LUKE'S PRESBY-TIDBITS: The Sacraments

by Luke Williams, Seminarian

As regular participants in worship, we experience or witness the sacraments of the church on a regular basis; they are Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. But what are the sacraments and what do we understand about them as Presbyterian Christians? This column will focus on the sacraments in general. In two subsequent columns, the focus will be on one of each of the two sacraments we recognize.

The sacraments are generally described as “an outward sign of an inward grace”. They are rites, instituted by Christ that mediates grace and and constitutes a sacred mystery. The Book of Order says, “Sacraments are signs of the real presence and power of Christ in the Church, symbols of God’s action. Through the Sacraments, God seals believers in redemption, renews their identity as the people of God, and marks them for service.”

Most Christians have sacraments. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and to some extent, Anglican Christians all observe more than two Sacraments, including: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination (or Holy Orders), Reconciliation (or Confession), and Anointing the Sick (or Extreme Unction). Presbyterians, as most Protestants, limit their understanding of the Sacraments to the two instituted by Christ. While most Protestants celebrate many of the five additional sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church (viz. Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Anointing and Marriage) they are understood as rites and not sacraments. Baptists and some other free churches don’t recognize sacraments, but prefer to think of them as “ordinances”, meaning there isn’t a specific imparting of grace.

At the end of the reformation, there were several main understandings of the Sacraments amongst Protestants. Presbyterians and other Reformed Christians take a middle view, often called a via media in its view on the sacraments. Presbyterians fit between Lutherans and Anglicans on one side and Baptists and free churches on the other. We’ll explore these ideas further in the next two months.

For Presbyterians, the sacraments are the means by which we are welcomed into Christ’s Church, made children of God, and sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever. They are the means by which we are strengthened for our spiritual journey so we can engage in the work of Christ in both the Church and the world, working for justice, freedom and peace.