Last week we were in Paris for a much needed get away. While there we visited the Cluny Museum which is dedicated to medieval (mostly ecclesiastical) art and artifacts. The museum is well planned and does have some fantastic pieces – ivories, the famous “lady & the unicorn” tapestries, and a great collection of medieval enamel work (a current interest of mine as I’m learning how to do it myself). Unfortunately, for both of us, after the 50th pot bellied carving/statue of the Virgin one simply wants to escape! This, from a Marian scholar, is I think rather telling (grin).

Along our escape route we found “this” (pictured) amongst a rack of other waffle irons. If you’re still puzzled – “this” is a medieval host-maker. I’ve always been fascinated by the history of the Western tradition’s manufacture and use of these characterless, tasteless, insubstantial, bone white discs of dried glue. This is the first time I’ve seen a medieval example of the method of host production.

As you may have guessed I am not a flat-jesus (nor for that matter a flat-earth) believer. Yes, it is true we are an Eastern community, so our bread will be leavened; but, and this is a big but, even if you come from a Western community – don’t you think that the leavened/unleavened bread of the Eucharist ought to be “REAL” bread? I do!

When you go to your local church supply to buy your pink or tope box of “ghostie toasties” (usually enough to last any OC/IC community for six months!) have you never thought of how these tasteless, pasty, discs are made? Monastic elves perhaps – sitting in their dank caves under the city cutting out cardboard circles? Enslaved women and children in a S.E. Asian sweat shop maybe? No no . . . a MACHINE! It is the most impersonal, in hospitable process possible. Even if there’s a smiling monk or nun pushing the button – it is still a machine. Am I the only believer who finds this . . .contradictory to the whole ethos of “Eucharist”? I doubt it very much. But, we have inherited the ubiquitous ghostie toastie and so few question it. “It is how we have always done it.”

There is another issue here which is worth a moment of reflection: the money spent on your pastel box of Christ Crispies goes to support another church – probably a church that looks upon our communities with haughty disdain. Do you really want to contribute to their coffers, when they do not respect our tradition, as we respect theirs? Granted it is not that much money, but the point is symbolic – as is the Eucharist.

The other day – when I opened the proverbial cathedral door and invited you to ask whatever thoughtful questions you had about things OC/IC – John Plummer posed a long standing, but very worthwhile question – what makes us indie folk distinctly different from the other churches? I have a long list – and am sifting through them to pick, what I think are the choicest ones – but herein lies an important example. The oft heard line “It is how we’ve always done it” – holds no water in our communities. Why? The answer is simple – if you, or your congregation is using this line – they have NOT (yet) appropriated an indie identity – but are still thinking with a Roman, Anglican, or [insert your favourite Christian-ism here].

One of the most distinctive characteristics of our OC/IC community is that we are absolutely freed from the tyranny of the “that’s how we’ve always done it” crowd. Anyone who has had enough experience amongst the “big-tent” crowd will know instantly how much of a hinderance to good ministry, and how demoralizing this crowd can be. Most of our local communities have less than 20 people, and many of them have only been “members” for a few years. Obviously this has its negative points – but the biggest positive is easily presented with the example of the Eucharistic bread.

Why do you use “Ghostie Toasties”? Seriously – and if you are answering “that’s what we’ve always done” then please go back to your original church. If, on the other hand – you answer, “I don’t know” or “I’ve never thought about it” then I invite you to keep reading – leave a comment – and possibly take your ideas on this back to your community. Here too is a distinct characteristic of our OC/IC communities: One individual’s thoughtfulenss can have a positive impact on the faith experience of the entire community – on very short notice – the moment of inspiration – is not lost or supressed as it often is in the “big-tent” community.

Why not use real bread? The question is not about using leavened vs. unleavened bread – rather it is about the substance, and the symbolism of that substance. A distinctive characteristic of our OC/IC community is that we are not bound by the rules and customs of Rome, Canterbury, Constantinople, Moscow, Alexandria, or (increasingly) Nirobi. So, why not go to your community and ask – what is the value in continuing to NOT use “REAL” bread? If the answer is “tradition” or “that’s what we’ve always done” then I strongly suggest you either encourage a thoughtful discernment process to answer the question – or find a more thoughtful and engaged community.

Let me take a moment and offer some reasons I believe all OC/IC communities ought to use “real” bread, and not the ubiquitous “Christ Crispies”.

When you consider the symbolism of the Eucharist what comes to mind? Many would say hospitality – and I think that nestled among the many layers of this complex symbol of our faith hospitality is an important image – one that has recieved quite a bit of scholarly attention in the past ten years or so. It is also the “conceptualisation” of Eucharist that often gets in the way of real and substantive dialogue, and union in OC/IC communities. “Why?” simple, because one group will not sit at table with another, because rather than celebrating our shared heritage, many in the current movement, joined for all the wrong reasons – as a reaction against a position in their home churches – if you are one of these folks – please, I am begging you, GO HOME!

Now lets think about hospitality a bit more deeply. Hospitality is about relationships – familiar and freshly emerging. Relationships are about care for, and interest in the “other”. One need not look far in the Gospel Narratives to see how Jesus taught us the importance of this message.

Relationships build and shape community, and community establishes a sense of identity. How better to develop a thoughtful understanding of belonging to, and identifying with a community, than to know that one of the most central symbols of that community, the symbol that strengthens the bonds of relationship within that community, is produced in the community, by its own members.

Hospitality, is about relationships – not just any relationship, but personal face to face relationships. Knowing the face, the voice, even the touch of the one who made the bread is an experience of relationship that cannot be replicated by mechanical means. The Eucharist is about the very personal relationship we share with Christ. Moreover, in our sacramental context, it is about our appropriating (initially through baptism) a “Christ-likeness” and with it, our going out into the World cultivating “Christ-like” relationships with others – the stranger, as well as the familiar other sitting before us.

Real hospitality is substantive – it says to the other, “welcome” in such a way as to be an unforgettable experience. Should not the Eucharistic elements be a part of conveying this “substance”? When we reflect on the message of the Gospel – that (I hope) feeds our every action – do we not agree that this teaching, this example is substantive? If not – then perhaps you ought to consider another faith all together.

Finally, in the ancient tradition, the offerings of the community, the bread, wine, wax/candles, cloth were brought into the worship space and the deacons chose, of the bread and wine, the most appealing samples, and from them the celebrant chose the one that would be offered – the offering in thanksgiving, that is the most representative of all the offerings of the community. You can still see remnants of this practice today in many E. churches, particularly in Coptic churches. What is done with what remains? This becomes the community’s offering to others – the poor, the shut ins, those who do not have enough bread. The elderly, the infirm, the lonely, those who live on a fixed income and “subsist” on the nasty mechanically aerated bricks of gluten called “bread” in today’s supermarkets, their day would be brighter if presented with home-made, bread and a friendly face.

What is distinctive about our communities? Three, five, or twenty, size does not matter, but with this one act of hospitality, of open fellowship, of care for others, a tiny handful of thoughtful people can make a substantive difference for others. It’s about relationships, its about personal interaction, its about the substance of our faith. Here we have it – with a few simple steps we have brought out one of the truest meanings of the Eucharist: encouraging, nourishing, our own self understanding as the living ikon of Christ in the World; just by thinking about, and possibly changing, the mechanics of how we offer, our Eucharistic offering.

It’s time we abandoned the ghostie toastie, and made our own bread!