Holy Communion
The Lord’s Supper is offered every Sunday at St. John’s. We follow the historic practice of closed communion, which is described in the communion statement below. To ensure that the Lord’s Supper is administered properly, we ask that all visitors to St. John’s, including members of other LCMS congregations, speak with a pastor before the service if they’re interested in receiving the Sacrament. (If you know in advance that you’ll be coming to St. John’s, we encourage you to email or call the pastor a few days beforehand.)
Everyone is welcome to come to the altar; those not receiving the Lord’s body and blood (including children who have not yet been confirmed in the Faith) will receive a blessing from the pastor.
Our Communion Statement
We take seriously the spiritual care of those who commune at our altar. At St. John’s we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the confession and glad confidence that, as He says, our Lord gives into our mouths not only bread and wine but His very body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins and to strengthen our union with Him and with one another. Our Lord invites to His table baptized believers who trust His words, repent of all sin, set aside any refusal to forgive and love as He forgives and loves us, and confess what is taught and believed at this altar, that they may proclaim His death until He comes.
Because those who eat and drink our Lord’s body and blood unworthily do so to their great harm and because Holy Communion is a confession of the Faith which is confessed at this altar, any who are not yet instructed, in doubt, or who hold a confession differing from that of this congregation (that is, belong to another church body or denomination) and yet desire to receive the sacrament, are asked to refrain from communing until they’ve spoken with the pastor. In order to ensure the proper administration of the Lord’s Supper, we also ask that guests from other LCMS congregations notify the pastor before communing.
For further study, see Matthew 5:23f.; 10:32f.; 18:15-35; 26:26-29; 1 Cor. 11:17-34.
Adapted from the Model Statement offered by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (2014).