I am a member of my congregation’s altar guild.  We are the people who tend to the “front” of the church.  We change the paraments (for us it’s the altar and lectern coverings) according to the season). We make sure the eternal flame, which is typically a candle hanging in a candle holder from the wall, is replaced weekly so the flame is always lit.  We place the fresh flowers on the altar.  We replenish the water in the baptismal font.  We make a special effort to decorate the sanctuary on festival days such as Easter and Christmas.  And, most Sundays, we prepare the elements of bread and wine to be distributed to the congregation during Holy Communion.

Different churches have different variations of the bread that is used.  Some use communion wafers, the plain, tasteless discs that are purchased through church supply distributors.  Others use actual bread – and in my somewhat limited experience, they range from pita bread cut up into smaller pieces (my current church) all the way to King’s Hawaiian bread in a church close to the bakery’s home in Torrance, CA!  Some churches prefer to stick to unleavened bread of some kind.  It is not dictated anywhere in scripture what sort of bread we are to use for Holy Communion.  And, thanks to COVID, we have inherited what is affectionately known as the “communable” – an all-in-one sealed plastic container which contains a small, non-gluten wafer and a bit of grape juice, which the communicant can self-administer.

For the wine, there is generally a choice of actual wine and grape juice.  At my church, we take the wine and the bread via “intinction”, which involves the communicant dipping their own piece of bread into either the chalice of wine or grape juice.  In former times, my church had trays of small, individual glass cups which needed to be filled in advance of the service, and afterwards, washed.  That was a lot of “dishes”!  My other congregation used disposable plastic cups years ago, but being ever more ecologically sensitive, I’m not sure how many congregations continue to use them. 

The altar guild is responsible for making sure the elements are on the altar before the service starts.  Sometimes we do most of the preparations on the Saturday before the service.  There is a set of linens we use to place the elements on, we cover the goblets of wine/juice with covers called “palls”, and place a chalice cloth covering all the elements to be blessed and used during communion. 

When I first moved to California and was attending St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, we had a communion rail that separated the chancel from the sanctuary.  This had padding so that communicants could kneel to receive the elements.  Some Lutheran churches have a communion rail; others do not.  My church used to have a communion rail (you can see the vestiges of it in the floor near the chancel steps), but it was removed.  We receive communion while standing.

The elements of bread and wine are blessed by the pastor during the Words of Institution (see my blog post on 7/25/2023).  If the pastor is away, and we do not have an ordained substitute pastor – often we have lay preachers who fill in when our pastor is away – we do not have a full communion service, but instead we observe the Service of the Word.  It is much like the communion service, but without the communion part! 

Because the elements have been blessed, they are, in our eyes they are made holy and are to be treated with respect and reverence.  Wine or grape juice which has not been consumed during communion is either drunk by the pastor and/or assisting minister, or it is disposed of directly into the ground.  It is never put into a regular sink, which is connected to a sewer system.  Some churches have a piscina, a basin that drains directly to the ground.  Extra bread leftover is saved and given to a congregation member or pastor to be eaten later – again, it is not thrown in the trash. 

Holy Communion is one of the two sacraments Lutherans observe, the other being Holy Baptism.  I am always grateful to be able to receive communion in community with my fellow believers!

May grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.  Amen.