4 comments

1. If the LS is essential to worship and thus weekly, do you communion at both AM and PM services? My experience with weekly advocates of LS is only once on a Lord’s Day. Granted many P&R churches have stopped two services so weekly doesn’t become an issue of two services. Also, if it is essential, are brethren who practice monthly in sin and withholding grace from their congregation because they’re not weekly? I’m trying to be argumentative, just honest questions I’ve had on this topic for over a decade. thank you

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   • Hi Tim,

     I don’t know of anyone who has argued that the Lord’s Supper is so of the essence that without that there’s no service. The person in our tradition, who has mostly been ignored on this point, who argued most strenuously for communion every time the congregation assembled, John Calvin, never said that the Lord’s Supper was so of the essence of a service. He did say that that the absence of the Supper was a defect that he hoped to remedy. That is the approach that I have taken and it’s the approach that Harrison has taken.

     The distinction here is esse and bene esse. The Supper isn’t of the being of the service but it is to the well being of the service. Thus, I don’t think Calvin ever accused those who opposed weekly communion or those who did not practice it of sin and neither have I or Harrison done so. It is possible for there to be a defect in the service without it being sin.

     I have, off and on, asked for weekly communion but not every service communion, if you will, because, honestly, weekly communion is a big ask, as they say in the sales/fund raising business. There’s so much opposition to weekly communio that every service communion seems like a trip to the most distant planet whereas weekly communion is like a return to the moon.

     The loss of the second service is a very serious problem and needs to be addressed on an even higher priority than the recovery of weekly communion. The PCAs, the main offenders here, who have given up the evening “due use of the means of grace,” will come to regret it mightily if they do not already regret it. The good news here is that I have been contacted by some churches trying to figure out how to restore the second service. This is a hopeful sign.

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     • *I’m not trying to be argumentative (typo)

       Thank you for your thoughtful and thought-provoking response. I have read Calvin’s views on weekly communion and recognize his significant influence in our Reformed tradition. It’s important to distinguish between esse and bene esse when discussing the role of communion within the corporate worship service, and I agree with your reasoning on this point.

       I believe it would be beneficial for some advocates to highlight this distinction more clearly, as some churches have incorrectly applied the concept of esse to the sacrament. For example, I am aware of a PCA church (which shall remain unnamed) where the elders decided to serve weekly communion in the absence of an ordained minister, as they believed that not having communion would deprive the congregation of grace and thus be sinful and harmful to the congregation’s well-being. Right there, I see a mixture or confusion of esse and bene esse – which is it? I don’t think they were even thinking in those categories. They were corrected by their presbytery for being in error and contrary to the BCO, and they acknowledged their error to the congregation.

       However, this misunderstanding persists among “common men in the pew,” who may not grasp Calvin’s teachings on the weekly communion argument regarding the difference between esse and bene esse. By “common men,” I do not mean to be disparaging; rather, I refer to those who may lack the academic background to engage with these discussions outside of the academy. I think your series will shed some light to the subject and help clarify thinking, Lord willing.

       As for the second service, I completely agree; however, our church currently only has one service due to the shared rental facilities with a Baptist church. My prayers and efforts are actively engaged in finding a home for Trinity Presbyterian, where we will have AM/PM services on the Lord’s Day.

       I look forward to this series! Thank you for doing this, Dr. Clark – we love you in Guam!

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       • Tim,

         Thank you for the encouragement. I’m glad the elders accepted correction graciously. Their hearts were in the right place.

         May the Lord bless your search for a new facility. It’s not easy. It’s a great struggle for us in California. Most of our congregations are commuter churches and some have adapted by holding a morning service, a lunch, and then a service after lunch.

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