What is communion!

​from Pr. Manda
Two years ago, Scott approached me to talk about how to prepare his daughters to receive communion for the first time. Even though we welcome all people, regardless of age, to receive  holy communion at CGS, in his family they do things differently. It’s been my pleasure to work with them over the past years and I am overjoyed that this month, Harper and Violet will receive what they have helped to prepare and distribute a few times in the past. Here is what they wanted to share with you on this special occasion for their family:
 
Harper
Communion (Also known as the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist) is a time at church when we all receive bread and wine to symbolize Jesus’s body and blood. But why do we do that?
Jesus created the tradition of communion at the last supper where he told his followers to use bread and wine to remember the sacrifice he was going to make while he died on the cross. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Now, every time we gather together to receive communion, we get a chance to recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
The tradition of communion consists of several elements (bread, linen, etc). 30 minutes to an hour before church begins, 1 – 3 volunteers prepare communion in the sacristy. The volunteers prepare by pouring the wine (or grape juice) into the flagon and small cups. They also prepare by placing the bread and wafers onto the bread plate and putting wafers into the pax box. Next, the volunteers bring these things into the nave and placed onto the altar.
In the past few months me and my sister have been learning all about why we take communion and how we prepare for it. Every Sunday we would come to church early and help set up communion. The people there helping us taught us how to set up the altar, prepare the bread and wine, and taught us why we should take communion. We also talked to Pastor Manda several times to help our understanding of communion further. Additionally, we interviewed our grandparents and a few people that go to our church about why we should take communion. Now, thanks to all of them, me and my sister have a better understanding of how and why we take communion.
Violet
I’d like to tell you a bit about what I have been working on for about the past year. Pastor Manda and I have been working on learning more about church and why we take Communion. From my personal journey and experience, I’ve have learned so much about Communion and why we take it. From what I have learned, Communion is taken to represent all of the sacrifices Jesus made for us and to commemorate him collectively through out everyone, no matter what age, gender or race. Communion is taken to commemorate the Eucharist and its meaning. It is taken to respect, talk to, and show your love and appreciation to God. I have learned so much about God, I’ve interviewed people to realize the whole meaning and simply just learned how to set up the altar. I’d like to thank Pastor Manda for taking time to teach me about God, and you all for being such a great church community.

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