Holy Communion

• Catholic viewpoint

  Holy communion is a sacrament, it is a ceremony that impacts spiritual grace
• Most protestant's viewpoint

  Communion is an ordinance. It is both a ceremony and a instruction from Jesus
• Quaker/Salvation Army viewpoint

  Don't celebrate Holy Communion. Christians should express faith through living good Christian lives, not through symbolic worship services
• Catholics often call communion 'Mass'
• Orthodox Churches often call communion the 'Divine Liturgy'
• Church of England call communion 'Eucharist'
• Baptist churches call communion 'The Lords Supper'
• Pentecostal churches focus more on the Holy Spirit, and call communion 'The Breaking of the Bread'
• A sacrament in the Catholic Church has three aspects - The ritual actions and words, The physical substance, The understanding and intention of the person performing it
• Holy Communion in the Catholic church is always celebrated by an ordained priest, and only those who are baptised can receive it
• What happens in a Catholic church when they are celebrating Holy communion

  After a section of the service is devoted to reading Bible texts, bread and wine are brought to the altar. During the prayer of Consecration, the priest will make symbolic actions. The bread is then broken. Catholics believe the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. For Catholics, receiving consecrated bread and wine is a deeply spiritual action. Any leftovers are to remain holy, and our consumed by the priest
• Holy communion in the Baptist church

  For Baptists, the focus is mainly on the Bible. The status of Holy communion is therefore less important. Baptists celebrate Holy communion because Jesus said 'Do this in rememberance of me' and therefore it is an ordiance.
• What Holy communion looks like in a Baptist Church

  In a service that includes the Lord's Supper, there are Bible readings coupled with sermons. A table is then prepared with cubes of bread and cups of grape juice/wine. The minister then pre-reads the the words of Jesus from Paul's account of the Last Supper. The members of the Church then pass around the bread and wine, serving one another. There is no restriction to who can receive Holy communion, and the bread and wine do not undergo any spiritual change
• Bread and wine of the passover meal has revised symbolism in the Holy communion
• Passover - the unleavened bread represents there was no time for the bread to prove and rise before fleeing Egypt and the wine represents God's restored relationship with Israel bringing the people out of exile
• The wine is not just the restoration of Israel, but atonement
• In a Catholic church, mass is said daily, and many will attend around 3 times a week
• Holy communion is believed to have a special effect on the soul. In Catholicism, many people use it to mark important stages of life e.g. marriage and death