It's simple and quiet. Someone offers a short prayer of thanks, trays with a small piece of unleavened bread pass down each row, then trays with the fruit of the vine, and everyone takes a few minutes to reflect on the death of Jesus. We observe it every Sunday, and the whole thing usually takes only a few minutes. There's no ceremony to it beyond remembering.
If you've never seen it, or you're used to it looking very different, here's exactly what happens when you visit us in Honesdale, and why we do it this way.
What's on the tray
Two simple things. The bread is unleavened, meaning it's made without yeast, like a thin cracker; that's the kind of bread Jesus used at the Passover meal where He gave the Supper. The cup is the fruit of the vine—grape juice. Jesus called it that Himself: “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).
You might wonder why we use juice rather than wine, since Jesus's own words don't specify. That's a conviction we hold for ourselves, not a claim we make from the text: we'd rather not put a stumbling block in front of a brother or sister who struggles with alcohol, and we don't want anything on the tray that could keep someone from taking part. Nothing about it is fancy, because the elements were never meant to be the point. What they represent is.
What it means
The Lord's Supper is a memorial Jesus gave 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” (1 Corinthians 11:24). 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” (1 Corinthians 11:25).
So the bread points to His body and the cup to His blood. Together they look back to the cross and, as Paul adds, forward in hope: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). It isn't a snack and it isn't a full meal. It's a moment of remembrance.
Some people call this “communion,” and that word carries the right instinct. Paul used the Greek word koinonia—shared participation—to describe it: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16). Whatever word you use, the idea is the same. This isn't something you watch. It's something you share in.
Why it's so quiet
You'll notice the room goes still during the Supper. That's because the New Testament frames it as a time to look inward: “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). People bow their heads, pray silently, or read a passage on their own. No one is performing and no one is watching you. It's a few unhurried minutes set apart for reflection.
Why every Sunday
Many visitors are used to communion once a month or a few times a year, so weekly observance surprises them. We follow 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” (Acts 20:7). “To break bread” there most likely refers to the Lord's Supper, and taking it was a reason the Christians gathered on the first day of the week. That's a conviction we hold for ourselves, not a verdict on churches who observe it on a different schedule. We'd simply rather keep the New Testament pattern than set one of our own.
Does taking it every week make it routine? For most of us it works the other way. It becomes a steady appointment we'd miss if it were gone—a weekly return to the one event everything else depends on.
What it looks like from your seat as a visitor
You'll see the trays pass quietly, first the bread, then the cup, handed from person to person down the row. When they reach you, you're completely free to take part or to simply pass them along. The Lord's Supper is for those who follow Christ, so no one expects a guest to partake, and no one will watch to see what you do. You're welcome to sit with your own thoughts and take in the moment.
One honest note: we're an independent congregation, simply Christians, with no denomination or headquarters speaking for us. We can only tell you how we understand and observe the Lord's Supper here. What we've described is how we read it in the New Testament, and you're welcome to open the text and check it against what you see. If your home church observes it differently, we're not asking you to set that aside—only offering you a window into how we've come to understand it.
Come see for yourself
If you'd like to understand 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 your own pace, and bring any questions with you when you visit Christians in Honesdale. You'll never be put on the spot, and you're welcome exactly as you are.
Plan to visit us on a Sunday — come as you are; no one will single you out.
Want to talk it through first? Schedule a Bible study, in person or online.
When we meet: