I have been taught that in the United Church it is to be used in a respectful manner.

At one church-the older woman who always prepared the elements would give the bread to someone-often along with a bread pudding recipe.

When communion was served at Presbytery the Minster of the joint Anglican United asked me to help after the service. Everything consecrated had to be consumed. It wasn't hard to drink the hand pressed local grape juice.

I know the Catholics also must consume what is conscreated.

I saw  a minister's wife take the left over elements out side and pour on the ground and dug a hole for the bread.

At a Presbytery, the left over elements were put on the lunch table. Some folk were very upset. What say you?

That sounds almost Pagan :)

I've been to churches where the leftovers were given to people to take home, some where the leftovers were shared out onsite after the service over coffee/tea, one where the pastor and his wife took the leftover bread home, it was the only thing they would eat that day.

I prepared the Communion elements in my local United Church for many years (Yes grape juice and cubes of bread!)  I always collected the leftover juice and used it at home for a beverage, and the leftoever bread became stuffing for our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys.

It seemed silly to throw them away.

Our "leftovers" from communion are usually put out at coffee hour. The children seem to enjoy eating the little cubes of bread. I have never heard any comments (for or against) about this practice.

This is how it was done at my previous little church.  I'm not sure how it is done at the large church I now attend. 

I suppose anything is better than leaving it on the kitchen counter until it is mouldy and then putting it in the compose. 

We do the same as paradox3 - the kids enjoy the 'snack' alongside the cookies.  Haven't really heard any negative comments about it either, but there's always potential for that  - it's church afterall!

That sounds like a recipe for a turkey resurrection.

LOL chansen!

I cannot believe the problems UCC people have.  LOL

My first exposure to witnessing Communion was in my mom's church LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod). They practice a close Communion. I have never seen early Communion. (I believe you must be confirmed). Women are not allowed to assist in the Eucharist, it is reserved for men. (Said to avoid confusion about women in ministry)  They believe in real presence. They could use either a common cup or individual glasses as long as it was done reverently.

As conservative as they are, they do not insist that Christ's body and blood are still present in the elements after Communion. They say the elements were used to deliver it during the service and so they treat it reverently and try not to lose sight of the mystery. Some LCMS would consume what remained, some had a separate drain or basin. Some saved it for shut-in or next time. It is ancient practice to burn the bread and pour the wine on the earth and the LCMS saw no problem as long as reverence was maintained. They saw it as irreverent to put it in the trash.

Every time you laugh at my jokes, waterfall punches her monitor.

Thinking about this, I am surprised by my own thoughts. Call it "conservatism" or "hang-ups" (pick a word) LOL

I can envision many options for disposal done with reverence. I can see reverence in saving it or using it for shut-ins. I can envision pouring it on the earth with reverence. I can even envision feeding birds with reverence. I can even envision putting it down the drain with reverence.

I am shocked to say that
I can even envision reverence in taking it home and saving it for a common meal, even if it is made into stuffing and crammed in a bird and yet, I cannot envision reverence in making it another "snack" at coffee hour.
 

Gives me much to think on this evening.

I am a fan of consuming the elements durning the service - not so much for snacks after church.

Reverently feeding the birds maybe.  Saving it for a common meal, maybe.  As SG says reverence is the key.

By the way I am a fan of real presence which is possible within a Whitehian view.  Not substance, though.

It gets funnier every time I read it. lol

Bread Pudding = Does that cut it Stevie if you crack the eggs reverently?

Crazyheart, sorry to be serious, but....

I will attempt to explain what I mean. Again, it is just for me.

I would not take the remnant of the Christ candle and toss it in the trash like a banana peel. That does not match the awe, respect, love... that we give it as a symbol in church. There is something sacred about it. Sure, it is still a candle, maybe one says "just a candle", but it has been used as a symbol sacred in ritual in church. I can see using the "leftover" wax to make tealights for in a crucifix candle holder. I can see mixing it with dryer lint to start an fire for an Easter sunrise service.

I cannot see making it into birthday candles.

So, sharing the body of Christ (One can say it is still bread and one can say, "it's just bread) and sharing it over a table of gathered people whether it is in the stuffing, bread pudding, etc is not about reverently breaking eggs of reverently cramming into a turkey carcass.

It is reverent for me because Jesus practiced hospitality.

If children are not permitted communion, then offering it to them is a gift of grace that they are a part of the church and the family. It can be reverent, it maintains respect. It can be hospitable.

If it is theological and  "consume it", then it should not be about just kids chomping on it.

When it is on the snack table and "cookie, banana bread or body of Christ?" I cannot say I really see reverence.

Then again, I am the one who during my Conference interview, being asked about the Eucharist, had a lump in my throat and tears welling.... so.....

I think taking the leftover elements and reverently cramming them into a turkey carcass is an excellent example of Jesus filling a hole in our lives.

Pan ... could you expand this thought a little, as I'm not theologically educated & would like to understand it better.   Thanks.

This is interesting to ponder.

My sense of this is that the elements are important as a part of the sacred act of communion, but outside of the celebration of that act, such importance and need for reverence of them does not continue.   Others, I do understand, may have a very different sense - hence my question.

Well, I dunno if I would say the kids "chomp" on it. Not sure of the theological understanding they might have, but they seem to know the bread is special, somehow. How else to explain why they would choose a square of bread over a chocolate chip cookie?

I really haven't given this a great deal of thought until now, but I like the idea of children (and maybe others) eating it, rather than putting it in the green bin for compost.

Stevie, I knew what you meant by reverence. I was just joshing you. I forgot the winking smiley.

When we drank the leftover grape juice or stuffed our turkey with Communion bread I never thought of it as “sacred” or adopted an attitude of “reverence” about it.  In my opinion, the bread and juice are just symbols.  They have no inherent significance in themselves beyond their value as nourishment for the body and as something not to be wasted.

If there is anything “sacred” in the Communion, it lies in the hearts and minds of the participants, not in the symbols used to celebrate it.

In the same manner we would take the leftover partially melted candles from our Christmas Eve candle-light service and give them out to the congregation just before Halloween so people could use them in their jack-o-lanterns. We (jokingly) called them our “Holy Halloween Candles”.

iwonder, what I really want to know is, after 3 days as leftovers in your fridge, did the rest of the turkey ever just "disappear"?

It's been known to happen around my house. :P

Great. Because of iwonder's shortsightedness, now turkeys have a messiah. She must have run afowl of the laws, and basted in her own juices for their sins.

Just like there are various atonement theologies, there are various Eucharistic theologies. So, what is a-ok with one person, may not be with another. 

Not all UCC folks fit in the memorialism group. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharistic_theology

crazyheart, I knew you were joshing. I have this great sense of humour, remember? Yet, I felt the need to be serious trumped my need to be funny, just this once  LOL

I just want to say "hi" to iwonder. It has been a while.

I am pleased to proclaim that in 3 days the turkey leftovers were in fact,  resurrected as the protein component of a delicious stew, and surrounded by a devoted fellowship of vegetables and dumplings.

There is also an unconfirmed report of an alimentary appearance a few days later.

Good to see you again, iwonder.

Cool.

What do you think the turkeys' next move will be? Do you think they'll start erecting special buildings, and adorn them with oven symbols?

Just so you know, I have only flagged your comments as offensive ONCE.

It was the way you spoke to DKS once on a personal basis that had nothing to do with the conversation.

I'm OK with that. DKS needs all the help he can get.

paradox3,

In my line "If it is theological and  "consume it", then it should not be about just kids chomping on it."  you appear to have read with the emphasis on the word "chomping". My actual emphasis would have been on the words "just kids".

You see,  for me, if it is a theological position of the church that as a faith community post- Communion the remains are to be consumed, then it should not be just the kids consuming it.

I think the minister/priest should just finish off the wine and bread during the communion, that way he can have a good nap after the service.

No thanks, waterfall, I don't want to be too full for coffee and UCW goodies. 

SG,

Funny how the emphasis on one word or another can change the meaning of a statement!

We put out the "leftovers" for anyone who wishes to eat them. . . I have observed that the children seem to be the ones making the beeline for the bread. This doesn't mean the adults don't partake as well.

In actual fact the Turkey has become a venerated symbol in many countries of the world, and is honoured with a special day (which in the USA is commonly called “Turkey Day”).   Their founding fathers (who often left the cooking to the founding mothers) have officially designated the fourth Thursday of November for special ceremonies to honour this humble bird. 

There is also a sacred celebration which involves millions of devoted followers on a mystical pilgrimage back to their family homesteads, where they consume large quantities of sacramental food.  There is often particular attention paid to the consumption of a dish derived from a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita.
 

The turkey is further consecrated by the leader of the executive branch of the American government who commutes the death sentence of a special Turkey by issuing a Presidential pardon.  After this reprieve from certain death,  the turkey is flown to Disneyland, where it serves as Grand Marshal of its annual Thanksgiving Day parade and lives out the rest of it life in the Utopian Kingdom called "Frontierland".
 

Hi Paradox and Crazyheart.  I couldn't resist popping in on the turkey conversation.  It is quite light and seems pretty civil, without any fundamentalist sermonizing.

Are there Fundamentalist Turkeys. Safeway carry them?

That is a perfect setup line for Chansen.  I think I will defer to him to handle your "Fundamentalist Turkeys" comment!

Thanks for the softball.

You can find fundamentalist turkeys every Sunday at your local Baptist church.

Real presence.  Our discussion has floated around this concept.
Because of theological history we have some trouble understanding the
idea.   We reject the substance approaches given in Aristotelian terms
as a   change of the substance of the bread and wine into the substance
of the body and blood of Jesus.   On the surface it appears to be bread and wine
however it is flesh and blood by blessing.

 The Reformers broke with this Aristotelian account. Lutherans argued
that the substance of Jesus became present in the sacrament without
replacing the substance of the bread and wine. They contrasted this consubstantiation to the Catholic transubstantiation.Calvinists gave up the language of substance but insisted all the same on the "real presence." This was the heart of the matter for all three.

  What happened in our tradition is we had no way of understanding this
without making it a memory occasion on our part. Hence the real presence
could be understood to mean Jesus' presence to us through our conscious
memory or recollection of his last supper, his death, and his rising to new life.  It is now subjective - our memory thus no object presence.

Unlike Catholics its power is not in the sacrament but on our
faithfulness.  It is true by repeating we increase the power of the
memory.  This had a big influence on who should come to the table - only
those who were prepared.

In such a view the presider's reality is not at question, it is those
who receive that legitimize the sacrament.  Of course in the
Catholic/lutheran/Anglican traditions an unworthy presider could not
make the sacrament less. Of course there is still much debate about the spiritual
worthiness of the presider and however in our tradition the end result is we can have anyone do it as it fully is subjective.

Process thought provides a third option. In process perspective the
whole past is really present quite apart from whether it is remembered
in any conscious way.  The past is there as influence and remembering can
value it up or down, but it still is there in some determinative way.
That means that the events emphasized in the Eucharist are influential
among all people everywhere at all times, just as are all other past
events.  This is true even if you have not heard the christian story,
for it is there still operative in our unconscious

The historical fact of Jesus goes beyond us.  History has been
changed.   This change is mediate in many ways (and all reality is
mediated).   Since the past is mediated by what we do symbolically the
regular observance of Eucharist makes it more powerful.   At the same
time it has objective power which is not dependent  on the state of
consciousness of those who are influenced.  It is real independent of our subjective valuing up or down. The role of those past events in constituting the present experience is enhanced by our activity.  Jesus is really present.

  Notice how memory is a key element but real presence is not depended
upon subjectivity of those present.   It does need participation yet is
more than that  For the history is also creating the event, thus real
presence is another contributor to the transaction.  In an objective
sense we are making the past alive by our conformal response in the
present act with the past act.
 

I think we fall into a supernaturalism or reductionistic explanation
when we don't follow this third path.  We move to supernaturalism because we know that    the lived experience suggest more than the reductive account allows. Because of our dissatisfaction we move to magical explanations.  The justification for the reductive account is that the supernaturalism explanation seems incredible and tends toward magical thinking.

With process theology we can honor the lived experience of the believing participant
in the Eucharist without proposing an incredible explanation.

 Obviously, when the real presence is understood in
this way, it is not  limited to the Eucharist. It has to do with a theology of incarnation where the son of man is heightened humanity.This may be the most effective way to heighten the reality of the presence of those past events it celebrates, but it is not the only way. Jesus can be effectively present in the non sacramental activities of all churches.
 What real presence points to is a God who is redeeming in every nano second of reality... and we witness to that reality.

Thanks for this interesting thread full of varied opinions.  I have no strong opinion on this topic - but the suggestions that didn't 'feel' reverent to me  made me a bit uncomfortable.  Maybe I was indoctrinated into 'correct ways to dispose of leftover elements' during a childhood of attending church?   Now I have something to think about as I prepare some 'regular'' food.

Thinking about using the leftover bread to stuff a turkey reminded me of the soporific effect turkey has on many people.  Maybe some of you could enjoy using one of these.......................................................

http://www.cafepress.com/crankychristians.831721703

Thank you Pan - I very much appreciate your illuminating post.  There is much to consider, and I will reflect more about this & be back later with further comments.

I also chuckled along with those who've spun off in a humourous direction - worthy of Monty Python, Mr. Bean, SNL ...

I'm not sure they were that good, but I still like the imagery of special turkey barns adorned with pictures of ovens.

My concern would not be zombie turkeys or coops of worship. My concern would be getting myself locked up for leading confirmation classes in the frozen section of a grocery store to a bunch of Butterballs.

You think you would be persecuted by the beef section? They're fundamentalist mooslims.