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| Sieger Köder |
1. What does the Lord's supper/ Eucharist mean to you?
Holy Communion—communion with Spirit,
with community, with self. It is a re-membering
of Christ’s broken body—no longer broken when we gather and work for God’s Shalom…
2. How important is preparation for this, and what form
does it take?
Our congregation allows “any and all”
to come to the Table—“no matter who you are or where you are life’s journey.”
The significant part for me is the sharing
with others and honoring what Jesus was striving to create (even as a kid I
loved “playing” communion with my juice and bread).
3. What does baptism mean to you?
For me it is a welcoming into a wider
family of faith, one where we all make covenant with the one being baptized,
and s/he is making covenant (or parents are making covenant) with the community
of faith—promising to seek, teach, live the Gospel as best we’re able—failing
and returning, failing and returning…
4. How important is preparation for baptism and what form
does it take?
It’s important for me to hear how the
one being baptized (or parents) understands this sacrament, and for them to
hear that our congregation does not consider it a cleansing of original sin to
keep the person from going to hell. Rather, it is a covenant with God and
community and self that is real, not
just a one-time, “yeah, I did that.” I’m preparing a couple confirmands for
their baptism, and they are taking the questions more seriously than most
parents—I love this!
5. A quote/ poem/ song that brings you before God in a
sacramental way, and helps you to engage at a deeper level...
Tears
of connection and mystery came when I found this poem by The Reverend
Dr. Alla Renee Bozarth several years ago:
Maria Sacerdota—
Mary, Protopriest of the New Covenant
Before Jesus
was his mother.
Before supper
in the upper
room,
breakfast in
the barn.
Before the
Passover Feast,
a feeding
trough.
And here, the
altar
of earth, fair
linens
of hay and
seed.
Before his cry,
her cry.
Before his
sweat
of blood, her
bleeding
and tears.
Before his
offering, hers.
Before the
breaking
of bread and
death,
the breaking of
her
body in birth.
Before the
offering
of the cup,
the offering of
her
breast.
Before his
blood,
her blood.
And by her body
and blood
alone, his body
and blood
and whole human
being.
The wise ones
knelt
to hear the
woman's word
in wonder.
Holding up her
sacred child,
her God in the
form of a babe,
she said:
"Receive and let
your hearts be
healed
and your lives
be filled
with Love, for
this is my
body,
this is my
blood."
