World Communion Sunday is this coming Sunday

 Sunday October 3 is World Communion Sunday.  

As all my friends know, I am an amateur sleuth where World Communion Sunday is concerned.  Back in the 1990s I researched its history.  I had the joy of speaking with members of Shadyside Presbyterian Church and their families who remembered its origins there in 1933.  It was good to hear how the celebration came into being, and to record as much as I could learn about it.

You can find the article elsewhere on my blog and reprinted in other places as well.

Many many years later, I had the joy of serving as the Interim Senior Minister at Shadyside.  As one of my seminary friends said to me, "John, you are doing your dream job!"  And he was correct.  It was a delightful two years that was also the culmination of forty years of ordained ministry.  

Over the years, talking about World Communion  Sunday has been a part of who I am, as a lifelong friend of Shadyside.  Fast forward to the middle of the night, last night, when I received an email from Peter Bodnar who is the Director of Communications at Shadyside.  His message included the information that the new Senior Minister who has her inaugural Sunday this Sunday, was hoping to wear one of these discs, as part of the worship service, since the day is World Communion Sunday.  But, there were no discs to be found at the church.  

This came as a surprise to me.  I know that at one time all the ministers wore them.  On World Communion Sunday 2019, I wore one of them, which had been given to me personally.  I had encouraged the associate minsters to wear theirs, but they were reluctant to do so.  Even so, it seemed clear that they had them.  What's become of them since is something of an unanswered question.

At any rate, first thing this morning, I found my "Cal Wilson" disc in the home office, and then called Rev. Shelley and told her that I wanted to send it to her, for her use this Sunday, and whenever thereafter she deemed it appropriate.  

So, off to the USPS I went, and it is on the way - overnight mail.  It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so it will be there for Sunday's worship.

Here is the note that I sent with the World Wide Communion Disc today:

World Wide Communion Disc

Just a little bit history on this disk. It was created to be worn by the pastors of Shadyside Presbyterian Church on world communion Sunday. The inscription on the disc conforms with the inscription on the much larger disc in the center of the chancel at Shadyside.

When Calvin Coolidge Wilson was Associate Pastor at Shadyside, he spearheaded the creation of these. At about the same time, I researched and wrote an article that was published in the Presbyterian Association Musicians journal, outlining the history of World Communion Sunday.  When Cal retired from Shadyside, the church gave him a disc as a retirement gift keepsake. And then many years later, I had the joy of serving at Shadyside as the Interim Senior Minister.

In 2019, Cal was moving to be closer to his family, leaving the Pittsburgh area. One day he surprised me by coming to visit me at the church. In his hand was a box; in the box was his World Communion disc and chain. He knew how much I appreciated the history, and want to make sure that I had it, for myself.

It is a real treasure and a wonderful keepsake.

But even more, it’s part of the history of Shadyside Presbyterian Church. And I feel it’s very appropriate and fitting that it return to the church and be kept there for use on whatever World Communion Sundays the Senior Minister chooses to use it. Especially I think it’s a lovely item for this coming Sunday, as Reverend Shelley begins her time as Senior Minister.

So I hope that everyone through the years that has an opportunity to wear it at Shadyside will do so with joy, and appreciation the ongoing vitality and creativity of the congregation.