There are many reasons to make Holy Communion easily
available to those in need. Some of the reasons are the
following:
To make Holy Communion available in the most
inclusive way possible.
To provide Holy Communion when the potential
communicant feels the greatest need.
To allow access to Holy Communion to members and
friends who are home-bound.
To ensure that people who are institutionalized due
to illness, incarceration, or other problems have
access to Holy Communion.
To help those away due to educational,
military, business, or other institutional issues to
continue to participate in the most important
worship experience of a worshiping community.
To reach out to those not affiliated with the
Christian church to provide an additional channel to
seek God’s love.
To help educate all people concerning the importance
of Holy Communion as a central rite of the church.
To provide an authentic, accessible, and passionate worship experience
available to everyone.
The need for such a Communion service may come about due
to ill health, travel, or other issues that pervade the
modern world. In such situations it may not be possible
to get a pastor to attend to such a need quickly. According to
Robert Shnase, people "are searching for worship that is authentic,
alive, creative, and comprehensible, where they experience the
life-changing presence of God ..." (Five Practices of Fruitful
Congregations [Abingdon, 2007]). The web offers us a medium to
take authentic worship to those, who for whatever reasons, are not
consistently part of the institutional church.
There are many reasons to make Holy Communion easily
available to those in need. Some of the reasons are the
following: