Malcolm Cox

Today a response to a message from a friend based on one of my recent Teaching Tips about communion. “Thank You” Govinda for your well considered thoughts and questions. I cannot address them all in today’s post, but I will pick out one point for discussion. “It’s been a long time as a church … that we have got onto our knees and focused on the cross… I feel the communion sometimes does not get the reverence it deserves.” My provocative question would be, “Is communion meant to be a time of reverence?” I have been re-reading and taking notes on this excellent book, “Early Christian worship: a basic introduction to ideas and practice” by Paul Bradshaw. He summarises the shifts and developments in practice and theology over the first four centuries. To answer my own question, I’ll make a few points. 1. Irreverence is a problem. Paul makes that point loud and clear, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.” (1 C