Communion is an essential part of our Christian fellowship, as we read the scriptures and reflect on the implications of the broken body and the shed blood. It is both a time of personal quiet and consideration, and a time of shared joy and gratitude.
Today as we shared communion, we considered the unity of the body, and how we are joined as members of that body.
The scripture inspired the bread.
16. Is not the cup of blessing, which we bless, a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
17. Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.
The bread was baked from the basic wholewheat sourdough recipe. After the first rise the dough was shaped into a boule. I reserved a small amount of the dough, and from this made individual small balls, spaced out to form a chain around the boule.
After the second rise, the individual pieces of the chain were linked, one to another, and all were connected to the main loaf.
I brushed the top of the bread with an egg wash, lightly floured it, and cut a distinct cross into the top surface.
After baking I lightly brushed water into the cross, dusted it with white flour, and gently rubbed it to set the contrast in place.
There were 25 chain links, sufficient for our group that day, as in taking communion we broke the smaller pieces from the rim of the loaf.
Yes, we know the passover meal would have been celebrated with unleavened bread, and there are times when we will share such a bread.
But for us, communion is not a format but rather a fellowship, embodied in the sharing and the breaking of bread among members of the body.
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