city of Manchester, remembers how the Stevenson family felt kinship with the entire family of Christ on that day.
Stevenson recalls the pastor saying, "Well, in Japan they took communion about 9 hours ago." There was something so symbolic about it, she says, to think of a people taking communion, in one country after another, waves of worshippers "across the whole world, starting where the sun rises first and ending where the sun sets last."
The tradition of World Communion Sunday began during the Great Depression, when a group of ministers met to discuss the spiritual needs of their congregations. They decided to try to hold a worldwide communion the following year, in the fall, to coincide with Armistice Day, Nov. 11. They chose the symbolism quite consciously: What better way to honor peace than with a worldwide celebration of the Lord's table? What better way to offer hope, in a dark time?
World Communion Sunday is still observed by Protestants and Catholics in every country, only now it is held on the first Sunday in October. Not only is it a time for Christian denominations to put aside differences, it is a time for Christians to pray for all of God's children, Christian or not.
In most churches this Sunday, prayers for peace will accompany the communion service. In some churches, since fall also coincides with the harvest season, there will be special offerings for those who are hungry.
At First Congregational Church, in Salt Lake City, the Rev. Arthur P. Ritter says they will pray this Sunday "as we do every Sunday, lately, for peace and justice and understanding in the world." They'll use a variety of breads for this special communion, he says. "Different breads, different textures representing the different people of the world, to remind us. . . . "
At the Cathedral of the Madeleine, in Salt Lake City, the fact that it is World Communion Sunday will be mentioned in all the Masses. Local Catholics who seek peace in their own lives, and in the world, need look no further than the rosary, said Pope John Paul II, last week. He said he is preparing a document to promote the use of the rosary in families and communities on every continent. According to Catholic News Service, the pope will "entrust the cause of peace to this revival of the rosary prayer."
Local Lutherans are invited to meditate on a proposal from the Latin American Lutheran churches, according to a statement by Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. Noko said, "The Latin American churches invite us to reflect on a culture of discrimination (e.g. HIV/AIDS), a culture of violence (e.g. displacement of people) and a culture of exclusion (e.g. economic globalization)."
Meanwhile, at Una Stevenson's church, Cottonwood Presbyterian, the congregation will collect an offering for peace on Oct. 6. Some of what they collect will go back to the Presbyterian Church USA for use in the denomination's international peacemaking efforts. One fourth of the offering will be kept by the Cottonwood members to use as the congregation sees fit. And this year, Stevenson says, they've already decided their portion of the offering will go to the Gandhi Alliance for Peace, for land-mine removal in Herat, in western Afghanistan.
E-mail: susan@desnews.com