EXPERIENCING THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

An examination of Christian outreach efforts focuses on the sacrament of Communion.

In the opening pages of his nonfiction debut, Fox describes the gradual sidelining of Communion as the center of the Christian experience—to the point where it now occupies what he refers to as the “peripheral edge” of many mainstream denominations. The author takes readers on a comprehensive and very lively tour of Communion as it’s found in the writings of the church fathers. Fox explores the practice in the formative centuries of Christian life, ranging from Irenaeus in 180 C.E. urging that Communion be offered around the world to its more formalized presentation in liturgical groups like the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. His account quickly makes its way to the present day, when, for example, the experience of Communion in the Pentecostal denomination is one of “empowering actions and promissory words…accompanied with an expectation and openness towards the Holy Spirit.” This vivid historical account serves to ground readers in the broader subject, but it also works as a springboard for the author’s more pointed look at how Communion can feature in Christianity’s efforts to connect with younger generations today. The book’s later sections record testimony from young people who have experienced Communion when it’s restored to the prominence Fox feels it deserves. While much of this testimony is moving, some of it will sound a chilling note to most readers in a 2020 dominated by Covid-19. “It’s something that a lot, a large group of us are doing together,” says one of these young people. “All of us are believing in the same faith, and we’re taking the same communion out of the same dishes and receiving Jesus Christ together.” Even as churches around the globe adapt to their new realities, the author’s celebration of Communion reaffirms the value of somehow preserving this oldest of Christian practices.

A historically literate and insightful call to restore Communion to a central place in Christianity.