{"id":2015,"date":"2015-03-01T21:07:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T04:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2015-03-01T21:12:45","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T04:12:45","slug":"multispiritual-adoration-of-the-sacramentcommuning-the-unbaptized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=2015","title":{"rendered":"Multispiritual: Adoration of the Sacrament\/Communing the Unbaptized"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELCA Press Release: The adoration of the sacrament<\/strong> will help us grow spiritually.<\/p>\n

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and a delegation of ELCA leaders recently returned from what they describe as an \u201cecumenical pilgrimage\u201d to London, Geneva, and Rome.<\/p>\n

In a meeting<\/a> with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the ELCAers asked him to recommend \u201ca spiritual practice to ELCA members to help us grow in our faith lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

He answered: \u201cStart where people are<\/strong>, not where you think they should be\u2026.And, if they are interested in contemplative prayer or adoration of the sacrament<\/strong>, encourage them to explore this devotion which will help them grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most Lutherans are familiar with side altars in Catholic churches where the reserved sacrament is kept for adoration.<\/p>\n

Lutherans, however, have historically \u2013 and recently \u2013 rejected this practice because it implies the elements are transubstantiated, that they contain Christ\u2019s presence apart from their use in the communion service.<\/p>\n

The national Lutheran\/Catholic Dialogue III found an “increasing convergence” between Lutherans and Catholics on the real presence of Christ in communion. But the convergence fell apart<\/strong> on the issue of the reservation of the sacrament:<\/p>\n

\u201cLutherans speak of the whole liturgical action as usus<\/em>: the consecration, distribution and reception (sumptio<\/em>) of the sacrament \u2026 Lutherans do not speak of Christ being present before or apart from \u2018use.’\u201d [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lutherans teach that Christ is present i<\/strong>n, with, and under the elements, but, apart from their use<\/strong> in the sacrament, they remain bread and wine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lutherans, of course, treat the unused elements respectfully, but reservation and adoration of the sacrament is not Lutheran practice \u2013 for gospel reasons.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

On the one hand, taking a look at the adoration of the sacrament, Anglo-Catholic spirituality. On the other hand, taking a look (at the request of the 2013 Churchwide Assembly) in the opposite direction<\/strong> from Anglo-Catholicism, at changing The Use of the Means of Grace <\/em>to commune the unbaptized<\/strong> so they feel welcome.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Whatever \u201cspiritual practice\u201d helps \u201cus grow in our faith lives.\u201d Multispiritual, multicultural.<\/strong> Whatever.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
\n[1]<\/a> The Eucharist as Sacrifice. Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue <\/em>III<\/em>, ed. Paul C. Empie and T. Austin Murphy (Minneapolis: Augsburg,\u00a0[1967]) 191-97; here 193, footnote 24.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> How the Lutheran Confessions write about the Lord’s Supper:<\/p>\n

1. Christ is truly present in doing what He commanded, in the use, the action. (Formula of Concord VII, \u00b6\u00b685-87; Book of Concord<\/em> [Tappert], pp. 584-85. Also \u00b673, pp. 582-83.)<\/p>\n

2. Christ is not truly present apart from doing what He commanded, apart from the use, the action\u2014in the so-called reservation of the host or otherwise.[6] (FC VII \u00b6108, p.588; \u00b6\u00b6126-27, p.\u00a0591.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cDiscuss why a congregation might welcome all people to the Lord\u2019s table. What does that invitation say about one\u2019s understanding of Communion?\u201d From the ELCA Study Guide, \u201cTable and font: Who is welcome?\u201d p. 12, question #3, available at www.elca.org\/worship<\/a>. When the Episcopalians took up this issue at their 2012 General Convention, the reaction from the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches was unanimously negative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELCA Press Release: The adoration of the sacrament will help us grow spiritually. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and a delegation of ELCA leaders recently returned from what they describe as an \u201cecumenical pilgrimage\u201d to London, Geneva, and Rome. In a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the ELCAers asked him to recommend \u201ca […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}