From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!tekmdp!dadla!dadla-b!hutch
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Re: Hutchinson and Religious Matters
Article-I.D.: dadla-b.324
Posted: Thu Feb  3 11:52:03 1983
Received: Sun Feb  6 00:32:17 1983

First, a minor point, but one dear to my heart, my name is spelled
Hutchison, not Hutchinson.  This has caused me considerable trouble
with the local phone company, since there is a Stephen Hutchinson
who lives in Beaverton, apparently even on the same road I live on.

Regarding nonchristians being given communion, I can say from my personal
experience that there are cchurches which serve Communion to nonchristians.
I attended a Methodist church in my childhood, before I accepted Christ.

This was, for me, a social thing.  I took communion those once-per-month
times it was served.  The only thing I was ever told about it was that it
was a matter of my own conscience and that it was not required.  After a
while, I stopped.  It made me too uncomfortable.

The point is, most churches have a prayer with confession before they do
serve communion,  although I am not sure about any flavor of Catholic church.
Since they have a separate ritual of confession, I suspect that they have
at best a minor prayer of confession.

Yes, some churches are more responsible than others about making sure that
the Holy Communion is not given to unbelievers.  Incidentally, the theology
of Communion has traditionally dealt with it as a sacrament.  Those churches
which refer to it as a memorial are using the phrasing from the last supper
where Jesus said "Do this in remembrance of Me."   The two terms are NOT
mutually exclusive.  A sacrament is any ritual which is sacred, i.e. set
aside as special to God.

Steve Hutchison