Our Parish Eucharist
At the heart of our life together as the gathered community at All Saints is the Parish Eucharist (from a Greek word meaning ‘Thanksgiving’), where we hear bible readings, sing and pray together and share in the Bread and Wine of Holy Communion.
We believe that as we do this Jesus Christ is truly present with us. So as he welcomed everyone who turned to him, at the Eucharist we welcome everyone to our Christian community of the baptised. The Eucharist is central to our worship because among the very few commandments that Jesus gave us is the one he said as he broke bread and shared wine with his friends at the last supper on the night he was betrayed - "Do this in remembrance of me". So as we worship we are nourished by Christ’s own body and blood which is really present when we recall that great event.
But the nourishment is not purely individual. As the community celebrates the Eucharist we are also built up into the body through which Christ can engage with our times. We re-member him in a dynamic sense. We do not merly recall his teaching and appearing long ago and far away. We re-member him among us amidst the dis-membering forces of our world. We become "very members" of the body of Christ and members one of another. The truth is that Christ "re-members" us as a community in which all other distinctions are transcended by our new life in Christ.
We are not simply acting out something Jesus did, we are receiving what he promised – the grace to lift us up as we anticipate the gift of eternal life. Holy Communion is not something the church "puts on" to cater for our "religious" needs and feelings. It is the way appointed by Christ in which the world itself is "re-membered" through the growth of his body, the church. Christians have in the past argued about precisely how this happens, but we all agree that the Eucharistic liturgy is essentially a meaningful statement to the world of who we are and hope to become, therefore obeying Jesus’ command is an integral part of our Christian discipleship.
Different churches celebrate the Eucharist in different ways. At the Parish Eucharist at All Saints we use the contemporary order authorised by the Church of England known as Common Worship Order One. We believe that the Eucharist builds the church while at the same time establishing her unity with Christ and with other parts of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to which we, as members of the Church of England, claim to belong. We know of course that the church is fragmented as a result of human sin. The one Church for which Jesus prayed was present at the Last Supper and it is also our destiny. The One Church belongs to God’s future and prayer and work for Christian unity is not an optional hobby for ecumenical enthusiasts but an integral part of our prayer for the coming of the Kingdom alongside our brothers and sisters from other denominations.
In the Church of England, a diocese represents a developed form of the local church in which all the fullness of Christian truth and life is present. Through the bishop the local church strives for communion with the Church throughout the whole world. All Saints is in the Diocese of Oxford, and so we remember John and Alan, who are our local Bishops, in our prayers at the Eucharist as a sign of that communion.
So you are welcome to join us, and to join with the whole church as we offer thanksgiving for Jesus Christ and for the gifts of grace and eternal life that we receive from him in the Eucharist.
"Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6.53-4)
We believe that as we do this Jesus Christ is truly present with us. So as he welcomed everyone who turned to him, at the Eucharist we welcome everyone to our Christian community of the baptised. The Eucharist is central to our worship because among the very few commandments that Jesus gave us is the one he said as he broke bread and shared wine with his friends at the last supper on the night he was betrayed - "Do this in remembrance of me". So as we worship we are nourished by Christ’s own body and blood which is really present when we recall that great event.
But the nourishment is not purely individual. As the community celebrates the Eucharist we are also built up into the body through which Christ can engage with our times. We re-member him in a dynamic sense. We do not merly recall his teaching and appearing long ago and far away. We re-member him among us amidst the dis-membering forces of our world. We become "very members" of the body of Christ and members one of another. The truth is that Christ "re-members" us as a community in which all other distinctions are transcended by our new life in Christ.
We are not simply acting out something Jesus did, we are receiving what he promised – the grace to lift us up as we anticipate the gift of eternal life. Holy Communion is not something the church "puts on" to cater for our "religious" needs and feelings. It is the way appointed by Christ in which the world itself is "re-membered" through the growth of his body, the church. Christians have in the past argued about precisely how this happens, but we all agree that the Eucharistic liturgy is essentially a meaningful statement to the world of who we are and hope to become, therefore obeying Jesus’ command is an integral part of our Christian discipleship.
Different churches celebrate the Eucharist in different ways. At the Parish Eucharist at All Saints we use the contemporary order authorised by the Church of England known as Common Worship Order One. We believe that the Eucharist builds the church while at the same time establishing her unity with Christ and with other parts of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to which we, as members of the Church of England, claim to belong. We know of course that the church is fragmented as a result of human sin. The one Church for which Jesus prayed was present at the Last Supper and it is also our destiny. The One Church belongs to God’s future and prayer and work for Christian unity is not an optional hobby for ecumenical enthusiasts but an integral part of our prayer for the coming of the Kingdom alongside our brothers and sisters from other denominations.
In the Church of England, a diocese represents a developed form of the local church in which all the fullness of Christian truth and life is present. Through the bishop the local church strives for communion with the Church throughout the whole world. All Saints is in the Diocese of Oxford, and so we remember John and Alan, who are our local Bishops, in our prayers at the Eucharist as a sign of that communion.
So you are welcome to join us, and to join with the whole church as we offer thanksgiving for Jesus Christ and for the gifts of grace and eternal life that we receive from him in the Eucharist.
"Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6.53-4)
