We celebrate Communion the first Sunday of the month. Please have your own personal elements of Communion ready if you are worshipping with us via our livestream.

One of the major trends in the Protestant church today is the increasing ecumenical nature of our individual churches. You’re just as likely to find someone next to you who grew up Methodist as you are someone who was raised in the Episcopal Church or as a Presbyterian. People are looking for churches where they feel welcomed, where they connect with the members of the community, the preaching, and the music, and churches where they can get involved. Denominations increasingly matter less than a general theological bent and great service opportunities. As this changes, there’s a need for our churches to be ecumenically welcoming, and one way we can do that is through Communion. Some churches choose to only offer grape juice during communion, which grew out of prohibition and later a concern for the care of alcoholics in the community. Other churches, such as the Episcopal  Church, will only accept wine as an appropriate option for communion–no juice is offered–out of their understanding of fealty to scripture.

At Emmanuel, worshipers are invited to gather in a semicircle around the back of the sanctuary after the bread is broken and the cup is poured. Servers bring trays with bread and grape juice to the group. Prepackaged single-serve juice and bread cups which were used during COVID are also passed around the circle for those who prefer them.

All who come to worship on the first Sunday of the month are welcome to share in the Communion liturgy with us.