This past weekend was a whirlwind! First the ultra sound, then finishing registering, and then on Sunday I was ordained as an elder in the PC(USA)! I am so excited to be an elder because it means that I can administer communion. I plan to be ordained as a minister of word and sacrament eventually as well which will mean that I will be able to consecrate the elements. For now, I am very excited to be able to administer the bread and the wine (er...grape juice). It also means that I will be a member of the session, the group of people that governs the congregation. We will make all of the big decisions that a single church congregation needs to make. I am really looking forward to finding out what that's like. At the same time, I realize what a big responsibility that is and I do not take it lightly. I think that being an elder will allow me to use most of my gifts to their fullest potential. I'm very excited! One decision I will need to make is which committee I will co-chair, or chair. I am debating between two, Worship or Mission. I will continue to pray and think about it until the 24th when we will decide which committees we will serve on.
So, here are two theological questions for you all.
1) I took communion a couple of weeks ago and will continue to eat the bread and wine during the pregnancy. Does this mean that Micah has also already taken communion? My inclination is to say yes, but I'm not sure. If the answer is yes, then there's a host of other follow up questions I have...but I won't ask them now. ;-)
2) I was ordained today...was Micah ordained as an elder, too?! I'm inclined to say no. Joan and John (I think rightly) pointed out that he did not take the vows I took. ... But I suppose he did lay his hands on me...hehe. Pregnancy is weird.
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When I read those questions, the gears started to turn. What did I eventually do? Well, I reached for the Book of Confessions like any good presbyterian. I'm an elder too, remember? :)
Unfortunately, I had forgotten what a tedious read it can be, but after a lot of skimming and a little reading I've decided to pose a few questions of my own.
1. The major significance of communion is the forgiveness of sin. Does it even make sense to ask if an unborn child has been forgiven? When do we begin to carry the burnden of original sin? Birth? Conception? Second trimester?
2. Another important part of communion is the renewal of faith. On pp103-4 there is an interesting discussion on participants both with and without faith. Again, does it even make sense to ask if an unborn child has faith?
If your page numbers don't match mine, I mostly read Chap 21 of the Second Helvetic. Oh, and congrats on being ordained, and good luck.
YAY!!!! I'm so happy! Micah... super super cute!
Drew -
Fun Fun! I'm glad you responded! I had to laugh when you went to the Book of Confessions because we've been talking about it in my Company of New Pastors group. I should have thought to look there. lol
In terms of your first question, it depends on if you take the Eastern or Western theological stance on original sin. (Mind you, this is East and West as in Constantinople and Rome, not Asia and Europe. Yes, there were tons of Christians in Asia back in the day. Anyway...) According to the West (and Augustine) sin is transmitted via sexual intercourse. Christ is the only person who was born without sin because Mary didn't have sex to conceive him. So, with this view we could talk about an unborn child being forgiven of their inherited sin. According to the East, sin is not transmitted via intercourse, but is inevitable and inescapable. So, I'm not sure that it would be feasible to talk about an unborn child being forgiven of sin with the Eastern view.
My question pertains more to the ingestion of the elements. The Catholics say that the elements are the actual body and blood of Christ. The Prebyterians say that it's a mystery, but the Jesus is present in the elements. The early church Fathers claimed that the body and blood of Christ are absorbed into our bodies when we eat the bread and drink the cup. So, if I eat the bread and drink the cup then I am united with Christ via ingestion...is Micah also? The elements do pass through him. So, I think that one could argue that he has taken of the elements.
Someone posed the question back to me about baptism. If I had never been baptized, became a new Christian tomorrow and got baptized this Sunday would Micah also be baptized. I said no because the water wouldn't actually touch him. With the elements of the Lord's Supper, though, Micah has touched them and if we agree with the early church fathers that Christ is incorporated into our bodies via ingestion, then Micah has taken it. He has been nourished by the body and blood of Jesus.
So, anyway, it's fun to speculate. I'm not sure there is an answer to this question, but technically, in the PC(USA) people are not supposed to take communion until they've been baptized. So, if Micah has taken it then we have a theological conundrum. I'm confident that it doesn't matter either way because God is gracious. It's fun to talk about, though. :-)
Hi Sarina,
I see that as an interesting biological question-what amount of what you eat/ingest is shared with the child? There are protective barriers which separate you from the child for important immunological reasons, but there is an obvious sharing of food, energy, and waste. But the food is first absorbed and processed by your system before anything is delivered to the child. I would say that Micah is not receiving the bread and wine, but rather glucose and other nutrients processed by your body. Statistically speaking, the amount of bread and juice consumed during communion is so small that the odds of it reaching the child is very small. That could help avoid any theological problem.
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