Weekly Newsletter

Hello friends,
Have you noticed when I say the communion liturgy I say, “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and juice.” Although our hymnal reads, bread and wine. I say "juice" because I do not want there to be any barrier for anyone in recovery to come to the Lord's table.

The United Methodist Church practices open communion, meaning that anyone, regardless of denomination or belief, is welcome to partake in Communion. This concept, known as the open table, emphasizes inclusivity and community, allowing all who seek Christ to experience the love of God. The invitation to the table is open to those who genuinely repent of their sins and seek to live in peace with others, reflecting the invitation extended by John Wesley to all who love God.

Did you know Welch’s Grape Juice has ties to the history of The United Methodist Church? In the 1800s, churches faced a dilemma. To combat the epidemic of alcoholism, the temperance movement advocated total abstinence from all alcohol. In celebration of the Lord’s Supper though, the church filled the communion chalice with wine.
Substituting grape juice seems an obvious solution. For us today it is such common practice. We don’t know any different, however, in the 1800s, that was no easy task since raw grape juice stored at room temperature naturally ferments into wine. This caused a problem for congregations not wanting to use anything containing alcohol. Remember home refrigerators were not available until 1913.

Dr. Thomas B. Welch became a communion steward at Vineland (New Jersey) Methodist Episcopal Church—now First United Methodist Church of Vineland. He vowed to provide his congregation with an unfermented sacramental wine. Always interested in science, Welch wondered if Louis Pasteur’s breakthrough techniques could be applied to grape juice. He experimented with finding a way to keep juice from fermenting. In 1869, he perfected a juice pasteurization process in his kitchen and began selling “Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine” to churches preferring an alcohol-free substitute for Communion. Unfortunately, the idea didn’t take off. After four years, Welch gave up this side business. Two years later, his son Charles convinced him to produce unfermented wine again. Today, Welch is a multinational corporation offering several fruit products. It all started, however, with a communion steward in a Methodist Episcopal Church who wanted a suitable, unfermented wine for Communion. For more information, please visit UMC.org

We will be postponing the beginning of our new series, “Generations” for one week. This Sunday we will share in a Covenant Renewal Service together. Our musicians (Robert and Janet) are ill, so we will lift our voices and sing some favorite
hymns acapella.

Remember, we stream live on Facebook every Sunday at 10am, so if you are not feeling well, stay home and watch us on Orchard Church Facebook page.

See you Sunday at 10am
Pastor Robyne