World Communion Sunday

Each year on the first Sunday of October, we celebrate World Communion Sunday. This year is no different, and here we are on October 4, 2020. The world is a different place than it was a year ago, but we can still continue to hold fast to some traditions like this one that help us pause and celebrate our unity together.

For me, World Communion Sunday has been something that has been acknowledged and celebrated for as long back as I can remember into my childhood. This week I set out to find some history about it. Here are my results:

• It began as a Presbyterian idea. Pastor Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr first celebrated World Communion Sunday at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh in 1933.

• Three years later (1936), the Presbyterian Church (US) adopted it as a denomination-wide practice. Four years after that (1940), the National Council of Churches promoted the practice to a number of churches around the world. It has since become widespread.

• Dr. Kerr’s son, Donald, also a Presbyterian pastor, notes the significance of the Second World War: “The concept spread very slowly at the start. People did not give it a whole lot of thought. It was during the Second World War that the spirit caught hold, because we were trying to hold the world together. World Wide Communion symbolized the effort to hold things together, in a spiritual sense. It emphasized that we are one in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

• Today, many churches across the world and across denominational lines celebrate World Communion. Some acknowledge it through their liturgy, others through their musical offerings, and even others through a guest speaker from their global mission work.

In previous years, I have so enjoyed the self-imposed challenge of ensuring that every musical aspect of our service on this day come from a different tradition around the globe. Sometimes that is a big task as our 11:00 service can have upwards to 12-15 pieces of music. During these times of virtual and outdoor worship, we are a bit more limited, but today you experience music from:

• South Africa – an opening song, “Hallelujah! We Sing Your Praises” with piano, drum, and voice.

• America – a folk-style communion hymn, “One Brad, One Body” recorded by piano, guitar, and vocalists.

• Jamaica – an organ arrangement of the upbeat and syncopated communion hymn, “Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ.” and

• France – the song “Eat This Bread” from the Taizé Community, offered by a quartet of singers and enhanced by various instrumental sounds from our organ.