St. Mark's Lutheran Church
628 E. Chester Pike, Ridley Park, PA  19078

Holy Communion (Membership)

On the night he was betrayed, our Lord instituted a blessed Sacrament, in which we partake of his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins under bread and wine. In this sacrament all Christians remember and proclaim Jesus’ death until he returns (Luke 22:17-20, 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Our Small Catechism teaches that this Sacrament of the Altar is “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and the wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink” (Sacrament of the Altar, Article I).

Those who participate in this Sacrament are to do so worthily, or else come under the judgment of the Lord. Paul writes that we ought to “judge ourselves” so that “we would not come under judgment” (1 Cor. 11:27-31, NIV). This judgment is to be done by the pastor in concert with the congregation, as Jesus commanded in John: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:22-23, NIV). The Small Catechism also teaches that…

…when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent…this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us himself (Confession, Article V, The Office of the Keys).

Dr. Martin Luther wrote “[Christ] let the sermon go to the crowd, to everyone, as also the apostles did later, so that all heard, believers and unbelievers…We must also do it that way. But the Sacrament should not be cast in that way among the people…I…must be certain that the one to whom I give the Sacrament has grasped the Gospel and believes it uprightly” (Easter Day: “On the Reception of the Holy Sacrament”, Walther, p.109).

Dr. C.F.W. Walther, first president of the Missouri Synod, wrote “We have sadly experienced that not a few preachers who call themselves ‘Lutherans,’ when they have prepared the holy table for the Sacrament, invite…anyone who wants to come and admit them without any examination of their faith and life (in the opinion that this is truly evangelical)” (Walther, p.108). He also writes, “The Holy Supper is one of the marks…of the church…In whichever church one receives the holy Supper, one is confessing that church and its doctrine” (Walther, p110).

Guided by Holy Scripture, the confessions of the Lutheran Church, and sound Lutheran teaching, we believe the following with regards to who should receive the Sacrament of the Altar: Those who should come to the Lord’s Table at St. Mark’s are those who:

I. Have been baptized,
II. Have been instructed in the faith confessed by this congregation as taught in the Holy Scriptures and the Book of Concord and as they have learned it from the Small Catechism,
III. Have publicly confirmed and accepted this faith,
IV. Are not members of another congregation not in fellowship with ours,
V. Are not members of an organization antithetical to Christian teachings, and
VI. Are not committing ongoing sin after repeated admonitions,
VII. Understand the constitution's requirements for membership.
 

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