It’s plain and unhurried. Each week during our assembly at the Decker Prairie church of Christ a man makes some thoughtful remarks to help us all focus on the importance of the moment. Then he will say a prayer of thanks for the bread. Once everyone has taken the bread, he offers a short prayer for the fruit of the vine and everyone partakes. We will spend a few quiet moments while each reflects on the death of Jesus. We observe it every Sunday, and start to finish it usually takes only a few minutes. There’s no pageantry to it, just remembering.
If you’ve never watched it happen, or you’re used to something that looks nothing like this, here’s exactly what goes on and why.
What Are We Eating?
Two simple things. The bread is unleavened, which just means it’s made without yeast, thin like a cracker. That is the kind of bread Jesus had at the Passover meal where He gave the Supper. The cup holds the fruit of the vine, which is grape juice. Again, it’s what Jesus used. None of it is fancy, and that’s exactly the point.
What It Means
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial Jesus handed His followers the night before He died. Paul passed along Jesus’s own words: “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (). Of the cup He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” ().
So the bread is His body and the cup is His blood. Together they look back to the cross and forward in hope, as Paul continues, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (). It’s a collective meal which unites the body of Christ, His church, in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice and our salvation through Him.
Why It’s So Quiet
You’ll feel the room settle into stillness during the Supper. People bow their heads, pray quietly, or read a Bible passage on their own. Nobody is putting on a show, and nobody is watching you. It’s just a few unrushed minutes set aside to reflect.
Why Every Sunday?
Many visitors are used to communion once a month or a couple of times a year, so weekly observance catches them off guard. We do it because the early church did. Luke wrote, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them” (). “To break bread” there most likely refers to the Lord’s Supper, and taking it was one reason the first Christians gathered on the first day of the week. Other sources from the early church confirm that Sunday was the day that Jesus’ followers regularly gathered to partake of the Lord’s Supper. We’d rather hold onto that pattern than draw up a schedule of our own.
We’ll be upfront about something else too. Decker Prairie church of Christ has no headquarters or governing board. So, we can only tell you that this is how the Decker Prairie church of Christ worships.
Does taking it every week wear the meaning away? For most of us, it runs the other direction. Weekly observance becomes a steady appointment we’d miss if it disappeared, a weekly return to the one event that everything else rests on.
What It Looks Like From Your Seat as a Visitor
Currently, we serve the elements of the Lord’s supper in individual disposable cups. These are available in the front lobby or will be passed out to those who need them during the service. Each cup contains the bread and the fruit of the vine. At the appropriate time, after a prayer of thanks, all the members will eat the bread together. After another prayer, everyone will drink the cup.
You’re completely free to take part or to simply watch and silently reflect in your own way. The Lord’s Supper is for those who want to remember Jesus. No one requires a guest to partake, and no one is checking to see what you do. Feel free to sit with your own thoughts and let the moment be what it is. Or, you are welcome to join us in this memorial celebration.
Keep Studying
If you’d like to know the Lord’s Supper more deeply, the best place to look is the New Testament itself, where Jesus gave it and the first Christians observed it: ; ; ; . Read those passages at whatever pace suits you, and bring any questions with you when you visit.
Come Study the Bible With Us
There’s a real steadiness in coming back, week after week, to the one thing that gives life its meaning, and it’s part of what we’ve found at the Decker Prairie church of Christ. A busy life can still feel hollow, but purpose and belonging grow in a church family. If any of this stirs a question, we’d love to study it with you.
Plan your visit. Come as you are, there’s already a seat for you.
Want to know what the Bible says about being saved? Start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 10:00 am · Bible Class 5:00 pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7:30 pm
