Now That We Have an Official Statement, So What?

Presented by Gayle Carlton Felton at "This Holy Mystery: Teaching the Sacrament—Improving Our Practice," which was held April 26-28, 2005, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The "so what?" question is always an important one. Indeed, I think that it should be asked at the end of every sermon preached and every lesson taught. Certainly it is properly considered here at the point when the General Conference has approved This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion as the church's official interpretive and teaching document on the sacrament. So what? Will the document make any difference in the life of United Methodism? How can we contribute to making it meaningful and influential? Why should we?

The composition of This Holy Mystery is a part of the process of liturgical revival that has been going on in United Methodism, and in most Christian churches, for the last several decades. By the 1950s, most Methodists saw infant baptism as largely a service of parental dedication. Similarly, Holy Communion was almost exclusively viewed as a memorial service, a remembrance of the sacrificial death of Christ. Both understandings emphasized the human actions involved in the service and gave little attention to the sacramental action of God. As early as the beginning of the 1960s, official Methodist records reveal concern about this loss of sacramental appreciation. Some attempts at recovery were made in the 1964 hymnal. In the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal, this revitalization of sacramental understanding received rich expression in the new rituals for baptism and Holy Communion.

It soon became apparent that the church needed to do more than simply revise its rituals if United Methodist people were to apprehend and appreciate the sacraments with renewed vitality. The same General Conference (1988) which approved the new hymnal called for a study of baptism with the goal of producing a teaching and interpretive statement for the denomination. This process culminated in 1996 with the adoption of By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism. Interest immediately began to be expressed in similar work on Holy Communion. This was authorized by the 2000 General Conference and in 2004 This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion was approved as an official resource.

The committees which produced these two documents (and I who was privileged to be the principal writer of both) worked with the intent of clarifying some of the existing confusion about United Methodist beliefs and practices. We wanted to make it plain that — contrary to some popular misconceptions — United Methodism does have coherent theological positions and that the sacraments have prominent roles in our conception of how God works through the church for the salvation of human beings. Yes, we are a diverse denomination and we do allow room for a diversity of theological views. Wesleyanism has never been a confessional or creedal tradition; Methodists have never been required to subscribe to a set of theological propositions. But this freedom for a plurality of interpretations does not mean that United Methodism lacks doctrinal content. United Methodist people need to know what the church teaches and what our distinctives are as compared to other denominations. Our sacramental understanding and practice constitute a significant part of this Wesleyan identity.

Without doubt, some of the lack of clarity with which we contend is the result of ineffective training of clergy and insufficient teaching of laity. The seminaries and course of study schools which educate our pastors have an obligation to assure that those who will be clergy leaders in United Methodism are imbued with United Methodist theological understandings. This requires careful attention to both instruction and formation. When persons who are being educated for ministry are from other denominational backgrounds and/or are educated in non-United Methodist schools, efforts need to be even more intense. Boards of ordained ministry and other evaluative agencies bear heavy responsibility to ascertain that candidates for ordination are called and prepared for United Methodist ministry, not simply for ministry in the some part of the Christian church. For such agencies to do this effectively, those who have the authority to make decisions about the qualifications of candidates must themselves be deeply grounded in the teachings and practices of our church. I recently learned of a situation in which an annual conference (which shall remain nameless!) required a candidate for elder's orders to write a paper "proving" that Wesley practiced an open table at Holy Communion. This was somewhat difficult for the candidate since all the primary and secondary sources that the candidate could locate showed that this assertion was simply not true! But in order to be ordained, the candidate had to and did write a paper "proving" this fallacy. Ludicrous!

Many pastors do not spend the necessary time and effort in educating their laity about the beliefs and practices of the church. And even if they try, pastors who do not know themselves what our church teaches are not in a position to teach their laity appropriately. Neither are they able to ensure that laity are being correctly instructed in Sunday school or similar settings. I cringe when I hear, over and over, accounts of pastors and Sunday school teachers in United Methodist congregations telling their people that baptism should be delayed until children "are old enough to decide for themselves" or that Holy Communion "just reminds us of the Last Supper." The fact is that United Methodism may not have clear, authoritative statements about everything, but it does now have such statements about sacramental theology and practice.

Let me hasten to say that I am not speaking here of "loyalty tests" or legalism. One of the first decisions made by both the Committee to Study Baptism and the Committee to Study Holy Communion was that the results of our work was not to have binding legal force. Nobody is interested in adding to the list of chargeable offenses! We must respect the right to disagree and to strive for changes which might be thought necessary. That is why these documents appear in The Book of Resolutions rather than in The Book of Discipline. They are not intended to be barriers or weapons; they are pathways and directions.

So, how then can This Holy Mystery best serve the church? It can, and does, provide some content and clarity to what is means to be a United Methodist Christian disciple. It provides some of the answers that our people are looking for — not rules as to how things must be done, but guides as to how some things can most meaningfully be done. It stipulates not so much what we have to believe, but suggests what are our most authentic understandings.

Please let me assure you that there is a hunger among our people for such content and clarity about Holy Communion. In 1999, I conducted an informal survey for the Discipleship Ministries, attempting to gauge interest in and need for further work on Holy Communion. Strong support was expressed for a resource similar to By Water and the Spirit. That was not surprising, but what was startling were the more detailed comments of respondents. Let me quote from my report to the board about the salient points of consensus which emerged:

• There is a strong sense of the importance of Holy Communion in the life of the church.
• There is at least an equally strong sense of the absence of any meaningful understanding of Eucharistic theology and practice ... .
• United Methodists expressed enthusiasm for any potential guidance from the Discipleship Ministries. Needs cited include authoritative interpretation, in addition to resources and opportunities for teaching and learning.
• Both clergy and laity recognized a crucial need for better education of clergy in sacramental theology and practice. There were claims of widespread lack of appreciation and understanding on the part of clergy ... .
• The above concern for better education of clergy was coupled with a call for accountability. Bishops, district superintendents, and other annual conference authorities were urged to hold pastors accountable for their sacramental theology, practice, and teaching.
• Laypersons feel a deep need for Eucharistic spirituality based upon fuller understanding and more meaningful practice. They are frankly resentful of the lack of leadership which they are receiving in this area ... .

I believe that clearer understanding and richer experiences of the sacraments will result in revitalization of our church. In order to recover our vitality, we must recover our identity and our mission. Many United Methodists are confused about who we are and what we should be about. John Wesley was clear. He believed that authentic Christianity involved a blend of sacramental liturgical worship with revivalistic evangelism; neither could flourish without the other. We are often guilty of ripping the two apart and of claiming that one or the other is authentic Wesleyanism. We have a deep need to comprehend the place of the sacraments in the whole lifelong journey of salvation. Individually and as a church, we desperately need more of God's grace. Wesley maintained that Holy Communion is " the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God" (Sermon 26: "Sermon upon the Lord's Supper," 11).

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

"Now That We Have an Official Statement, So What?" Copyright © 2005 Gayle C. Felton. Used by permission.

Dr. Felton served as a member of the Holy Communion Study Committee and acted as editor of the paper. She wrote the commentary and study outlines that accompany the paper in the official study version, This Holy Mystery, published by The Upper Room/Discipleship Resources.