wesleyan – Houghton STAR

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The above passage is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 27-29. To give a brief summary of this passage, St. Paul is writing to the Corinthians reprimanding them for things they’re doing wrong, one of which is communion.

I have attended a wide range of churches throughout the course of my life. This is not to say that I understand each and every one of their doctrines, but simply to say that I have had decent amount of exposure. I attended a Catholic school for a little over a decade; simultaneously I attended an Assemblies of God church, followed by a nondenominational church. Interspersed in all this was a Baptist church and getting into the Vineyard movement. For a few years I also joined a Mennonite congregation and now I finally—for the time being—settle in the Wesleyan Church. One thing that is constant in all these churches is the practice of communion, also known as Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the breaking of bread and the divine service, all referring to the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine in remembrance of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.

I have always been fascinated by how different churches conduct communion. Regardless of the church you attend, this practice is pretty much guaranteed to take place within the walls of a Christian institution. And of course as with any Christian practice, it varies from church to church. Some uphold the doctrine of transubstantiation whereby the bread and wine literally transform into the flesh and blood of Christ while others uphold the doctrine of Consubstantiation whereby the blood and body of Christ are present alongside the bread and wine which remain present—think of red hot iron, where fire is joined with iron yet both retain their distinct elements—and lastly (for the purpose of this editorial) we have the memorialists who take on a more simplistic approach and that is that the bread and wine symbolize and remind us of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf.

Not only do churches hold differing opinions on what exactly happens to the elements during communion, they also differ in how and to whom it is administered. Some churches I have attended reserved communion exclusively for members of their particular denomination, other churches request that only those that have been baptized by immersion partake in the Lord’s supper, and others allow everyone who sets foot in their church to partake, regardless of their affiliation, commitment, age, etc.

I would like to clarify that I by no means see myself as anything other than a layman. I have not studied the original text, nor have I had any training in biblical interpretation other than the basic introductory classes required by Houghton College. So I will not attempt to pick apart these doctrines. What I will say is that regardless of your stance, there is one common denominator amongst all these views: communion is a mystery. Whether you believe that there is a physical transformation occurring, a metaphysical change, or just plain remembering the death and resurrection, there is a component that cannot be explained in human terms and therefore we deem it to be sacred.

What St. Paul is reprimanding the Corinthians for is not a faulty belief regarding the practice of communion. He is getting after them for trivializing the practice. If I am honest with myself, I have to confess that I have never put much thought into what I was doing when communion was served. For kids it is nothing more than a mid-service snack, and unfortunately for many adults it isn’t much more either.

A few weeks ago during a Sunday morning service communion was served. I had not been feeling particularly well; I was not where I needed to be in my relationship with God and various people in my life. I knew there was a lot of sin in my life that had not been dealt with. As the pastor invited people to come receive the elements I noticed an array of people go up. The passage that I opened with struck me. If I were to get up and take these elements without examining myself I would be eating and drinking a judgment on myself because I would be trivializing what they represent.

Leaving aside the details of the various doctrines, we take communion for the purpose of commemorating the most sacred act, the death and resurrection of Christ. To go through these motions of eating the bread and drinking the wine without fully understanding their meaning is to in essence mock the sacrifice Christ made by trivializing this sacred act.

Though Houghton College professes Christian Wesleyan religious affiliation, many students enrolled at the school inevitably differ in denomination, tradition, or religion in general. Such differences serve to produce a conversation between contrasting beliefs and a resulting respect for others regardless of his or her religious tradition.

One such presence, differing from the Wesleyan denomination, is students affiliated with Roman Catholicism. Approximately 30 students currently enrolled at Houghton College this fall identified themselves as part of the Catholic religious tradition.

Kayleigh Gurney, Houghton freshman and Catholic, explained some of her experience as a Catholic student in a Protestant institution. Sometimes people will “talk about Roman Catholics as some completely outrageous religion,” she said, but for the most part people at Houghton prove understanding and accepting.

College often serves a time for exploration in a student’s beliefs or practices, an idea that may contribute to the accepting nature of the campus. Andrew Gibson, senior, though raised Catholic, takes the opportunity to attend a Protestant church while at Houghton. “Most of the backgrounds and views are the same,” he said, “so it’s a fairly easy transition to be Catholic at a Protestant school.”

Though students like Gibson participate in a different religious tradition, others continue to pursue the tradition they know. A family from Buffalo recognized the need for a ministry to provide a link between Catholic students at the college and a Catholic church. Consequentially, the family requested that Saint Patrick’s Catholic Parish in Fillmore initiate such a ministry.

Officially beginning in 2007 and initially aimed at engaging students affiliated with the Catholic tradition, the ministry surprisingly brought in equal numbers of Catholic and non-Catholic Houghton students from the start. The result, according to the ministry’s website, was a “dynamic, organic, and personal Campus Ministry,” in which Catholic students desiring a connection with a parish community and non-Catholic students interested in exploring the Catholic tradition might come together with a “mutual respect for each other” and their differing religious traditions.

Debra Fitzgerald, current campus minister to Catholic students at Houghton College along with her husband, Dan, first encountered the ministry through her children attending Houghton. When the previous campus minister left the position, Fitzgerald had been actively involved and the former minister subsequently recommended her to take over.

Through her experience in the ministry, Fitzgerald emphasized the importance of the church’s availability to college students interested or involved in the Catholic tradition. “We try to incorporate the students into the life of the parish,” she said, “so that they feel like they have a church home while they’re away at school.”

While the main focus of the ministry lies in providing transportation between Houghton and the Fillmore Parish every Sunday for Mass, on Holy Days, and on Saturdays for Confession, the ministry also provides access to other related events.

Consistently focusing first on the needs of the students, Fitzgerald proves attentive to their busy schedules and academic concerns. “We’re fulfilling the needs that the students have without piling things onto them,” she said.

As a result of such a focus, events such as Donut Hour on Sundays after Mass, a time when students eat donuts and drink coffee provided by the church while socializing with each other as well as local parish members, often promote a low-obligation atmosphere, while intentionally building relationships between the church and the students.

Fitzgerald encourages both Catholic and non-Catholic students to take advantage of the ministry, to produce even more conversations and relationships between different religious traditions. She believes there is more opportunity and understanding now than before, especially between Catholics and Protestants.

“Houghton has a very good atmosphere in terms of social morality and seriousness of study, as well as respect for the whole Christian tradition,” said Fitzgerald.