The main Sunday service each week is the Parish Eucharist. ‘Eucharist’ derives from the
Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’. It has different names in other churches such as Holy Communion, the Lord’s
Supper or the Mass.
The Eucharist means different things to different people but at its most basic, Holy
Eucharist is the physical re-enactment of Christ’s Last Supper with his apostles on the night before his arrest and
crucifixion. But symbolically, it represents much more: the sharing of the gifts of God, the continued presence of Christ
in our midst, a sacred meal to which we are all invited, a source of grace.
At the Last Supper Jesus took
bread and broke it and shared it with his disciples. Then he took a cup of wine, blessed it and shared that with them also.
And this is what we do today (and in fact what churches have done all over the world for the last 2000 years or so) –
we take bread (in the form of a small wafer) and a sip of wine from a special cup called a ‘chalice’. We believe
that in doing this we share in the death and resurrection of Christ.
The early part of the service
consists of hymns, a psalm (usually sung or chanted), bible readings and prayers. The Gospel reading (about the actions and
words of Jesus as recorded in one of the four Gospels) is usually read by the Priest from the centre of the nave aisle to
symbolise that the words of Jesus belong in the midst of the people. Following that there is usually a short sermon and then
prayers of intercession when we pray for the work of the church and for the affairs of the world. Particularly we pray for
people who are sick or in any other need, and for those who have died recently.
After this we are invited
to stand to share the peace with each other. This is a simple handshake with the people immediately around us as we share
with each other the Peace of Christ.
We then move on to the main part of the service, the
Eucharist. Here the Priest and assistants move to the high altar and the bread and wine are taken there from the back of church
to symbolise the offering from the people which is to be made holy then given back to them at the Communion itself.
The altar and the vessels used during the Communion are blessed, often by using incense (a sweetly scented
smoke). Then the priest recites the words of the Eucharist and blesses the bread and wine as Jesus did at the Last Supper
using the words that He ordained to be used.
After the choir have received their
Communion, the congregation are invited to come to the Altar rail to receive theirs. At Christ Church we invite all who feel
the need to share Communion – it is not just limited to regular members of the church. The Sidesmen will show people
when it is their turn to go forward – this is done simply to avoid too many people moving around all at the same time.
Once at the Altar rail most people kneel but it is perfectly in order to stand if that is preferred.
Some people
may feel that they aren’t yet ready to receive Communion but we invite those to come forward anyway to receive a blessing
from the Priest. In order to do this just kneel as if taking Communion but keep your head bowed so that the Priest knows that
you would like a blessing…….and please make sure that babies and children are brought for a blessing. If a person
isn’t able to come to the Altar rail because of disability or infirmity, then please indicate this to one of the Churchwardens
or Sidesmen and they will ask the Priest to bring Communion to them in the pew where they are sitting.
