What Others are saying about Holy
Communion on the Web
Holy Communion on the Web has
drawn a number of comments, most of which praise the effort to extend the
outreach of the church. There have, of course, been those who disagree
that Holy Communion can be offered on the web (only two
as of this date). Those who say "no" to Holy Communion on the web have focused on the problem of
how we can meet the communal character of Holy Communion over the web. If
this is a problem for you please click on the "Theological" tab and then on
the "Communal" tab for the way this issue is approached here. Those
who disagree have not addressed the issue that first generated my (Tom Madron)
interest in this project: the fact that the church does not seem to be
meeting the spiritual needs of a large number of persons and that we should not
be afraid of using the web to do so.
That being said, a much larger
number of people have used Holy Communion on the Web and have found it helpful
for spiritual growth and/or education. A sample of the positive comments
about the website follows. I leave it to your own discretion to
make up your mind regarding whether we have achieved, or are close to achieving a
meaningful way of making Holy Communion available to those who wish to
participate in Holy Communion as frequently as possible, who simply wish to
better understand Holy Communion, or those excluded, for whatever the reason,
from the institutional church. I invite you to
express your own opinion regarding this
website.
Praise for Holy Communion on the Web
"What a bold step you’ve taken! I
hope your website provides an opportunity to reach many people looking for
communion.”
“I'm suggesting to my church's Lead Team this November that we provide a clear
link to this site from our Home Page so that we may easily offer communion
through your work on this site. There are many who are seeking more experiences
of Holy Communion and many of our UMC's, including my own, are not ready for
various reasons to offer it more often. This site does it for us all!”
“I just wanted to say that this is a great way of communicating the gospel
message in a non-threatening way. I commend you for your efforts.”
“Very well done. Your presentation was as meaningful to me as attendance at a
regular church communion service. I will refer several friends to you site.”
“I learned about your website from this week's Newsweek article. I attend
church weekly and came to your website to check it out in advance for my adult
Sunday School (DBS I) class. The communion liturgy is so well prepared I enjoyed
having the time to read the service, lessons and prayers slowly and carefully.
So often in worship, we have to rush through the sacrament to fit the hour long
service length. While I came to this site just looking for a resource for my
small group, I will definitely add it to my list of favorites for personal
devotional use.”
“Thank you for your thoughtful work to make this web site available to serve us
all from our many perspectives and stages on our faith journey. Peace”
“As a UM pastor in the Wisconsin conference, I am grateful for your ministry of
Communion on the web. I find it extremely well done, filled with positive
purpose, and sensitive to the spiritual needs of those whose homes we will never
enter. Truly, this is another means of offering sacramental and inclusive
ministry to those who are growing in the faith. I will direct members and
friends to this website.”
“I was looking for a discussion topic for our Adult Sunday class, when I came
upon the article in Newsweek (Belief Watch). After reading the article and
deciding how to present the information, I realized that I really should check
out the website. After viewing the site, I was sorry that I did not actually
participate in the Communion Service. Even though I did not physically partake
of the elements, while going through the service---a reverence and "holy spirit"
sensation enveloped me. The service is very well done and hopefully many people
may find it beneficial to sooth their spiritual needs. I plan to check back and
partake in the elements at some future times. Thanks and Blessings”
“This is wonderful the way it is: the background explanation of liturgy and
theology, the worship, the music, the voice. Don't change a thing!”
"A friend told me of you -- you
are a God send [sic] and fill the needs of my soul that have been so long
missing. You are always there now and I can come to you whenever I am in need.
God Bless and thank you."
"The communion experiance was better than I had anticipated. Three of us used
it as part of our weekend [re]treat and Sunday worship together. We were able
to experience communion with community. We all feel it would be helpful if
the service were on a continual slide show [to] eliminate the need for continual
clicking at the end. Thank you for your efforts to bring worship and communion
in new ways."
"Excellent innovation! I'm a pastor (Presbyterian Church USA) and admire your creativity."
"Hi, Dr. Madron . Recently I heard about your website and was very intrigued. I used to
be a member of a United Methodist church; but, more important, I was born again when I
was 7 and am almost 65. I am 100% blind with two other documented disabilities and have
never had any sight. I am also an accomplished organist. The Methodists are supposed to
be an inclusive denomination, but I can't get a ride to any church and no clergy will bring
me communion and pray with me. When I've been able to go to church, I have to sit alone
and no one ever reads the bulletibn. So I was really excited to find out about this site.
However, although I was able to hear the main text, the word link comes up and when you are
listening to a voice you don't know where you are being linked. Also, I have participated
in Bible studies where the leader tells everyone to read the material to themselves and
they refuse to read anything out loud. What is someone like me suppposed to do? This
denomination should think about how exclusive they are when it comes to someone like me.
Please try to make your site more accessible; printer friendly pages don't work for us.
Thank you for your efforts."
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