World Communion Sunday
October 4 | 11:00 AM Worship Service
World Communion Sunday is on the first Sunday of October each year. First adopted as a denominational practice in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.) in 1936, churches in other denominations were later invited to join. It wasn’t until 1940, when the Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches (a predecessor of the National Council of Churches) extended the celebration to several churches around the world, that the practice became widespread.
The idea originated with Dr. Hugh Thompson Kerr, pastor at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1933. Kerr first conceived the notion of World Communion Sunday during his year as moderator of the General Assembly in 1930. But this nascent idea came to fruition through the work of the Stewardship Committee at Shadyside. They dreamed of bringing churches together in a service of Christian unity to lift up the Global Church and to remember that, by virtue of our baptism, we are connected to a worldwide community. Each congregation is connected to every other congregation, united in “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).
The vision gradually caught on in the denomination and with our ecumenical partners. Ecumenism only emerged after the First World War as churches struggled to respond to the devastating humanitarian and theological crisis brought on by the war. Dr. Kerr’s son, the Rev. Dr. Donald Craig Kerr (who was a pastor emeritus of the Roland Park Presbyterian Church in Baltimore), shares that “the concept spread very slowly at the start. People did not give it a whole lot of thought. It was during the Second World War that the Spirit caught hold because we were trying to hold the world together. World Wide Communion Sunday symbolized the effort to hold things together in a spiritual sense. It emphasized that we are one in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
At Smoke Rise, we celebrate World Communion Sunday each year as a reminder that the Christ that unites us is bigger than any differences and denominations and any perspectives and practices that may divide us.
Smoke Rise welcomes minister Tom Mustard as he leads us in worship on World Communion Sunday, October 4th. Tom and his wife are residents at Park Springs and enjoy attending Chris George’s Bible Study each month.
Tom grew up on a working farm in the southwestern corner of Virginia. He said, “I first felt the nudge toward the ministry when I was about 18. My grandfather said that hoeing corn and putting up hay in the hot summer sun made preachers out of lots of country boys. Perhaps he was right.”
After marrying his “favorite Episcopalian,” Tom answered the call to ordained ministry. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1977 and was ordained into the priesthood in December of that year. “I did full time parish ministry, in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia for 34 years before retiring in 2011 to move to Georgia,. I continued to help out, strictly as a volunteer, after our move and have offered services at Park Springs for six years now.” He added with a smile and a chuckle, “We don’t get to retire.”
Tom said the ordained ministry has blessed him in many ways. He and his wife, Honey, have two daughters, Michele and Molly, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren. In addition to his family, Tom is much loved within the community at Park Springs. Residents there know him by his warm and generous spirit. It is an honor and privilege to have Tom Mustard deliver our message on World Communion Sunday. We look forward to welcoming him to Smoke Rise in October.