Supreme Sacrament: The Eucharist

Emily Winsett

February 2, 2004

Every Sunday, one hundred or so people flood the small courtyard and entrance hall of tiny Grace Episcopal Church in Corona, Queens. Early arrivals claim seats in the wooden pews inside and wait for service to begin. After all, the unofficial motto of Grace Church, as written in the weekly bulletin, seems to be "Before worship we talk to God. During worship God talks to us. After worship, we talk to each other."

Grace Church sits demurely on the corner of 34th Avenue and 98th Street in one of the residential areas of Corona. Enclosed by a short black iron fence the church, built in 1908, is a small building with a faded red brick facade and a pair of old wooden doors at its entrance.

Inside, gray and blue slate stones form the church floor. The walls are made of white stucco and the ceiling exposes the dark wooden beams supporting the steeple. Simple stained glass windows depicting the crucifixion of Christ adorn each wall. Next to them hang small wooden plaques on which raised copper images also portray the crucifixion.

Finally, rows of wooden pews line each side of the aisle and face a small, simple apse carpeted in red, where the altar stands. Directly in front of the altar is a thin wooden railing on which parishioners rest their elbows when they kneel to receive the Eucharist.

According to Rev. Leopold Baynes, who has served as the rector of Grace Church for five years, the Eucharist is the supreme sacrament in the Episcopal faith. The Episcopal Church in the United States is part of the Anglican Communion, whose origins date back to the 16th Century when Henry VIII founded the Church of England. A network of 38 churches worldwide make up the Communion, which is governed by a hierarchy of bishops. There is no central power figure. Each church is essentially autonomous, although it remains connected to the larger Communion.

Coming near the end of each service, the ritual of the Eucharist involves the taking of a small bread wafer and a sip of red wine blessed by the priest, who offers it first to God and then to parishioners. Believers take the Eucharist as though the bread is Jesus' body and the wine his blood.

"To us," said Teddy White, 52, who has served as a lay Eucharist minister at Grace for seven years, "it represents Jesus Christ."

The Eucharist begins when the priest receives the "gifts" from two parishioners. The gifts are a gold plate of wafers, or the bread, and a crystal carafe of wine. At Grace Church, standing behind the altar, Rev. Baynes blesses the bread and the wine in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer, which guides believers in the observance of the sacraments, rituals and ceremonies of the Episcopal Church. His words go unheard, as the "offertory hymn" sung by the choir assembled in front of the altar fills the small church.

The congregation does not take part in the blessing. Unable to hear the priest's words, they can only see his movements. Toward the end of the blessing, the priest raises first the host then the wine. He sets them back down on the altar and makes the sign of the cross over them. He then washes his hands which, said White, indicates his readiness to administer the Eucharist.

"It's ritualistic," White said. "Spiritual. That water's been blessed and he's just dipping his hands in real quick and washing them off."

Rev. Baynes returns to the altar and speaks to the congregation, reciting the prayer of thanksgiving, which parallels the story of "the Last Supper," the meal Jesus Christ had with his apostles before he was crucified.

"Take. Eat," says Rev. Baynes standing in front of the congregation, which remains seated, heads bent. The words are supposed to be those Christ used in speaking to his apostles when he shared bread with them. "This is my body which is given to you." With the wine, the words are similar. "Drink this," the priest recites, "All of you. This is the blood of the New Covenant." Rev. Baynes then offers God the gifts and the sacrament of communion through his son, Jesus Christ.

Before receiving the Eucharist, the congregation rises and moves to the aisle. Joining hands, they form small circles and sing the Lord's Prayer. As they recite the closing line, they raise their joined hands shoulder-level. "The circles are for unity," said Lorna Valencia, a 40-year member of Grace Church. "And lifting up our hands is for God and to give thanks."

After the Lord's Prayer, the parishioners return to their seats and then pew by pew, they rise and go to the altar where they kneel side by side on red velvet cushions. "We kneel out of respect," said White. "We're before the Lord. It's humbling."

With arms resting on the wooden altar railing, hands clasped as though in prayer, each parishioner awaits the Eucharist, which Rev. Baynes administers. Some receive the bread on their tongues, after Rev. Baynes dips it in the wine. Others take the wafer in their hands, and then sip the wine. According to White, the reason for this difference is simple. "Some people don't like a common cup," he said.

After they receive the Eucharist, parishioners make the sign of the cross on themselves and return to their pews where most turn and face the altar, bending at the knees and once again crossing themselves.

"The Eucharist is my beginning of the week," said Valencia. "It gives me strength and focus for the week. It reminds me what Jesus did for me -- this is the symbol of Christ, who died for me. It reminds me that I cannot be Christ, but I can become Christ-like."

Another prayer of thanksgiving, a benediction and a dismissal follow the Eucharist. After the recessional, in which the priest walks down the center aisle to exit the church, members leave their pews. Spiritually nourished, many will head next door to Morgan Hall, Grace's meeting place, for what they call "hospitality," an opportunity to feed the body with coffee, bagels and other treats while socializing with fellow parishioners.

(Updated April 6, 2004)