Thank you for your comments on this, Matt. Although I've never had the opportunity to attend the LA conference, I have certainly heard a great deal about it from others. Reading through your notes today, though, I am not surprised by the emphases you picked up. I am presently teaching a course on the history of Christianity, and in times of difficulty in the church over the past millennia on what do they fall back - the Eucharist, of course! Real Presence! Transubstantiation! And yes, I totally agree with the Godrey Diekmann quote: “What difference does it make if the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ and we don't?” If only we were - as a truly ecumenical and inclusive church - really more interested in “becoming Eucharistic people!" What a difference that would make, in so many ways.
Yes, that Diekmann quote really captured something that has bothered me for a long time about how Eucharistic devotion is sometimes practiced, although for my own part I do need to grow in a more holistic Eucharistic devotion, including the ritual aspects.
Thank you for your comments on this, Matt. Although I've never had the opportunity to attend the LA conference, I have certainly heard a great deal about it from others. Reading through your notes today, though, I am not surprised by the emphases you picked up. I am presently teaching a course on the history of Christianity, and in times of difficulty in the church over the past millennia on what do they fall back - the Eucharist, of course! Real Presence! Transubstantiation! And yes, I totally agree with the Godrey Diekmann quote: “What difference does it make if the bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ and we don't?” If only we were - as a truly ecumenical and inclusive church - really more interested in “becoming Eucharistic people!" What a difference that would make, in so many ways.
Yes, that Diekmann quote really captured something that has bothered me for a long time about how Eucharistic devotion is sometimes practiced, although for my own part I do need to grow in a more holistic Eucharistic devotion, including the ritual aspects.