At Greenbelt I was invited onto a panel discussion about the sacraments, the role of the priest and the emerging church with Pete Rollins, Kester Brewin, Paula Gooder and Father Simon Rundell. In our discussions, one element that developed was the tension held within the sacraments of Eucharist and baptism to consecrate or desecrate. Do we remember Christ honestly if these sacraments are beautified or sanitised, or does a more honest remembrance necessitate an embrace of horror, dirt and abandonment? In recent years, we have heard of Ikon and Vaux's critique of communion, employing vivid imagery of the horror of Christ's death and how a beautified ritual removes us from the horror of the passion narrative. Does this go too far, or have they helped us to connect with the realness of those events?

I've had a few days to process the discussion and wonder if when we get talking about whole/broken or clean/dirty, we become opposing sides of the same axis. In the act of baptism or Eucharist, Christ calls us something new, so portrayals of these sacraments as consecration or desecration point to Christ only to the extent to which they embody a reimagination of what is broken/whole or clean/dirty.

A few months ago I was part of a communion event which drew on the recycling mantra: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. In looking at Reuse, the group questioned what is waste, what do we consider waste which can be reused, and made connections between our judgements of 'who is acceptable' and 'who is waste' against Jesus' acceptance of all. In looking at Reduce, we looked at how our consumption affects others and used this as part of our confession. And then at the breaking of bread looked at how Christ's body was Recycled.

Perhaps engaging with the dirtiness of the sacraments helps us to connect to the deeper gospel message, but if we stop there do we miss the opportunity to reimagine dirt and waste? Recycling has transformed the notion of waste in our society; perhaps this imagery can help to understand Christ's actions.

Beth works at The Sheffield Centre and supports learning networks as part of the Fresh Expressions team. She is also involved in ReSource, running weekends for pioneers creating church in emerging culture. The next ReSource weekend is in Sheffield, 30th October to 1st November, looking at mission and culture. More information about this can be found here.

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Beth Keith.

 

This is a short extract from the latest edition of Encounters on the Edge (no. 41: Do network churches work?) in which George Lings looks at the wider subject of network churches.

Another issue of ecclesial identity is provoked because the lay-led church is unhelpfully dependent on outside provision of clergy to give them communion. At worst, this is a return to Mass Priests. At best, it is a ceaseless reminder that such a congregation is in permanent dependency on those outside its life and is thereby somehow second class.

If Anglicans deem having a sacramental life essential to ecclesial life through dominical warrant, it is then tiresome, and probably damaging, that such communities are denied the fullness of this dimension. By this, they are made more fragile. Such scenarios have similarities to the nineteenth century overseas problems that bedevilled those works that were 'missions' but denied the status of 'churches'. They had problems of dependence on the professional missionary and on finally becoming designated churches promptly lost most missional desire or impact. Such patterns are not to be repeated.

In practice, members of both network churches in Deal and Sandwich spoke with restrained frustration at how difficult getting suitable 'cover' was and how it made them feel like 'the poor relation'. Understandably, those of a free church persuasion found this doubly irksome. They had no conviction that this priestly requirement was necessary and served only to demonstrate to them the ecclesial imperialism of Anglicanism.

Eucharistic Presidency is an irenic and scholarly read of the Anglican Bishops' last published view of the topic and makes a good case that what is at issue is the catholicity of the church. However, this now exists in tension with the bottom up creation of churches who seek a fullness (or second century Ignatian catholicity) of their life and rightly sense their local oneness is impaired by this arrangement of a near stranger heading up the family meal.

There is also the vexing issue of whether the church is better defined by its overall ministerial arrangements or its localised congregational life. If the number of lay-led fresh expressions grows, the issue will grow sharper.

George Lings is the director of The Sheffield Centre, Church Army's Research Unit. He specialises in church planting and fresh expressions, and Anglican ecclesiology. He writes the quarterly publication, Encounters on the Edge, which can be ordered here.

There is a Share blog on a similar theme here. Share has offered some practical tips on the subject here - go to the brown heading, about halfway down the page, called 'What about the sacraments?'

If you have something burning to say and want to contribute to the Share weekly guest blog, please contact Beth Keith.

 

When our grown up sons come home, we always have a takeaway. It's shorthand for a lot of things – this is still your home, you're special, I am still part of this family, being together is worth celebrating.

Jesus told Peter to 'feed my sheep'. He fed the multitudes; he was known to the disciples he met on the road to Emmaus in the breaking of the bread. On the night before he died, he had supper with his friends and said 'do this, in remembrance of me'. And when he met with his friends on the beach after his resurrection, he fed them.

When I became a Christian, I didn't take communion because I wasn't confirmed. Week after week, I longed to receive but had to hold back.

During a very rare communion service in a young offenders institution, one of the 'lads' asked what was happening. Then he jumped up, muttered 'I want some of that!' and joined the queue. The next week he asked to be baptised.

I asked a group of three boys under the age of seven why they wanted to take communion. They heard the priest say, week in week out,  'Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread' – and then weren't given any bread. They deeply desired to be part of the body.

At the recent pioneer minister conference at Ridley Hall, it was stated that a fresh expression should be working towards regular communion services because this was a mark of 'being church'.

Many of us were left with questions.

Should the Eucharist be seen as a target? Where does lay leadership fit in? Does the Eucharist create a Christ-centred community? Or is a Christ-centred community, by definition, Eucharistic? What does a fresh expression of the Eucharist look like? And if we're not church – what are we?

Pam Smith is currently priest in charge of i-church, an online community founded by the Diocese of Oxford. Previously she was a Reader (Licensed Lay Minister) in the Coventry Diocese and worked as a lay prison chaplain. Pam has just completed the one year Mission Shaped Ministry course.