Online Eucharist: Catechesis
*Rachel would like to thank Hannah Bowman for many of these ideas
Catechesis: religious instruction most commonly in preparation for Christian baptism or confirmation
Whether we notice it or not, God is always present and active in our lives and as such, there is always something new that we can learn about God. What might God be trying to say to us during this pandemic?
Very early into the pandemic I shared with Jamie that I felt God was shifting my understanding of the eucharist, but I wasn’t entirely sure how. As more time passed, some of those shifts became clearer – by early summer I came to believe that it was important for us to explore offering eucharist online – and some remain to be seen. I believe that it is through the practice of participating in online eucharist and in hearing the experiences of others in our congregation that I will come to form a fuller understanding of the sacrament. There are things that can only be understood by embodying them.
As we move towards beginning to offer this sacrament in a new way, we also felt that it would be very important to help provide a framework to help the community think through what it was we were doing together – a catechesis of some sort. That is why we have compiled this set of resources for you to draw on.
As such, rather than creating a traditional catechesis where we have set answers to share with newcomers, we are inviting our congregation into a process of theological reflection over the course of this experiment. Whenever possible we will provide theological frameworks to help people understand what we are doing but more importantly, we will provide questions for people to reflect on as we begin to share this new practice together.
It is important for us as individuals and as a congregation to reflect on what we are learning together, not only for ourselves, but in the hope that we will be able to share what we’re learning for the benefit of the church universal. As part of that we invite you to consider the following questions considering your experiences of participating in the eucharist both in person and online.
If you are willing, we’d also love it if you’d share some of all of this with us so that we can include your insights in future discussions and written pieces on the subject.
Questions to Consider
(Click here to download these in a document set up with some space for your thoughts)
In preparation for participating in an online eucharist:
What is your earliest memory of participating in a eucharist or communion service?
Do you have a memory of an experience of the eucharist that was particularly memorable? Was it joyful? Painful?
Why do you participate in eucharist? What about this practice is important to you?
At the beginning of the pandemic our Primate encouraged us to fast from the eucharist and feast on the Word. What have you noticed in this time?
As you think about participating in an online eucharist, what excites you? Intrigues you? Concerns you?
After you participate in an online eucharist (it would be helpful to answer these questions after your first experience, and then again after you have participated multiple times).
Thinking back on your experience, what did you notice?
Did anything stand out for you? (Either positive or negative?)
What questions (if any) do you have?