I hope I don’t seem to be dragging this out. It’s just that so many times we criticize yet offer no suggestions for improvement. So let me write one more post on this subject.

Were I in charge of the Lord’s Supper, it would admittedly take a good bit more time. While I think it would ideally be taken while sitting around tables, I think it can still be done in an auditorium.

The first thing I would want is a time for reconciliation. Have a time of prayer where people are urged to move around and pray with one another. One of the main purposes would be to offer a time for people to put the idea of Matthew 5:23-24 into practice. There should be no disputes between brothers that remain unresolved.

I would also encourage a full explanation of what is going to be done, maybe not every time, but frequently. We have visitors among us that don’t know what is expected of them, we have children that need to be learning, we have adults that need to be reminded.

I would have tables around the auditorium. The ideal would be to have one of the deacons at each table, accompanied by their families. Small groups would gather around the table, greet one another, pray together and share the bread and the wine. Families would be encouraged to stay together. Talk should be encouraged, speaking of the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice, the significance of the covenant and the reality of our unity. After a “reasonable” amount of time (this calls for sensitivity), a central song leader could begin a song, the groups would finish their time together, and the whole assembly would continue their time of encouragement and praise.

I would even be satisfied if this were only done once a month, with other ways of taking the supper being used the other weeks. My high school choir director used to say, “A rut is just a grave with both ends knocked out.” I know that C.S. Lewis argued otherwise, but I think that variety is good in our worship. We too easily turn routine into tradition and tradition into law.

Those are my views. I would love to hear the ideas of others.

So far I’ve had five suggestions on improving our participation at the table of the Lord:

Emphasize the good news of the gospel

Take our time with the Lord’s Supper

Re-establish the table atmosphere of the Lord’s Supper

Think about the way we distribute the Lord’s Supper

Think about using something other than pasteurized grape juice

Let me conclude this section of suggestions with a few final thoughts:

The emphasis on the Lord’s table needs to be communion, fellowship. It’s a bonding time between Christians and between us and our Lord.

We need to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the Supper a more meaningful experience, even if it’s not practical nor popular.

We need to remove all legalistic thinking from the communion experience and see it as an opportunity to draw closer to our Lord. It’s not about punching a time card; it’s a relationship opportunity.

Worship experiences in the Bible are often teaching experiences as well. We need to regularly explain to our visitors, our children and even ourselves just what it is we’re doing. That includes explaining who is and who is not expected to participate, how the elements will be distributed, etc.

I’d like to hear your suggestions. I’ll offer one more post after this where I describe what I would like to see in the Lord’s Supper.

My fourth suggestion: take a long, hard look at how we distribute the Lord’s Supper. As I said before, everything is set up around efficiency. It almost seems to say “How quickly can we be done with this obligatory rite?” I especially get frustrated with the pressure I feel to quickly down my sip of Welch’s to keep the flow. For a while I was keeping the plastic cup and throwing it away later, just so that I wouldn’t have to speed sip it.

[In Cuba, the church in Matanzas has started 14 congregations in the last two years. Their lead evangelist was asking what to do about the problem of trying to get enough communion trays. Since communion trays are neither in the Bible nor available in Cuba, I told him that I thought they should find another solution. A Cuban solution. I later thought about it and thought that I would encourage each person in these house churches to bring their own cup; I’ll be interested to see what their solution is.]

Personally, I’d like to see tables set up around the auditorium where people would go and get the bread and wine. Older members who could not easily get up and get their own would be served by others; that would bring a new meaning to “serving communion.”

Even if we stick to the trays, let’s consider encouraging people to take their time in eating the bread. And let’s pass the trays for the cups twice, once for people to take a cup, another to put back. Or go back to the old system of people leaving their cups in the backs of the pews.

Whatever we do, let’s keep the Lord’s Supper from resembling a competitive eating event. Slow it down!