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Jeanie McGowan's avatar

Growing up in a "closed communion" Baptist church, it took me awhile to figure out that communion should include anyone who chooses to partake of it, rather than be an exclusive kind of religious habit. One of the most moving communions I ever participated in was in London, UK at St. Paul's Cathedral when we were attending the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Birmingham, UK. Although I'm pretty sure the priests giving the wine and bread to participants only intended Church of England members to partake, we were bold enough to get in line with people from all around the world--some in their "native" dress. It was quite meaningful to share that with such a diverse community of believers. Considering the many thoughts we humans have as we participate in something like this--a ritual of faith--I suspect that none of our hearts are pure and far too often we take it for granted without much thought at all. I believe God must smile at us and our attitudes, our condemnation of others and our own lack of worthiness and understanding. May those who allow abortion issues to be a litmus test also see the taking of life for crimes or for hoping to find a new way of life in a country that has always promised so much as distressing as abortion. I pray for this president as his faith urges him to continue to find more humane and just ways to "welcome the stranger."

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Jerry Cain's avatar

Your article made me chase a rabbit that I do not understand and probably do not want to catch. What did Paul mean when he wrote about eating this bread and drinking this cup "in an unworthy manner" in I Corinthians 11: 27-32? Is it the naughty boys sipping grape juice in the basement after church or is it trivializing the death of Jesus so that it has no standards? JBC

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