Category Archives: +The Breaking of Bread

Holy Communion

Traces of the Earliest Christian Liturgy

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Darrell Pursiful

It is universally agreed that the earliest forms of Christian worship were integrally related to the congregation’s communal meal or agape. This is certainly the case with the fullest description of worship from the New Testament (1 Cor 11-14), from … Continue reading →

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The Motherhood of Christ

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Darrell Pursiful

Mike Aquilina links to Catholic News Service article that makes mention of breastfeeding imagery associated with Holy Communion. (The article has apparently since been revised; I can’t find the specific wording immediately below in the article Mike links.) With respect … Continue reading →

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Review: The Mass of the Early Christians

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Darrell Pursiful

Let me state at the outset that I am jealous of Mike Aquilina for having produced The Mass of the Early Christians. It is the sort of book I wish I had written. (Actually, I pitched a similar idea to … Continue reading →

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Luther on Real Presence

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

Weekend Fisher summarizes Luther’s “odd argument for real presence” in the Eucharist, which builds on the idea of divine omnipresence. She writes, There is no such thing as “making God present.” There is welcoming God’s presence or not welcoming God’s … Continue reading →

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Shocking Innovations!

Posted on September 6, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

iMonk is piggy-backing on Jared Wilson’s 11 Innovations for Your Church by including his own “shocking agenda.” Here are a few of my own ideas: 23. Preach from the lectionary and read all the lessons every Sunday. 24. Integrate the … Continue reading →

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I'm Not Crossing the Tiber, but My Toes Are in the Thames

Posted on July 30, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

If you’ve been a Christian for the past ten or twenty years, you don’t need a cutting-edge sociological study to tell you that denominational identity doesn’t mean nearly as much today as it used to. People attend the churches where … Continue reading →

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An Order of Service

Posted on July 16, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

Here is the worship script for last night’s “vespers” service [along with my annotations]. As I said previously, the theme was feeding the hungry, with particular emphasis on our church’s Crisis Closet ministry. For reasons I’m not quite sure I … Continue reading →

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An Ancient-Future Agape Meal

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

One of the (too) many projects I’m working on for church these days is next week’s evening “vespers” service. This year, all the adult Sunday school classes are taking a turn at planning and conducting the service. A couple months … Continue reading →

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Baptists and the Lord's Supper, Again

Posted on June 20, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

iMonk is back on the job! So before we look at how previous Baptist confessions talked about the Lord’s Supper, let me say this: If all I had to go on was this confessional statement [The Baptist Faith and Message] … Continue reading →

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The Church of Christ and the Lord's Supper

Posted on June 8, 2007 by Darrell Pursiful

Chris Heard has a thoughtful post about the disconnect between the strong doctrinal emphasis on Communion in the Church of Christ and the lackluster way it is sometimes practiced. I guess Baptists aren’t the only ones who don’t always live … Continue reading →

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