The Eurcharist

Introduction

From the time of the last supper to the present day, there are many different styles of Eucharistic ritual; Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and various Protestant rites to name a few. This essay tracks the journey of the Eucharist of Church in Wales whilst acknowledging that the current rite will shifts as time goes on. The Eucharist in the Church has experienced many changes over the centuries, such as Great Schism, the Reformation and the disestablishment of Church in Wales. The primary focus of this essay is to document the trajectory of the Eucharist of Church in Wales its shared history with other Christian denominations. The liturgy of the Eucharist of Church in Wales and how it compares with the history of our country is reviewed. It is acknowledged that there are many paths in this, however this essay is only able to cover the Eucharist of the Church in Wales.

Charting the history of the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is known by many names; Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper, Mass, Holy Communion to name but a few. But where does it originate? The Eucharistic rite as we see, hear and feel it today does not appear in scripture the way we currently understand it. In the Bible we see four accounts of Eucharistic practice: Corinthians 11 v23-35, Luke 22 v19-20, Mark 14 v22-25 and Matthew 28 v26-29.

These four New Testament accounts form the basis Eucharistic tradition. The verses quoted in Corinthians and Luke come from the beginnings Eucharistic practices of Antioch whereas the verses from Mark and Matthew come from a Palestinian practices (LaVerdiere, 1996) (Page 30).

From New Testament, sources we know that Jesus was crucified around the Passover but there are discrepancies. The synoptic gospels state that Jesus held the Last Supper as a Passover meal (Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7) (NIV). This contrasts with John’s Gospel, which says Just before the Passover festival John 13:1 (NIV). (Bradshaw, 2001)(page 99). We must draw into context that the way Jewish people measured time, with no accurate time pieces available variances in accounts will occur. Either way, we understand the broad timing of his death to be around the same time as the Jewish Passover. A major celebration in the Jewish calendar.

In Judaism around this time, Passover was celebrated with food – and still is. Food was an important part of Jewish tradition (Day & Taylor, 2013) (Page 135) and thus formed an important part of Jesus’ ministry. Mark 2.16 (NIV) describes how important this is. As the Eucharistic celebration developed, there are three periods that had influence over the Eucharist as we know it today. (Day & Taylor, 2013) (page 136-137)

One – 4^th & 5^th Century which established the texts of the Eucharistic Prayer

Two – Middle ages which was shaped by religious controversy and attempting to become theologically precise.

Three – 20^th Century which was a time of radical reform towards pastoral rather that theological thinking.  Later in the 20^th Century the laity became more involved and took communion with greater frequency (Bradshaw & Johnson, 2012)(Page 301).

Bradshaw states in his book Companion to Common Worship Vol 1 (Bradshaw, 2001)(Page 98) that early Judaism was slightly different to most religions at the time, in that, every meal was a religious event. He continues and develops this thought in another book, Early Christian Worship, and draws this Judaic tradition towards the practices of the early Christian Church. Thus, Christianity has a shared history with Jewish practices (Bradshaw, 2010)(Page 56). He says that a developing thought over the centuries was that Bread and Wine was not so much a meal as spiritual food. As Eucharistic tradition grew, Christians began to develop theologies and then doctrines around Bread and Wine as a Eucharistic meal. God’s presence at the Eucharist becomes a matter for some debate among the various Christian denominations. Jeanes explains the differences (Day & Taylor, 2013) (Pages 137 to 139). He states that Roman Catholics believe in Transubstantiation or Real Presence which in the elements (Bread and Wine) become the real Blood and Flesh of Christ; Protestants believe in Consubstantiation or Memorialism in which Christ is present during the communion but more symbolically; lastly Anglicanism which takes the middle ground, all of these different viewpoints can be supported by scripture. For example, the Roman Catholic rite is based around John 6:53-56 (NIV)

A Roman Catholic belief in the Real Presence is that in that bread and wine become the real blood and body of Christ. During the reformation, Protestants rejected  the Real Presence doctrine and alternatives emerged. Protestant theologians such as the Swiss reformer Zwingli argues that Christ is not present in the Eucharist (McGrath, 2017) (page 48). This doctrinal theology is based on the idea that the Bread and Wine are symbolic of God’s grace and bases these arguments around Jesus’ quote “do this in remembrance of me” Luke 22.19. However today, the Greek word Anamnesis rather than memorialism is a better term, as in the Eucharist, we are not merely recalling the events of the Lord’s Supper but the Church’s proclamation of God’s acts. Christ asks us to recall this event to remind us of our reconciliation with God. (Gittoes, 2008)(page 14)

Rowan Williams is quoted by Jeanes ‘The Christian Eucharist provides a central interpretative model… our food and drink is given up into the hands of Jesus so that we become his guests and receive our life from him’ (Day & Taylor, 2013)(Page 138).

Whilst different traditions have differences in their beliefs about the presence of Christ, none deny his presence, and all have their liturgy based in scripture.

Paul Avis in a Church Drawing Near, argues that when a congregation is taking part in the eucharistic liturgy, it is dramatizing its faith in a corporate way. He goes on to say that the function of liturgy with its rituals lends shape to life in terms of meaning.  This enables us to embody our beliefs. (Avis, 2003) (Page 143)

As a result of the English Reformation, the vernacular became common place. However, the Roman Catholic Church remained Latin. The Council of Trent, in the 16^th Century, did not address this. It was finally addressed in the Second Vatican council in 1969 (Bradshaw & Johnson, 2012)(page 309). This was over three hundred years after The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had parted ways.

Bradshaw argues (Bradshaw & Johnson, 2012)(page 296) Eucharist liturgies for many denominations have seemingly reached a convergence. Liturgical reforms such as18^th Century Enlightenment along with the 19^th Century Romanticism & Restoration mentality and the Movements such as the Oxford Movement, High Church Cambridge Movement, beginnings of Benedictine Liturgical movement and Germany & North American Lutheran Confessional Revival have all sort to return to source material and have contributed to an interdenominational convergence.

Current Liturgy.

As the Church in Wales celebrates its centenary year, it acknowledges a shared history with the Church of England from 1534 to 1920. It must also acknowledge a further shared history Roman Catholic Church. This in itself is a 4^th century continuation of early Christian communities. The early Christians would have been Jewish and many of the early practices around the Eucharist stem from these Judaic traditions.

The formation of Church of England was one of many reformations that occurred in Europe in the 16^th Century. The Anglican church, as it is now known, was formed after Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. However,  it is believed that Henry VIII was a staunch Roman Catholic as he was opposed to any major changes to the liturgy (Bradshaw, 2001) (Page 8). Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (1533 to 1555), is credited with writing the Book of Common Prayer in 1549 (Bradshaw, 2001)(Page9). After Henry VIII’s death the religious and political landscapes were intertwined and alternated between Protestantism and Catholicism.

Since the disestablishment in 1920, the Church in Wales has been free to follow its own liturgical path. This is published on its website (Anon., 2019). However, until 1966, when a series of trial liturgies were introduced, The Church in Wales followed the Church of England Liturgy. The current Eucharist - ‘An order for Holy Eucharist 2004’ - supersedes ‘The order for Holy Eucharist 1984’ (HE84) which was an attempt to move away from the Alternative Service Book of 1980 produced by the Church of England. We can see that the HE84 was largely based on the 1662 Church of England Rite with a modernisation of language. (Thomas, et al., 2004)(page 4)

Dix was an important Anglican theologian during the 20^th Century in his book The Shape of Liturgy 1945, Bradshaw states that his work was influential in supplying a historical philosophy redeveloping the Church of England rite in 1965 (Bradshaw, 2001)(Page 106)

Historical Development

How the current liturgy relates to historical developments is important. This is because it demonstrates how parts of the Eucharist are dropped and changes are made. One example would the at Book of Common prayer published in 1549, which was published in English (Bradshaw, 2001) (page 8-9) rather than Latin this was a definite development for the Anglican church. Other developments have been that in 1538 it was required for incumbents to recite the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments to the people, in order that they may learn them, and until they had learned them they were unable to be admitted into Communion. The liturgy of the Church in Wales continues to develop. These changes are usually as a result of synods and councils.

Conclusion

There are different ways of celebrating the Eucharist. None can be called incorrect as scripture simply points the way and is not prescriptive. We depend on scholars and theologians, such as those listed in the text, to interpret scripture and from this the Eucharist of today has developed. As theologians strive for more meaning, many look for source materials as a result we see those divergences begin to converge throughout recent history.

The historical and political landscape plays an important part when considering divergences. For example, The Church of England may have been established if Pope Clement VII had granted Henry VIII an annulment of his marriage. History shows Henry VIII was a staunch Roman Catholic, which is why much of the Anglican liturgy would be easily recognisable to the average Catholic. Politically, for the Church in Wales, the failure to appoint a Welsh speaking Bishop at a time of Welsh national resurgence together with the growth of the nonconformist movement led to the establishment of the Church in Wales in 1920. Since 1920, the Church in Wales as a disestablished church, has remained in Communion with the Anglican Church.

At a sermon for a confirmation service, Archbishop John Davies (Brecon Cathedral 2017) said “If you lift the alter cloth, you will find an ordinary table; God takes ordinary things and uses them to do the extraordinary”. I believe this can also apply to the Eucharist. The wine and bread begin as ordinary things, but God uses the Clergy make them extraordinary. This is further highlighted in Irvine’s work, where he states that liturgical symbols are not just visual aids for setting the mood but point to an intrinsic power that is contained in their use. (Irvine, 2007)(Page 18). Clearly, both history and politics have directly impacted on how the Eucharist is currently celebrated in the Church in Wales.

Bibliography

Avis, P., 2003. A Church Drawing Near. London: Continuum Books.

Bradshaw, P., 2001. Companion to Common Worship Vol 1. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Bradshaw, P. F., 2010. Early Christian Worship. second ed. Collegeville: Litugical Press.

Bradshaw, P. & Johnson, M., 2012. The Eucharistic Liturgies. London: SPCK.

Day, J. & Taylor, B. G., 2013. The Study of Liturgy and Worship. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press.

Gittoes, J., 2008. Anamnesis and the Eucharist: Contemporary Anglican Approaches. Abingdon : Routledge.

Irvine, C., 2007. The Use of Symbols in Worship. London: SPCK Publishing.

LaVerdiere, E., 1996. The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church. College Minnesota: The Liturgical Press.

McGrath, A., 2017. Christian Theology an Introduction. Sixth ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

Thomas, D. et al., 2004. Introducing the Holy Eucharist 2004, Cardiff: Church In Wales.

Anon., 2019. Church in Wales Liturgy. [Online]
Available at: https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/publications/liturgy/
[Accessed 18 December 2019].