Why is it important to have communion even if I’m not going to church?

The Lord’s Supper is one of the most personal gifts Christ gives to His people — bread and wine, body and blood. It is not a symbol of something distant. It is Christ Himself, present and given for you for the forgiveness of sins. That intimacy is exactly why it matters so much, especially when you cannot be in the pew.

For many aging adults, the inability to attend worship regularly can carry a quiet grief and a sense of being on the outside of something that once formed the rhythm of your life. Communion speaks directly into that grief. It says you have not been forgotten. You are still part of the Body of Christ. His table reaches further than the walls of any church building.

The Lord’s Supper is not something we do for God; it is something God does for us. He comes to us in it. That means when a pastor brings communion to your home, hospital room, or care facility, the gift is no less real and no less complete than what is celebrated on Sunday morning in your home church.

If you have not been receiving communion and would like to, please reach out to your church. If you don’t have a local church, please contact us at Worship Anew so that we can help connect you to a church in your area. Many are eager to serve in exactly this way and that visit may open a door to a connection you did not expect.

How do I go about finding a home church, even if I can’t go to church?

It may seem like a contradiction: finding a church home when attending church isn’t possible. But membership in a congregation was never meant to be defined by whether you can walk through the doors on Sunday. A church family is precisely that: a family. And families show up for one another, including members who cannot show up themselves.

A good place to start is the LCMS church locator at locator.lcms.org, which allows you to search by zip code for Lutheran congregations near you. Once you have a name or two, a simple phone call to the church office is enough to begin. You don’t need to explain everything at once. Saying “I’m not able to attend in person, but I’m looking for a pastor and a congregation to be connected to” is more than enough to open a conversation.

What you are looking for is a congregation that will come to you through pastoral visits, communion, phone calls, or maybe even a deaconess or lay minister who checks in regularly. These connections exist in more congregations than people realize. You belong in a church family, and pastors are trained and called to care for their flock.

A note from the Editor ...

In our letters to the editor section, we would like to answer any and all questions that you have about Scripture, aging well, and our ministry. Please send your questions to editor@worshipanew.org. Please know that we will try to answer as many questions as we can. Thank you and enjoy!