Oranges for Communion

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

Have you ever heard of this--Go into the fellowship hall, where the tables for dinners are--slice up your oranges and have communion.
There was one particular thing that really confused me about it.
Have you ever heard of this?

[Wilson L. Deaton]

Have you ever heard of this--Go into the fellowship hall, where the tables for dinners are--slice up your oranges and have communion.
There was one particular thing that really confused me about it.
Have you ever heard of this?

I wasn't there, so I don't know the context but I wonder if the person who said it was using the term "communion" in it's "normal" sense of, "sharing or particapating together (almost a synonym for fellowship)" as opposed to using it for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Wilson

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

It was an ordained Nazarene pastor with an earned doctorate. I did not really feel that it was appropriate to be used a Communion. I had never thought of anything like that. but, I was thinking of the fact that an orange is certainly not a fruit of the vine. I listened, and did not show any shock--on the outside. I understood that they laughed and talked, as if in fellowship, and he considered it their communion. I don't imagine he learned that at NTS, even though he did graduate from there.

[Steven Martinez]

I think we need some more information of what the person said. Your first post is a bit choppy.

[Laurie Florence]

Maybe oranges were used because when you peel them, they are in sections and so condusive to sharing?:fav03

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

We were not at the communion. We were told about it by the minister that did it this way. They set around a table and ate orange slices for their communion. Since he considered it actual communion, surely he read the usual scriptures, and prayed.

[Jon Twitchell]

I'm not sure that any of us here, unless we were also there, are in any position to comment on this.

While I'd like to throw out some speculations or ideas, since I wasn't there, I'm not sure that it would be at all helpful.

I guess, perhaps, exploring the topic further with the pastor with whom you were talking would be the best course of action....

[Greg Farra]

That sounds rather unusual, and I don't know if we have enough info to be sure about it. I would say that the Lord's Supper is a holy experience, and should be conducted in way that is reverent to the Lord. Unless there are some extraordinary circumstances, bread and wine (non-alcoholic in Naz churches) should be used as the elements.

I did hear of a Lutheran pastor who stopped at a gas station and got Little Debbies to be used on a retreat. He was banned from serving in the future.

[Eric Frey]

I can't comment on this particular, but orthodox sacramental theology requires the correct matter and the correct form... ie for Holy Communion there must be bread and wine and there must be the words of institution as well as a prayer of consecration. Or in baptism there must be water and a Trinitarian formula. If either is lacking it is not a sacrament.

So if I dunk a person in a 55 gallon drum of crude oil and do it in the name of the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" then it is not baptism. Likewise, if I sprinkle someone with water but only do it in the name of Jesus then it is not baptism either.

Communion is the same way. Little Debbies and Koolaide (or oranges for that matter... pun intended) do not communion make. Nor is bread and wine without the words of institution and a prayer of consecration.

[Barbara Moulton]

I can't comment on this particular, but orthodox sacramental theology requires the correct matter and the correct form... ie for Holy Communion there must be bread and wine and there must be the words of institution as well as a prayer of consecration. Or in baptism there must be water and a Trinitarian formula. If either is lacking it is not a sacrament.

So if I dunk a person in a 55 gallon drum of crude oil and do it in the name of the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" then it is not baptism. Likewise, if I sprinkle someone with water but only do it in the name of Jesus then it is not baptism either.

Communion is the same way. Little Debbies and Koolaide (or oranges for that matter... pun intended) do not communion make. Nor is bread and wine without the words of institution and a prayer of consecration.

I can't comment on orange slices but a priest told me once she was visiting with a terminally ill friend who desperately wanted to receive communion from her. All she had was fruit juice and digestive cookies but she used those and felt God's presence as she ministered to her friend.

So, using orange slices just for the sake of doing something different is something with which I would not agree. But I believe God is big enough to encompass necessary variations if the situation requires it.

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

The oranges for communion didn't seem right to me, but I did not want to show anything on my face, so I just listened.

We may see that minister this week end, but I may hate to ask him about it. He is retired now--ordained elder.

God understands if you have to improvise. We had to use a styro foam cup at a hospital once, to sprinkle a lady who had been raised Cathlolic. She later committed suicide.

I understand when you have to improvise, and God does too.

[Dave McClung]

The oranges for communion didn't seem right to me, but I did not want to show anything on my face, so I just listened.

We may see that minister this week end, but I may hate to ask him about it. He is retired now--ordained elder.

God understands if you have to improvise. We had to use a styro foam cup at a hospital once, to sprinkle a lady who had been raised Cathlolic. She later committed suicide.

I understand when you have to improvise, and God does too.

Anne, I decided to see if there were other who use oranges for communion so I put "oranges for communion" in Google. Guess what I found -- only NazNet.

[Mark Metcalfe]

...a priest told me once she was visiting with a terminally ill friend who desperately wanted to receive communion from her. All she had was fruit juice and digestive cookies but she used those and felt God's presence as she ministered to her friend.

So, using orange slices just for the sake of doing something different is something with which I would not agree. But I believe God is big enough to encompass necessary variations if the situation requires it.

I agree with Barbara completely. There is a purpose in the consistency of ritual and the matter used in ritual. Diverting from it for the sake of "doing something different" departs from the community of faith and enters a personal (perhaps even prideful) interpretation. As for using what is available, the thief on the cross was not baptized and was in paradise that day, and if the only thing available in special circumstance (for example, two loaves and five fish), it will still serve God's purpose.

Mark

[Eric Frey]

The question at hand hardly sounded like exceptional circumstances, for which provision is always made.