One of the unique things about worship at Lutheran Village is in how the Eucharist is celebrated. There are the standard words of institution, the familiar little cups, and the oh so tasty little wafers. The thing which is unique is that the ministers take communion to the congregants. This is very logical since a high percentage of them are in wheel chairs or geriatric chairs and asking them to come to the front of the chapel is more than a little unreasonable. What is more than that, there are some in the congregation who do not have full use of their hands or arms. For these people, the ministers actually place the wafer on their tongue and pour the wine into their mouth.
In these cases, communion is not just distributed, it is served. Without the assistance of another, these residents would be unable to partake in communion. Here the ministers are not just distributing communion, they are serving communion. Through their actions of service, they make participation possible for others in the community.
This learning has been a true blessing to me. It is one of those things that nobody sets out to teach you and you don't set out to learn, yet it becomes a part of the learning experience just the same.
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