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Originally Posted by Pilgrim's Progeny  Quote:
Originally Posted by raekwon If you're not already, have you ever considered doing it weekly? Perhaps a gradual phasing out of the weekly altar call after your sermon in favor of the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper would be a good thing to do. After all, the scriptural warnings and promises that go along with the Supper serve as a brief call to faith and repentance, just like the words that generally go before the altar call. | That would be great, but most SBC churches would not hear of this. Most if not every view the Lord's Supper as a ordinance only and not a sacrament. Most would argue that the less we do it the better, so we do not take it for granted. I think it would be a great way to handle this issue myself, but this is something I probably would not be able to implement in my church. |
Yeah, I'm well aware — which is why I suggested a gradual (probably a
very gradual) shift.
I was a member of a (very solid) SBC church when I lived in West TN which observed Communion on a quarterly basis, at best, partly because of the fear of ritualism that you mentioned. After I came to a more Calvinistic understanding of the Supper, I sent the elders a long e-mail, suggesting that they prayerfully consider a more frequent observance, and it was actually received very well. They didn't start doing it weekly, but they scrapped their plans to move it to a Wednesday-night-only thing and started observing it monthly, so . . . that was progress.
Tripp, I'd still encourage you to think about my suggestion. Making such a change unilaterally would probably be a BAD idea, like Paul suggested above, but there might be ways to move forward with something like that while getting the rest of your leadership on board. Not easily, mind you, and not overnight.