The morning communion rush
Since the New Year, I've been stopping at the Chicago Temple
on Wednesday mornings for communion. For at least 40 years, this downtown
United Methodist church has offered communion to city dwellers and commuters
during the morning rush. At 7:30, Phil Blackwell--who inherited the
tradition--consecrates the elements with whomever happens to be in the room at
the moment. For the next 90 minutes, communion and a simple prayer are offered
for anyone who walks in.
The communion, offered without a traditional liturgy, could
very well have an "express lane" feel. When I first heard about this communal
rite, I wondered: theologically, what is communion absent community?
Culturally, why do I and others imagine we don't have time for liturgy?
Ecclesiastically, what is communion that is all take (on my part) and no give?
But Blackwell and associate pastors Claude King and Wendy
Witt all say the early-morning communion is a personal highlight of their
ministries. Sixty thousand people walk by the corner of Washington and La Salle
every day, says Blackwell, and even if 59,500 knew about the communion, they
wouldn't be interested. But for those few who come in out of the cold, the
heat, the wind and the hubbub of the city, the sense of sanctuary is palpable.
