Holy Supper/Communion at Bryn Athyn Church

Holy Supper

The teachings of the New Church tell us that taking the Lord’s Holy Supper is “a most holy thing of worship” (True Christianity 709) and we want to support you in this important part of your relationship with the Lord.

This page is to help you understand when, where, and how you can take Holy Supper in Bryn Athyn. Some of this information is just a description of how we’ve done things for a long time; some of it is an explanation of some new approaches that we are taking, starting in January 2023.

Coordinated Holy Supper Services at Cathedral Adult Service and Informal Family Service

It used to be that Holy Supper would be offered at the Cathedral Adult and Informal Family services, each on its own schedule. We will now be offering Holy Supper at those services on the same five days of the year so that people at the different services can have a sense of taking the Holy Supper (or communion) together on the same day. (And we are exploring offering it at the Family Cathedral and Young Children’s services as well in the future.) Below are the dates and a description of what taking the Holy Supper will be like at each of the services.

Holy Supper Dates for 2023

January 8th

  • Informal “Feast of Charity” Holy Supper Service - 9:20am
  • Cathedral Adult Holy Supper Service - 11:00am (no alternatives)
  • April 6th

  • Informal Maundy Thursday “Adult Holy Supper” Service - 7:00pm
  • Cathedral Adult Maundy Thursday Holy Supper Service - 7:00pm (alternatives)
  • June 4th

  • Informal “Family Holy Supper” Service - 9:20am
  • Cathedral Adult Holy Supper Service - 11:00am (no alternatives)
  • September 10th

  • Informal “Adult Holy Supper” Service - 9:20am
  • Cathedral Adult Holy Supper Service - 11:00am (alternatives)
  • November 12th

  • Informal “Family Holy Supper” Service - 9:20am
  • Cathedral Adult Holy Supper Service - 11:00am (no alternatives)
  • Holy Supper at Informal Family Service

    The Elements

    • Wine and unleavened wheat bread and grape juice and gluten-free bread are always available at all Informal Service Holy Supper services.
    • The unleavened bread is made with wheat flour, olive oil, salt, and water.
    • The gluten-free bread is made with 1-1 King Arthur gluten-free flour blend, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and water. It will be labelled and also is typically lighter in color.
    • The wine is a rosé.
    • The grape juice is a red grape juice and is typically darker than the wine.

    Format

    Holy Supper at Informal Family Service happens in a couple of different formats:

    Family Holy Supper 

    For these services unleavened bread, gluten-free unleavened bread, wine, and grape juice are laid out on benches and whole families are invited to come up together. Adults and children are welcome to take the elements (children are discouraged from taking the wine) and the whole family receives a hands-on blessing from the minister. In 2023 there will be Family Holy Supper services on June 25th and November 12th.

    Adult Holy Supper 

    For these services the Holy Supper elements are offered to adults, once the children have gone out for their refreshments, or in a service that is just for adults, like the Maundy Thursday service. People taking the Holy Supper come forward and sit at tables, take the elements in communion with others, and receive a hands-on blessing from a minister. In 2023 there will be Adult Holy Supper services on April 6th and September 10th.

    Feast of Charity 

    For these services the whole service is designed around descriptions of “feasts of charity” from True Christianity. Everyone has a potluck meal together and take the Holy Supper elements as part of the meal. In 2023 there will be a Feast of Charity Holy Supper service on January 8th.

    Holy Supper at Adult Cathedral Service

    The Elements

    • Wine and unleavened wheat bread are available at all Adult Cathedral Holy Supper services.
    • Grape juice and gluten-free bread are available at some Adult Cathedral Holy Supper services (April 6th and September 10th in 2023).
    • The wine is an unfortified, organic red wine with no added sulfites.
    • The unleavened bread is made with wheat flour, olive oil, salt, and water. The grape juice (when on offer) is a red grape juice.
    • The gluten-free bread (when on offer) is made with 1-1 King Arthur gluten-free flour blend, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and water. It will be labelled and also is typically lighter in color.

    Format

    It used to be that there were two different formats for Holy Supper services at the Adult Cathedral Service. There will now be just one format, as described below (the one exception is the Maundy Thursday service, which is a stand alone service).

    Holy Supper will be offered as part of the adult service. The sermon will be shorter on these Sundays. After the sermon there will be a hymn. We encourage those that are not taking Holy Supper to still stay in the service to witness other people taking the sacrament.

    The minister will do a reading about Holy Supper and then dedicate the elements. After a prayer people will be invited to come forward with the words, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God” (Revelation 19:7).

    People will then come forward down the central aisle and take the Holy Supper in groups or “tables”. If your knees can handle it, you can come forward and kneel at the Holy Supper rail. If you can handle a couple of steps but can’t kneel, you can come forward and sit in a row of chairs that is a few feet before you get to the rail. If you can’t come forward, please try to sit in the front few pews and the ministers will bring the elements to you there. The ministers will bring the elements down to those in the pews during the first table. This means that those in the first table will be kneeling for longer. Bear this in mind if you can kneel but not for too long.

    The ushers will help you to know whether there is space for you at the rail with a given table. If the group fills up, they may ask you to sit down again to wait until there is space for you.

    The bread will be brought first. You can take it from the common plate or in an individual COVID-safe cup. Next the wine will be brought. Again, you can drink it from a common cup or from an individual cup. After that, a minister will come and put his hands on your head and say a short blessing. Finally, the minister will say a blessing on the whole table and that will be the signal to return to your pew via the side aisles and for the next table to come forward. As you head back to your pew, please leave your cups on the trays in the side aisles.

    After the final table has returned to their seats there will be a final prayer and blessing on the whole congregation and the closing of the Word.

    Holy Supper at Your Home

    Have a Minister Come to Your Home or Bedside

    Maybe you are away when we are offering Holy Supper or maybe you can’t make it to a service in person. One of the Bryn Athyn Church pastors would be happy to come offer you Holy Supper at your home (or hospital bed or wherever). Please contact us at churchoffice@brynathynchurch.org or (215) 947-6225 to schedule a time that works for you.

    Take Holy Supper While Watching Online

    Another option is to take Holy Supper at home while attending a Holy Supper service via live stream. You can make Holy Supper bread at home using the recipe below or you can contact the church office about picking some up (churchoffice@brynathynchurch.org or (215) 947-6225).

    Recipe for Holy Supper Bread (serves about 4)


    Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup (rounded) wheat flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp ice-cold water
  • Instructions
  • Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  • Mix 1/4 (rounded) cup wheat flour with 1/4 tsp salt.
  • Add 2 tbsp olive oil and mix until oil is fully incorporated.
  • Add 1 tbsp ice-cold water and work the dough until it all comes together. You want a dough that is sticky enough to hold together but dry enough not to stick to your hands.
  • Flatten into a 4mm thick circle on a baking sheet. You can use two sheets of parchment paper and a rolling pin or even just a flat bottom pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
  • Holy Supper at Cairnwood Village

    Holy Supper with Rev. Jeremy Simons is offered at Cairnwood Village (www.cairnwoodvillage.org).

    Holy Supper will be offered at 10:00AM on January 4, April 5, June 14 and also in September and December (dated TBD).

    Contact the manager at (215) 947-7705 or cairnwood.village.manager@gmail.com to find out when the next Holy Supper service is happening and to let them know that you’re planning on coming.

    Phase 2: Offering Holy Supper at All Services

    Family Cathedral Service

    It used to be that most adults who attended the 9:30 Family Cathedral service would come back for the adult service at 11 and so would have a chance to take Holy Supper there. These days, it seems that many people just attend the 9:30 service and then go home.

    We want adults who just attend the 9:30 service to be able to take Holy Supper and for the children who attend this service to be able to witness adults taking Holy Supper.

    We will be meeting with regular attenders of the Family Cathedral Service early in the new year to discuss how we might offer Holy Supper at that service and whether they would like that.

    Young Children’s Service

    Just like the Family Cathedral Service, we want adults who just attend the Young Children’s Service to be able to take Holy Supper and for the children who attend this service to be able to witness adults taking Holy Supper.

    We will be meeting with regular attenders of the Young Children’s Service early in the new year to discuss how best to do Holy Supper at this service and to find out whether they would like to be offered Holy Supper at this service. Maybe they would prefer to have childcare offered so that they can attend one of the other Holy Supper services. If people are in favor us offering Holy Supper at the Young Children’s Service, we will aim to do that starting in June 2023.