Beginning April 24, the week after Easter, we will return to the practice of gathering for Holy Communion in person only. That means we will no longer invite people to receive holy communion at home across the internet. We know that there are some who will continue to worship from home because of health concerns, or difficulties with mobility. We will then offer to bring Communion to them in person.

Two years ago, we made emergency provisions for communion across the internet. As pastors, we felt it was more important to offer the grace of God in these extraordinary times, than it was to maintain the historic practice of the body of Christ, the community of believers, gathering in person for communion. We know that other congregations simply stopped the practice of communion until the church could meet again in person. We understand that the emergency provisions we offered at First Lutheran were simply that, an accommodation to extraordinary circumstances. Now those circumstances have become more manageable, so that it is possible to return to the long practice of gathering in person for communion, and bringing communion to individuals at home, who cannot gather in worship with others.

Why are we taking this step? Just as the physical elements are joined to the promises of God, so the experience of communion is embodied in the community that gathers for the meal together. It is above all the experience of a meal together, in person, that was foundational at the Last Supper and continued to be so in the life of the church. It isn’t simply that I receive the elements as an individual, but that I do so with others around the table, in community. We eat together.