Once-a-month Holy Communion is common in United Methodist churches, but for years Groveport UMC did things differently. We celebrated Communion on both the first and second Sundays of each month. Ask why, and you could hear several theories, though nobody seemed certain. We now celebrate Communion on the first Sunday of each month. The unanswered question of why we once celebrated twice a month leads to a larger one: Why has monthly Communion become so common?
The answer begins on the American frontier. In the late 1700s and 1800s, settlements were far apart, roads were poor, and many communities could not support a pastor. A circuit rider was a preacher assigned to scattered congregations and preaching places called a circuit. Some riders traveled among a dozen or more stops, while the largest circuits could include 20 or even 30. They carried what they could in their saddlebags and depended on Methodist families for meals and a bed.
That life could get complicated. In 1836, a young Ohio circuit rider named Harvey Sweney wrote to his presiding elder to explain why marriage seemed wise. His clothes, he complained, were scattered among the homes where he stayed. A wife could help him become more organized and “be more useful and live better.” He also mentioned temptation and young women who kept placing themselves in his path. Sweney made marriage sound mainly like a solution to misplaced laundry and an overcrowded social calendar.
A circuit rider’s travel schedule often became the congregation’s Communion schedule. Lay preachers and traveling preachers without sacramental authority could lead worship and keep the congregation going. Holy Communion usually had to wait until an ordained elder arrived. Depending on the circuit, Communion might be offered monthly, every other month, or, for many early American Methodists, only once each quarter.
As towns grew and circuits became smaller, churches gained resident pastors who could offer Communion more often. However, traditions tend to stick around for a long, long time. I grew up in a United Methodist church during the 1980s that had three full-time pastors. Even with three pastors available, we received Holy Communion only once each quarter. By then, the quarterly schedule was simply an old tradition passed from one generation to the next.
The Bible gives us the command and leaves the calendar open. At the Last Supper, Jesus told his followers, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 records those words, and Paul repeats them in 1 Corinthians 11:24–25. Scripture tells the church to keep sharing this meal without assigning it to a particular Sunday.
John Wesley, the Anglican priest who helped begin the Methodist movement, encouraged Christians to receive Communion often. He called it “the food of our souls” and understood it as a means of grace, one of the ways God meets us and helps us grow in faith.
So why once a month? As churches began talking about offering Communion more often, people did not always agree on the schedule. Some wanted to receive Communion every week. Others wanted to keep the traditional quarterly pattern. Celebrating once a month became a practical compromise between the two. I wish there were a more dramatic reason, but there you go. Sometimes church traditions are shaped by practical decisions.
Once a month works well for us at Groveport UMC. The United Methodist Church does not require every congregation to follow the same schedule. Holy Communion remains a means of grace and part of our discipleship, whether a church celebrates weekly, monthly, or quarterly. If you have another question you would like answered, please email me at rbirk2011@gmail.com.
Blessings,
Pastor Rick
