Hello;

This is a question about sharing the Lord's Supper.


We have a missionary conference. We come together to talk and pray. Someone also wants to share the Lord's Supper.

Is this permissible?

Most missionaries are ordained elder-qualified men sent out from their home churches. Therefore, when we have a field conference is it okay to hold the Supper? We are not a formalized church, but does that matter, and where's the proof?

Likewise, at pastor's meetings, assemblies of pastors is it okay to share the Supper, since elder-qualified men will administer it?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

As long it is done in the context of a worship service and the elements are properly handled and guarded then I do not see anything wrong with it.

__________________
Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church, Sewickley, PA
Student of Theology Pittsburgh Theological Seminary & Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her.”-- J.H. Thornwell

I have no proof, but I wouldn't partake. The Lord's Supper is a function of the church, and should be administered in the church, not during church related activities.

__________________
Matthew
Free Grace
BC, CA

"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said. "
-Peter Drucker

No, I disagree, it must be also accompanied by the preached Word.

So how come it is administered at Presbytery meetings and the General Assembly in most presby denoms?

__________________
Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

At the last General Synod I attended, the Lord's Supper was served but a sermon was also preached in the context of a worship service.

In general, the Lord's supper shouldn't be administered apart from the preached Word. I know pastors who sometimes administer the Lord's supper to shut-ins who cannot attend church, but they always bring along at least another elder and hold a brief worship time which includes the preaching of the gospel.

__________________
Steve Kellam
Ruling Elder
Redeemer ARP Church (Blacksburg, VA)
Husband to Holly and father to Bethany, Susannah, and Charlotte (and one on the way!)
“Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life” -- Jonathan Edwards

Benjamin,

You do realize that your previous position on closed communion makes this impossible, don't you?

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Because a Presbytery is a church. It is the church that holds my membership.

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Why? Always?


There will be preaching.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Always because the sacrament has no power apart from the Word.

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

So Presbyterians could but congregationalists could not?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

I suppose congregationalists could do so in the same way that they have some form of connectionalism but pretend that they are not Presbyterians.

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

As long it is done in the context of a worship service and the elements are properly handled and guarded then I do not see anything wrong with it.

__________________
Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church, Sewickley, PA
Student of Theology Pittsburgh Theological Seminary & Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her.”-- J.H. Thornwell

"Connectionalism" is a new word for me.

Can you explain all this deeper to me.

Would connectionalism allow parachurches as well and missionary societies and free associations with Christians for good purposes even if outside a local church?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Good enough. That answers my question... tanks.

__________________
Brad
PCA Member
Virginia

Pro 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

I think that's why Elders in Presbyterian churches cannot be tried in a regular church court, as their membership is technically in their Presbytery rather than in the congregation.

You know, when you separate the Lord's Table from Passover by administering it more than once per year, it ends up requiring all sorts of complex rules to police it. When you leave the template, it kinds of floats all over the place and has to be pinned down somehow. Or so it seems to me.

__________________
Tim Vaughan, 48 years old, member Redeemer OPC, Santa Maria CA.

Much of our understanding in regard to this will depend on our take on verses such as Acts 2:42, 46. What is "breaking bread" in this context? If we agree that it is the Lord's Supper, then it is permissible wherever God's people are gathered in the name of Christ. If not, then other factors must be considered.

__________________
For the Glory of our King,
Joe Johnson
Slave of Christ, husband, father, Preacherboy at Cornerstone Community Church, Escanaba, MI. and TMS graduate. Personal website - SoundLife.org

I do not know, and I do not say, that a person cannot believe in Revelation and in evolution, too, for a man may believe that which is infinitely wise and also that which is only asinine. ~ CHS

Not to get off topic (but hey I started this thread) it seems the NT folks celebrated more than once per year right?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

But the Supper is an ordinance of the church and occurs in a church context.

Yet sent out missionaries are usually like ordained extra-ecclesiastical elders. Can elders and pastors freely associate for a preacher's meeting or mission conference and partake?

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Yep and some of us even think weekly.

__________________
Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
Fairmount ARP Church, Sewickley, PA
Student of Theology Pittsburgh Theological Seminary & Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“If the Church could be aroused to a deeper sense of the glory that awaits her, she would enter with a warmer spirit into the struggles that are before her.”-- J.H. Thornwell