World Communion Sunday: A Presbyterian Gift to the Global ChurcH

Rev. Bobby Musengwa

Transitional General Presbyter

Did you know we Presbyterians started World Communion Sunday? Well, let me tell you about it.

As Christians around the world gather on the first Sunday of October to celebrate World Communion Sunday, we Presbyterians do so with special pride and gratitude, knowing that this beloved tradition was a gift of God that was born from the vision of a Presbyterian minister in our denomination. Yep, it came from Pittsburgh!

Our Presbyterian Heritage

In 1933, Reverend Hugh Thompson Kerr, serving at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, conceived a remarkable idea during his tenure as Moderator of the General Assembly in 1930. Dr. Kerr envisioned a day when Christians across the globe would gather simultaneously at the Lord's Table, united in one Spirit despite our many serious differences.

What began as an initiative of the Division of Stewardship at Shadyside was "their attempt to bring churches together in a service of Christian unity - in which everyone might receive both inspiration and information, and above all, to know how important the Church of Jesus Christ is, and how each congregation is interconnected one with another."

By 1936, the Presbyterian Church had adopted this observance denomination-wide. Just four years later, in 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches), under the leadership of Jesse Moren Bader, recognized the profound significance of this celebration and began promoting it to Christian churches worldwide. What started in one Presbyterian congregation in Pittsburgh has become a truly global witness to Christian unity.

The Significance for Our Faith

World Communion Sunday reminds us of and helps us celebrate the essential tenets of our Christian faith. Lest we forget, here are some that are at the heart of our faith:

We Are One in Christ

Though we worship in different languages, use different liturgies, and celebrate with diverse forms of bread and wine, we are united at the Table of our Lord. As Paul writes, there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5).

Unity Does Not Mean Uniformity

This day celebrates the beautiful diversity of Christ's church - from the elaborate liturgies of ancient traditions to the simple celebrations in village churches, from ornate cathedrals to humble storefronts. Each expression of faith enriches the whole body of Christ. Look around, God loves diversity.

We Are Globally Connected

When we gather around the communion table here at Mission Presbytery and beyond, we do so knowing that millions of our siblings in Christ around the world are doing the same. We are reminded that the church is not defined by walls or borders, but by our shared commitment to Jesus Christ.

Living Out Our Unity: The Peace & Global Witness Offering

Our celebration of World Communion Sunday calls us beyond the symbolic to the practical. If we truly believe in our unity at Christ's Table, we must work together to heal the divisions and injustices that plague our broken world. There ain’t no doubt this world is broken, and is crying out for us to work together for the healing of the nations and of all creation.

This is why the Peace & Global Witness Offering is traditionally received on World Communion Sunday. This special offering enables the church to promote the Peace of Christ by addressing systems of conflict and injustice across the world. Through this offering, congregations are encouraged and equipped to find and address the anxiety and discord that is prevalent throughout this broken and sinful world.

When we give to the Peace & Global Witness Offering, we invest in:

* Local peacemaking efforts (25% stays with your congregation for local peace initiatives)

* Presbytery peacemaking work (25% supports peace and reconciliation ministries right here at Mission Presbytery)

* Global witness for peace (50% enables the Presbyterian Church (USA) to address conflict and injustice worldwide)

The Peace & Global Witness Offering transforms our celebration of unity into concrete action for peace. It is one way we live into Dr. Kerr's vision of an interconnected church working together to share Christ's love and justice in our world today.

Our Call Today

As Presbyterians, we have a special responsibility to honor and preserve this legacy of unity that Dr. Kerr entrusted to us. On World Communion Sunday, as we break bread together and remember our global family of faith, let us also give generously to the Peace & Global Witness Offering - making tangible our commitment to be peacemakers in a world desperate for Christ's reconciling love.

Thanks to our Moderator of Mission Presbytery, Rev. Dan Milford, I will be preaching at his Covenant Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. His congregation has an annual tradition of worshiping together with other partner congregations on World Communion Sunday. This time there will be four congregations: a Hispanic one, an Anglican (from Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo), Presbyterians from Cameroon, as well as our own Covenant PC from Mission Presbytery. This is an honor to literally break bread together with folks from the global church.

As we participate in World Communion Sunday in our various congregations, remember that we are part of a tradition that began in our own Presbyterian family and has blessed the entire Christian world. Let us celebrate with joy, giving thanks to God for our unity in Christ, and recommit ourselves to being peacemakers and bridge-builders in our fractured world. Indeed, our world is groaning in human-made pain and suffering, and is in need of the healing ‘balm in Gilead.’ Let us work together to ensure peace and justice happen in our time, both for us, and for generations to come.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

Gratefully,

Rev. Bobby Musengwa

Transitional General Presbyter