One in Ministry to All the World

World Communion Sunday is one of my favorite Sundays of the year, and this year especially it means a lot. Over the course of 2014, I've worshipped in the UMC in Massachusetts where I'm a a member, nearby Episcopal and Catholic churches, the UMC in the southern plains that I attended in high school, Aldersgate Methodist Church in Singapore, St. Margaret's Anglican Church in Budapest, and a UMC in Budapest. And tomorrow, on World Communion Sunday, I'll be at a church in Bratislava, Slovakia.

World Communion Sunday is a day for us to remember that all around the world, we are one Body of Christ, united around the table despite our differences (even our differences in beliefs about communion!). 

One bread, one Body,

One Lord of all, 

One cup of blessing which we bless

And we, though many 

Throughout the earth

We are one Body in this one Lord.

We partake of one loaf and one cup as ordained by the one Lord. We are united by the grace of this meal, by our proclamation of Christ's death.

Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,

We proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

This meal goes by many names: the Lord's Supper, reminding us whose table this is, or Eucharist, reminding us that this is a meal of thanksgiving. But for this Sunday, it is most appropriately communion. We do not come to the table alone; we do not take this journey of faith alone. We are part of a global community of faith. We are all the Church.

I am the Church,

You are the Church,

We are the Church together!

All who follow Jesus,

All around the world,

Yes, we're the Church together!

No matter what we believe about this meal, we go forth from the table changed, united, and commissioned to go into all the world and proclaim the good news.

"Lelked által tégy minket eggyé Krisztussal, eggyé egymással és eggyé az egész világ felé való szolgálatban."

("By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.")