LIFE AND WORK OF THE PASTOR – PASTORAL MINISTRY 7336

Fall 2020 – Eli Gutierrez

Lord’s Supper

What is the Lord’s Supper?

The Lord’s Supper is the Christian celebration of bread and wine in which the Christian
community remembers the life and work of Jesus Christ, particularly his sacrificial death. It was
a command of Jesus to celebrate this supper in memory of him. Every Christian can and should
participate in this celebration. Some churches restrict this celebration to those who have been
baptized. While there is no scriptural basis for this restriction, I think it is a practical way to
affirm that this is a celebration for the body of Christ. Those who have been baptized are those
who are part of the church; therefore, it makes sense that baptized people are celebrating the
Lord’s Supper. Paul’s discussion in 1 Corinthians on the Lord’s Supper shows that this is a
corporal ritual that reflect the unity of the Christian family. The bread symbolizes the body of
Christ and the wine his blood. These elements must be both present in the ceremony. However,
in some contexts it might be substitutions. In some contexts, bread is not available or it does not
represent what it represents in other cultures. In its original context, bread was the daily and main
source of alimentation. Thus, it might be replaced by another food that represent the main source
of alimentation for a specific culture. Also, wine might be replaced by another drink. In our
context, wine has some connotations that would be wise to avoid in congregational worship.
Therefore, grape juice is perfectly acceptable.

Worship outline
The Lord’s Supper is usually celebrated in the context of the church’s worship service. In my
home church, the Lord’s Supper takes place right after the sermon and as part of the conclusion.
It represents the focus of that service in particular. This service would be a very important one in
which there are special participations, for example of the choir. It takes several minutes but I do
not think that is a problem at all. I do not see why the church would want to spend less time
celebrating Christ’s life rather than more. Here a brief outline of one of these services.
 Invocation prayer
 Call to worship – 2 song
 Welcome
 Worship – 2 songs
 Prayer of intercession
 Sermon
 Lord’s prayer celebration
 Offering – 1 song
 Benediction

Ceremony
Here a brief outline of a Lord’s Supper celebration:
o Pastoral words – reading of 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
o Distribution of the bread – Special song
o Eating of the bread – pastoral words and prayer
o Distribution of the wine – Special song
o Drinking of the wine – pastoral words and prayer
o Special song – giving back of the cups
o Closing Pastoral words