Church divided on grape juice, wine

Erica Virtue, Staff Reporter

"THE church's one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord..." but apparently a St. James congregation is divided on what drink should be served at communion.

A disagreement over whether wine or grape juice should be served at the Irwin Moravian Church, Irwin, St. James, has driven a wedge in the congregation, with the pro-wine faction boycotting communion. They claim they have been betrayed by the church's leadership.

Communion is one of the holiest acts of spiritual commitment to the body of Christ in Christian churches worldwide.

Abstinence

The Sunday Gleaner understands that since December last year, some members of the congregation have stopped taking communion, after a decision was taken by the Council of Elders to stop serving wine at communion.

Grape juice was the substitute chosen, but because the church's membership was reportedly not consulted first, this resulted in a stand-off. So for the last eight months, the pro-wine half have been excusing themselves when the grape juice is being served.

Although some members have repented their sin of defiance, several others say they have decided to let the cup pass from them, because grape juice was not a symbol of the blood of Christ.

Asked if the issue was not one of faith, a member said, "My dear, Jesus no have no say in this. Him just take a back seat and is watching what is going on, because is the church members them run things."

Another said that the dispute was only one in a series to hit that particular congregation in recent times, forcing the denomination's national leader, the Rev'd Stanley Clarke to travel from Kingston to Montego Bay in an effort to solve other simmering issues.

A disappointed Rev'd Clarke told The Sunday Gleaner last week that the matter was an internal one, and expressed annoyance that the pro-wine group had made the matter public.

"It seems to me that there are persons within our fold who believe that they will not accept the decision of the local church, nor their church administration and they want to get their own publicity," the Rev'd Mr. Clarke said.

According to him, "It does not matter, whether you use grape juice, or wine or water, which is a common practice throughout the Christendom...

"Already we are in for quite a bit of uncharitable comments by the general public. We are causing the public to believe that what is going on in the church is a rambling, and conflict and confusion, just because some people are unwilling to submit themselves to the discipline of the church.

"...It is immaterial to be concerned with what is served for communion," he declared. "What about their souls? What is their relationship with God? Their brothers and sister in the church? Why are they taking a simple, non-essential matter as what you drink at communion to public debate? We are just embarrassing ourselves..."

Asked if the individuals did not have a right of say in the church, he said it was not true that church decisions were undemocratic.

The Rev'd Devon Anglin, pastor of the Irwin Moravian Church, said a minority in the church was abstaining from communion because grape juice was the chosen drink.

"When the matter came up, we decided to take it to a congregational meeting to decide which drink we should serve. The vote was for grape juice and we decided to use that instead of wine. It was not a one-man vote," he said.

According to him, it was decided first at the elders' board, and a majority decision carried, although there were some dissenting voices.

He said the matter was discussed, and at least three votes were taken at the congregational level and the elders' level, before the change was made.

The Rev'd Mr. Anglin said that several pastors and even the bishop of the church have had a long history of opposition on different issues in the church. He said opposition was centred on some members who believe that their views and opinions must supersede all others.

He said, the opposition did not affect his relationship with the membership, because they were all one family, and in families opposition must be expected.

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