Do This is an initiative within the Uniting Church in Australia seeking to prompt reflection on our practices in the celebration of the Eucharist.
On the surface, the Do This project asks: Why does the Uniting Church generally only celebrate Holy Communion on a monthly basis in places where there are authorised celebrants who could celebrate weekly?
Our Basis of Union remarks,
The Uniting Church acknowledges that the continuing presence of Christ with his people is signified and sealed by Christ in the Lord’s Supper or the Holy Communion, constantly repeated in the life of the Church. In this sacrament of his broken body and outpoured blood the risen Lord feeds his baptized people on their way to the final inheritance of the Kingdom. Thus the people of God, through faith and the gift and power of the Holy Spirit, have communion with their Saviour, make their sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, proclaim the Lord’s death, grow together into Christ, are strengthened for their participation in the mission of Christ in the world, and rejoice in the foretaste of the Kingdom which Christ will bring to consummation.
The driving assumption of the project is that this kind of feeding and strengthening can only be good for Uniting Church congregations and faith communities and, in view of that, it makes more sense if weekly celebration of the Eucharist were the norm in the principal services of its communities.
This site is offered as a resource to those interested in exploring the question of a weekly Eucharist in their own patch. The Do This project is particularly for Uniting Church ministers, congregations and other ministries, but would be broadly applicable to anyone interested in further exploring the celebration of the Eucharist in their local community.
We’re just beginning, and the first few months of 2018 will see the addition of a number of resources to assist congregations in considering a shift in their worship practice; sign up to our contact list to keep informed of new materials and reflections (at the bottom of this page).