REFLECTIONS

On the first Sunday in October, we join with churches across denominations, across the country, and across the globe to observe World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday was started in 1934 by Hugh Thomson Kerr, who was the minister of Shadyside Presbyterian Church, in Pittsburg Pennsylvania. It was an attempt to bring churches together in a service of Christian unity—in which everyone might receive both inspiration and information, and above all, to know how important the Church of Jesus Christ is, and how each congregation is interconnected with another. (Wikipedia)

World Communion Sunday is a celebration of the gift of Christ’s blood and body, as well as the celebration of the body that is the universal church. On World Communion Sunday, we are reminded that the church is made up of those who follow Jesus -- a church without borders. 

The United Methodist Church also celebrates Word Communion Sunday by taking up one of the six church-wide Special Sunday offerings. The gifts received on World Communion Sunday carry out the mission of the church by supporting and equipping lay and clergy leaders with training and education through the World Communion Scholars, Ethnic Scholarship Program, and Ethnic In-service Training Program. As we celebrate World Communion Sunday together, may our prayer truly be that we are made in God’s Spirit to be “one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to the world.”

Blessings,

Doug