People have wondered why Zion is looking to share Holy Communion more often. A simple answer is found in the foundational documents for the Lutheran Church where it reads, "In our churches Mass (worship with Holy Communion) is celebrated every Sunday and on other festivals, when the sacrament is offered to those who wish it." While Luther intended to bring reform and change within the whole church, he clearly did not intended to change the historic practice of over 1500 years of celebrating Holy Communion each Lord's Day as the Church gathered in worship. Luther did not simply want to continue this practice because "they had always done it this way." Luther wants to share this holy meal because he sees in it nourishment for the soul, nourishment for the spirit. In a real sense, Holy Communion is too special not to share more often.

In another time I will talk about the historical reasons why the Lutheran Church in North America got away from the practice of celebrating the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day. For the moment, however, let me say that those of us who desire a more frequent celebration of Holy Communion do so because we long to receive frequently our Lord's gift of Himself to us, His very Body and Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. For us, the specialness of this Holy Meal comes not in how few times we share it, but in the meal itself. What could be more special than taking our Lord's Body and Blood to strengthen us in our journey through the wilderness of this world? I can think of nothing.

I hope that this helps you understand part of why some have asked that Zion join the church's ancient practice of sharing Holy Communion more frequently. I will be writing more about this in the future. You can also join with me as we talk about basic Lutheran teachings and practices when I run the Lutheranism 101 course on Thursday evenings in from October 18th to November 15th.

In Christ's service,