Purpose-- The GA in 2000 adopted a recommendation "That the Board of Christian Education be directed to develop instructional materials to assist presbyterial Committees on the Ministry in training designated elders in the meaning and practice of the Lord's Supper." (Minutes of the GA 2000, p. 232)

Goals for this Training Design:

• To gain understanding of the new constitutional amendments relating to elders serving communion;
• To identify the role of the presbyterial Committee on the Ministry for equipping elders to serve as communicant celebrants and recommending persons for authorization by presbytery;
• To experience a design for training elders to serve as communion celebrants;
• To develop a strategy of implementation of this program in the respective presbyteries.

 

Invite Interpretation at this point, taking each item on the Worksheet and having persons answer the questions:

-- Who is eligible to serve communion according to these two amendments? (Elder who is active during time of appointment?--- the amendment does not state whether or not the ordained elder should be in an active status during the year for which appointed, authorized by presbytery for a period of one year, functions under the authority of an ordained minister, and is trained in serving as a communion celebrant, but only for his/her congregation.)

-- Who does the appointment of the elder? (Session with presbytery's authorization)

-- What is the task of the presbytery's Committee on the Ministry? (Raise awareness to congregations of the presbytery of the new amendments, devise and publicize a strategy whereby sessions can appoint an elder and recommend authorization from presbytery, train elders so appointed to fulfill their tasks, recommend an ordain minister under whose authority each elder will administer the sacraments, devise a process for renewal of authorization where appropriate.)

-- What does it mean for the appointed elder to serve "under the authority of an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian Minister selected by presbytery?" (It is important to not challenge the authority of authorized elders to serve as communion celebrants by elevating the this part of the amendment.  An authority could be the presbyterially appointed moderator of the session or some other ordained minister of presbytery.  Authority may simply mean a mentor-type relationship where the minister serves as the guide, support, sponsor and encourager to the elder.  Prayer would be an important part of this support.  In addition, the minister might serve to answer questions or make contact to see how the administration of the sacrament on a particular Sunday went.)

What Do Committees on the Ministry Need in Order to Implement this Directive of the GA? As a committee make a list of questions that a Committee needs to answer in order to fulfill the GA directive and the constitution.

STRATEGIES: Invite the group to identify the steps the committees on the ministry need to take to implement their responsibilities as assigned by the constitutional amendments. List these on the Strategies Worksheet (click to access). (Make sure the following are included.
1. Inform the sessions of the presbytery of the new amendments, describing what privileges they present for the congregation without the services of an ordained minister..

2. Develop a process whereby congregations can submit recommendations of an elder to administer communion.

3. Offer training to the appointed elders.

4. Recommend elders for authorization by presbyteries.

5. Developing a process whereby sessions can receive authorization during the interval between presbytery meetings. (E.g., asking presbytery at each meeting to name a commission for the purpose of authorizing trained elders selected by sessions to serve as communion celebrants and to name ordained ministers under whose authority the respective elders are to function.)

    6. Monitoring the elders and the ministers who give oversight to their ministry in serving as communion celebrants.
 

Model Forms.  Click on the appropriate items to access a form for recommending presbytery authorize the appointment of an elder and a sample letter information congregations about the amendments. Sample Letter
and Recommendation to Presbytery.

TRAINING OF ELDERS. Enclosed below is a 2 ½ -hour design to train and equip appointed elders to serve as communion celebrants. Committees may train elders one at a time as requested at their respective church or in clusters, gathering several elders together for training.  The following design takes very seriously the importance of the role of elders in administering The Lord's Supper. In fact, such service is done only in the context of worship.  The design includes planning a worship service in which Communion is celebrated.  Elders should use the tools provided for planning selectively, using the elements that are common to the congregation's worship experience.
 

DESIGN FOR TRAINING ELDER COMMUNION CELEBRANTS
 

SUPPLIES. Newsprint or flip charts and felt tip markers, masking tape, Bibles (ask each elder to bring their own Bible to the event), TV, VCR, movie "Places in the Heart" rented from local video rental store, worksheets and other handouts, bread and juice, communion ware (chalice or trays with cups, etc.).
 

10 minutes. Welcome and introductions. Welcome persons to the meeting and invite them to take one minute each to share something about who they are and their leadership roles in the church. Note: they are to use the full 60 seconds; keep and call time. If the group is small you obviously will not need a great deal of time. After everyone has shared, invite persons to recall an experience of celebrating the Lord's Supper that was especially meaningful for them and why. After a few moments of silence, invite anyone who wishes to share. As leader, you are to share an experience also. In fact, you may begin in order to provide an example for the others.

5 minutes. Purpose. Share the purpose for this meeting today:

• To identify the role of elders in serving as communion celebrants as reflected in the Constitution;
• To explore the meaning of the Sacrament of The Lord's Supper;
• To experience a model for planning worship which includes Holy Communion;
• To plan strategies for preparing for and serving the people through The Lord's Supper;
• To develop leadership skills through the practice of actually serving as communion celebrant;
• To affirm the holy calling we have from God.

10 minutes. Movie:. (Secure a copy of the movie "Places in the Heart" from the local video store. Cue it at the very closing scene.  A car is driving down the street as the camera pans to a church building.  The hymn "Blessed Assurance" is playing. The scene moves to the preacher, scripture reading, choir special, the Lord's Supper.  It's approximately 4 minutes in length and goes to the conclusion of the movie with a fade out on a young Black man and the "resurrected" sheriff taking communion.) Describe the movie "Places in the Heart" starring Sally Fields. 

In Robert Benton's Places in the Heart, a disparate and desperate group of Texans slowly become a family as they struggle toward a goal during the hard days of the Depression. Edna is widowed suddenly when her sheriff husband is accidentally shot by a drunken black teenager. The boy is lynched by her neighbors, and she is left with nothing but their mortgaged farm to make a living for herself and her young son and daughter, Frank and Possum. She accepts the offer of help from a black handyman, Moze, and against the advice of the banker holding the mortgage, decides to raise a crop of cotton. The banker forces her to take in his blind, unwanted brother-in-law, Will, as a boarder. Hostile at first, Will slowly begins to fit into the family, especially after a destructive tornado blows through the farm. He realizes how precious the children, whom he had regarded as nuisances, really are. At the crucial harvesttime, he does what he can to help out, as does Edna's sister Margaret and her husband, Wayne. The latter are going through their own crisis, Margaret discovering that Wayne was having an affair with the wife of their best friend. She allows the repentant Wayne to stay with her but angrily tells him he is never to touch her again.

At harvesttime, Edna and all join together to become the first to finish gathering the crop and delivering it to the local cotton gin. As Moze had counseled Edna, there is a hefty bonus for being first; the cash prize is just enough for her to save the farm and have enough to start another round of planting. Through tremendous effort they succeed, and Moze even manages to guide her through the process of negotiating a favorable price with the unscrupulous owner of the cotton gin. But Moze pays a price, for the Klan beats him and runs him out of town. But he leaves with the blessings of Edna, who assures him that no one else could have taken such an unlikely piece of land and unskilled workers and completed the harvest on time.

The last scene in the film takes place in the little clapboard church of the village. The choir finishes a song, and the pastor reads from First Corinthians, chapter 13. We see the estranged Wayne and Margaret sitting together, and yet not really together, until the truth of the apostle Paul's words apparently affects her. The camera shows us a close-up of her hand reaching over and clasping his. A smile of relief appears on Wayne's face. Caught up in Paul's beautiful words, Margaret allows the miracle of forgiveness to melt the cold, hostile wall she had erected between them.

Then we hear the strains of the hymn "In the Garden." The choir sings the words, which form the background to the pastor's voice. He is repeating again the familiar Words of Institution, also from Paul, that begin the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The trays of bread and wine are then brought to the congregation and each person takes them and passes the elements to a neighbor. Everyone is there, including the cruel town banker and the mill owner. Then we are brought up short -- Moze is present! But he has left town, and even if he hadn't, he wouldn't dare come to a white church in 1930s Texas! The elements continue their passage around the congregation. The children receive them. Then Edna-- she passes it to her husband! But he is dead! He passes it to the black teenager, also dead! The scene fades to black, with the hymn coming to its conclusion.

What is happening? We "see" in this scene that closes the film an even greater miracle than Margaret's forgiving Wayne-- a miracle of faith. -- From Praying the Movies by Edward McNulty
 

A SHORTER VERSION: The movie is cast in the depression days in Texas. The focus is around a small town. As the life in this community is opened, signs of brokenness begin to be revealed. The sheriff is accidentally killed by a young Black man, who is lynched by the Ku Klux Klan. The sheriff's widow, Edna, is left with two small children-- Frank and Possum, a mortgage, and a run-down farm. A Black man, Moze, and a blind white man, Will, who boards at the farm forced to do so by his banker brother-in-law, help the widow plant and work her cotton acreage. They are both beaten by the white-hooded Klansmen; Moze it run out of town. A family is torn apart by a scandalous affair between a man and his best friend's wife. A tornado ravages the community and homes are leveled to the ground. We pick up the movie at the end as the man and his adulterous wife are headed out of town as the camera pans toward a church. The hymn reveals something about the movie-- "This is my story, this is my song...." This story includes the adulterous man, Wayne and his wife, Margaret, and daughter who are on the front pew. The crowd is sparse.... until the Lord's Supper is celebrated and something unusual happens. The empty pews come to life with people; the persons whose lives had been broken are together again; the dead are mysteriously back alive again-- the sheriff sits beside the young Black man who killed him and who was later lynched; they are sitting just a pew away from the members of the Klu Klux Klan who are sitting near the blind boarder and the Black farm hand whom they had beaten and run out of town. They all are drinking from the same cup and eating from the same broken bread. Let's drop in on the scene. (Show video....)
 

Questions. After viewing the scene invite persons to discuss these questions:

• What does this mysterious scene say to us about the sacrament of Holy Communion? 
• Some persons have expressed resentment that the banker and mill owner are included in the Communion service. "They don't deserve to be there!" How would you reply to this statement? Do any of us "deserve" to receive the sacrament? On what basis are we included?
• How is the sacrament a means of grace?

20 minutes. The Meaning of the Sacraments. Distribute worksheet and divide into groups of 2 or 3 persons each (or it may be done individually depending on the number of participants.). Access by clicking Meaning of the Sacraments.Groups are to discuss each question. Each person is to complete the worksheet listening to the group discussion. The purpose here is that everyone will have their own completed sheet reflecting what they hear the group saying. Instruct groups (or individuals) to complete the worksheet. Allow 15 minutes for the tasks and engage the total group in briefly discussing the articles and the responses to them. 

5 minutes. Sacraments and Worship. Remind elders of the following article of the Confession of Faith:

5.14 Christian worship includes proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, celebrating the sacraments, reading and hearing the scriptures, praying, singing, and committing life and resources to God. This common worship of the church validates and sustains such other worship as the church finds meaningful for celebrating the living presence of God." 

Inform the elders that Holy Communion is celebrated in the context of worship, not as something isolated and apart from the community of faith. As such, their role in administering the sacrament applies to the context of worship. If worship is planned and led by some other person (e.g., a stated supply or other unordained minister), then that person may plan the worship experience and the elder will be responsible only for the administering of The Lord's Supper. However, if the elder alone is responsible, he/she must plan for communion in the context of a worship experience for the congregation. Even if the elder is called upon to serve the sacrament to a homebound member, the administration of the sacrament is connected to the community of faith at worship the day the sacrament is celebrated. Taking it to other members is always in the context of an extension of the congregation's worship.

Invite persons to brainstorm responses to the question: What is worship? (If you were to define the meaning of the word worship, what would you say?) List responses on newsprint. After making the list you may wish to call attention to the following words about worship: "Worship is what makes the church the church.... At its root, worship is response.... Authentic worship happens because God creates us for and calls us to worship.... Directed to God, our worship is a gift in response to who God is.... When the community of faith gathers for worship, we do so to lose ourselves in wonder and praise. We gather in recognition that we are creatures formed by a loving Creator. We gather to ascribe to God the honor due God's name. In other words, we gather to delight in the God who delights in us. Praise is the heart of all Christian worship." ("Worship: the Tradition and the Present" by John Leggett, The Cumberland Presbyterian, July 200, pages 18-19.) Distribute copies of "Excerpts from the Directory of Worship of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church" (access by clicking Directory Excerpts) and call attention to the sections dealing with worship and worship leadership. They can study this at home later, but tell them that after a 15 minute break they are to come back with this excerpt in hand for the next activity.

15 minutes. Break

30 minutes. Planning for Worship and Celebrating The Lord's Supper. Inform the elders that the next steps will be actually exploring the various elements in worship and then planning a worship experience that will include their serving as communion celebrants. Ask person to retrieve their copy of "Excerpts from the Directory for Worship of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church." Invite persons to turn to page 3 and work individually to read the section titled "Suggested Orders For Corporate Worship." Tell them to highlight each element and underline the key sentence or phrase describing each section. A lot of the work for planning will be done either individually or with a partner. Allow sufficient time for persons to complete the reading that runs from pages 3 through 5. 

1. Distribute the Planning for Worship Work Sheet (access by clicking Planning Work Sheet) and Resources for Worship (access by clicking Worship Resources)as well as Bibles for each person. Invite persons to work alone or with a partner to complete the plans on the worksheet. Inform persons that opportunity will be provided for using the plans in practicing leading worship and serving as communion celebrants later in our meeting.

2. After sufficient time for planning, instruct persons to focus on the part about celebrating the Lord's Supper. Tell them that some preparatory decisions must be made before the worship experience.

a. Preparation for the Sacrament-- Invite persons to identify what preparations are needed before the time for worship comes. List these on newsprint. Be sure the following is included: elements purchased/made and provided, communion ware ready, mode of serving determined and elders assisting are given instructions, worship including scriptures and prayers are identified.

b. Modes of Serving. What ways of serving the Lord's Supper have you personally experienced? What is the typical method of serving and receiving the sacrament in your congregation?

Inform elders that in methods of administering the sacrament, persons can come up to the table to receive the elements or they can be served in their seats/pews and then serving one another. There are at least 3 ways of distributing the element (Illustrate these as you do them): Intinction-- Persons are invited to take a piece of bread from a loaf and dip it into a common chalice and then eat it. Common Cup-- Persons receive a piece of bread/wafer/etc. and eat it and then drink from a common cup. Traditional Tray and Cups-- person receive the bread/wafer/etc, eat it and then drink from a small, individual cup. Tell them that they will need to determine the mode and instruct the persons who are to help serve. These persons are to be elders.

40 minutes. Celebrating the Sacrament. Have available bread and juice and communion ware-- chalice and communion tray with glasses, etc. Go into a sanctuary if one is available. Invite elders to help set up the communion table and prepare the elements. (They may actually get someone else to do this in their congregations, but for the practice, invite them to do it during this "training.") Invite members to determine the mode they will use and the assistance needed. Provide time for them to enlist help from other elders for serving.
 

Gather close to the communion table. Have elders to bring their completed Planning for Worship worksheet with them. As a group go through the "Order of Worship" with different elders contributing a particular element of the worship. For example, elder A may read his/her "Call to Worship," elder B might do the opening prayer, elder C might do the scripture, etc. When you reach the celebration of the sacrament, provide an opportunity for each elder to actually do the administering of the Lord's Supper. This will take some time, depending on the number of elders, but it is necessary "practice" to learn how to serve as communion celebrant.NOTE: You may wish to demonstrate the breaking and lifting of bread and the pouring and lifting of the cup before elders are invited to do it.
 

5 minutes. QUESTIONS. Following the practice of serving communion, respond to questions from the participants. Make sure that their questions are answered. If you cannot do it, help find the answer. Revisit the newsprint or sheets of paper where you posted the needs the elders brought with them to this event. Make sure that all these needs, insofar as possible, have been addressed. Call attention to resources that might be helpful to them. 
 

CLOSING. Gather in a circle, join hands, and pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for having CALLED these elders through their church sessions to serve as communion celebrants. Invite God's blessings on them as they go forth to fulfill the purpose for which they have been called. Pray for wisdom and courage as they plan and provide leadership for worship in which The Lord's Supper is celebrated.
 

If you wish, you might provide a certificate of training, indicating the date on which the elders completed preparation to serve as communion celebrants.