What does the Eucharist mean to you in our worship service?

To me, in a word:  Everything.

I know this is true of many of you too. The Eucharist is the central part of the service where we can all celebrate Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.  It is here that the apex of God’s love is seen for us and the unity of God’s people is felt.  There is a mystery in the celebration of communion that can’t be experienced except with God’s people around God’s table.

About 13 years into my pastoral ministry, I started on a journey toward the Anglican Traditions and never looked back.  Now I’ve been an Anglican Priest almost as long as I wasn’t.  When asked “Why did you become an Anglican?”, my answer now is the same as when I started: the beauty of the Eucharist.

So when we make changes to this celebration I take this very seriously, whether the change is big or small.  This Sunday will bring such change.

Starting this Sunday, I will celebrate communion from the ‘other side of the altar’.  This is otherwise known as ad populum, which means the priest is facing the congregation instead of having his or her back to you.  There are several reasons for this change, the most pressing one being our renovations.

The highest step of the platform has been taken down this week giving more room on the platform.  Although we won’t have to put the altar on the floor temporarily, as we originally thought, we do have the altar moved forward for work to continue. This does not leave any room for the celebrant to stand facing the Altar, or ad orientem(facing east).

I have discussed this with the other Mariners’ Church leaders, and we are considering this as a more permanent change, perhaps occasionally returning to the previous orientation.  I want to give you a quick history and reasoning behind the ad populum (facing people) vs. ad orientem (facing east), so you know the traditional thinking behind each.

Ad Populum, or toward the people, gives the feel of a a family around the table.  This is a notion I treasure and certainly would embrace.  Since the 1950’s this has become the most common orientation of the priest at communion.

Supporting the ‘around the table’ feel, is the fact that the congregation can see the movements of the liturgy, rather than it being blocked by the priest.  This mean the fraction, and the consecration of the Bread and Wine are seen and heard by the congregation.  Also, in Ad Populum, it is seen that the priest and people together are oriented toward the elements, which is an appropriate posture for the Eucharist.

In the Ad Orientem, we are facing liturgical east or the traditionally thought of facing toward Heaven.  Some may also say we are facing Jerusalem when in Western Europe and US.  In this orientation the Priest and the people are facing the same direction with focus on the cross, while some focus on the elements (bread and wine), although obscured.

Interestingly, as we research the original features of our building we have discovered that the Mariner’s cross above the altar was placed there in 1957, while the original insert with a much smaller cross representation is now above the Mary Altar.  This seems to me to suggest the elements, perhaps even more than the cross, have been the historical focus of the communicants at Mariners’ Church because the cross is more discreet.

Here is my main point: Whether we are celebrating ad populum or ad orientem, this central portion of our worship always remains sacred and meaningful.  The centrality of the sacrifice of Christ and God’s love for us remains the same.  For this reason, I will always be in awe of the mystery of the Eucharist and grateful that we can celebrate it together.

Blessings and peace,

Rev. Todd and Dr. Christiane