Reform School

Yesterday, the last Sunday in October, was Reformation
Sunday.


The Protestant “Reformation” began over 500 years ago, in Western Europe, and was the product of not just one person, but many who believed that the dominant Roman Catholic Church had strayed from Scriptural truth in many of its practices.  One of the cool things that resulted from this period (which produced Presbyterians, among other denominations) was a Bible written in the language of the common parishioner.


The texts that make up our present Bible had originally been written in Greek or in Hebrew, and were later translated into Latin by the early Church, as the church spread to the European continent.  These were used in worship by clergy only - they were not available to the general public -and even if they had been, Latin could not have been read or understood by people whose native language was German, French, or English, etc.

Reform School- The Lord's Supper

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper   

The Lord’s Supper, also known as Communion or the Eucharist (from a Greek word meaning ‘grateful’) is one of only two sacraments observed by the Presbyterian Church - PC [USA]. But before we explore The Lord’s Supper, just what is a sacrament, and why does the church ‘observe’ them in the first place?

A sacrament has been described as ‘an outward sign of an inward grace.’  Donald McKim, in his book “Presbyterian Questions, Presbyterian Answers”, defines a sacrament as ‘God’s gracious gifts given by Jesus Christ to the church to establish and nurture faith.’ A sacrament is both a ‘sign’ of what Christ has already done for us, and a ‘seal’ of God’s covenant and authority in our lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Most Christian churches, if not all, recognize some type of sacrament in their worship service.   For Presbyterians, sacraments must 1) have been instituted by Christ and 2) be available to all people. That is why the PC [USA] does not consider marriage, for example, a sacrament: not all people are married, or will marry.

Sacraments are an integral part of the way Presbyterians come together to worship Christ.  In addition to prayer, confessing, preaching from Scripture, sharing our gifts, and singing praises to God, we also recognize God’s presence and Christ’s gift of grace to us in a special - yet ordinary -way:  a simple meal of bread and juice we call Communion. Baptism- to be explored in a separate post- is the other sacrament celebrated by the PC[USA].

Even with many eloquent definitions, sacraments are still, all-in-all, a bit of a mystery! Something wonderful happens beyond the common, physical act of eating bread and drinking juice or wine.  But it is here that Presbyterians part company with our Roman Catholic and Lutheran brothers and sisters.

As Pastor Sean Butler so eloquently explained in his August 5 sermon (click this link to listen) - different churches understand different things about what communion means, and what the actual elements that make up Communion represent.

Reform School

Reformed faith, Reformed Tradition, the Reformation...what the heck are we talking about??

For many people, the term ‘Reformed’, as it relates to religion, will bring to mind Martin Luther, the German monk who questioned certain teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church during the early 1500’s. Luther’s efforts came to be known as ‘the Reformation’.  He and others, such as Huldrych Zwingli, Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin, strongly believed that every church doctrine must have its source in Scripture (the Bible)- that all other means of understanding God must be subordinate to Scripture. [sola scriptura] One key understanding of this movement is that grace is a gift from God,[sola gratia] (we can’t earn it), and is available to all by faith alone [sola fide] (not by deeds or rites).  Luther also objected to the selling of indulgences, a practice which had regressed into professional pardoners selling the ‘remission of temporal punishment’ in order to fund building projects in Rome!

Reformers like Calvin (who greatly influenced those who would later form the Presbyterian Church) - agreed with Luther’s concerns about the authority of Scripture, but disagreed on other aspects of the church, including how to understand and practice communion, and how to structure the governance of the church. Both Lutherans and Presbyterians, however, are confessing churches; in the PC [USA], we include the Book of Confessions along with our Book of Order as the basis for our Constitution.   *if you’ve never read through the Book of Confessions, you can now do so on-line. Just click the link.

Being part of the Reformed Tradition (being Protestant) does not mean that every Reformed denomination shares identical views on theology. Presbyterians differ from Lutherans, who differ from Baptists, etc.   We will review some of these differences in upcoming posts. It is important to note that all major Christian traditions--both Protestant and Catholic -- do share a common understanding of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, as the Trinity.

God is love.

McKim, Donald K.  Presbyterian Beliefs. Louisville, KY:  Geneva press2003