Holy communion not for sinners
The holy communion is one area where churches differ in terms of the frequency and method that it should be administered. JAMES CHIMPWEYA talked to Reverend Lemani Kamdidi, vice-chairman of Churches of Christ for Blantyre, to explain how his church deals with the issue.
How do you understand the idea of the holy communion?
Holy communion can be described as the body of Christ. It is made of bread from wheat flour and vine fruit. This can be described well from Matthews 26: 26-29. The bread used is unleavened and the wine should not be strong but sweet. Vine is also described as blood of Jesus and bread as his body. The holy communion resembles the death of Christ. Jesus used to tell his disciples the importance of eating his body and drinking his blood which annoyed some of his disciples. The holy communion is supposed to be prepared by the church elder. He must have wheat flour, sugar, milk and salt. Then prepare vine from its yard and this is supposed to be sweet.
Who should take the holy communion?
The holy communion should be taken by all baptized members of the church, but with some exceptional cases like drunkards, womanizers and, in general, those committing sins should refrain from taking it because Christ is holy, so his body is also holy. When we talk about baptized Christians, we are also talking about those that are spiritually mature. They should be people who know what Christianity is all about.
When should it be taken and how often?
Most churches take it on Sundays. Some churches take the holy communion every three months, others every Sunday. Some take it during the day while others do at night. But the Bible, from 1 Corinthians 11: 23 tells us that the holy communion should be taken during the night because it is the time Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples Judas Iscariot and this time he was partaking the holy communion. But for us we take it every Sunday following our church doctrine and it is biblical because the Bible tells us that whenever we meet we have to preach the death of Christ by taking the holy communion.
