How often should the church celebrate the Lord's Supper?
The New Testament does not fix an exact frequency. Its own words are 'as often as' you eat the bread and drink the cup, so that you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. The first church broke bread regularly and gathered to do so on the first day of the week, and Paul's warning to examine oneself governs how we come more than when. Celebrate it often, worthily, and in remembrance of Him.
This question arose from studying What is the Lord's Supper? and Why do I need the church?.
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Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
The command is to remember
At the last supper, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said, 'This is my body... Do this in memory of me.' The word He left is a word of remembrance, and there is no record of Him dictating a calendar. What He commands is that His people keep coming to the bread and the cup, doing this, in memory of Him, until He comes.
He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.”
When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
'As often as' leaves the rhythm open
Paul's own words about the Supper point to regularity, not to a number: 'For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.' The emphasis is on the doing and the proclaiming, and the frequency is left to the church's faithful ordering. The New Testament is far more concerned that we come than that we count.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The first church came often
The earliest believers devoted themselves to 'the breaking of bread' as one of the steady marks of their life together, and Luke says they broke bread at home day by day. When the disciples gathered on the first day of the week, it was to break bread. The New Testament's trajectory leans toward frequent celebration, woven into the ordinary rhythm of the church's gathering.
How we come matters more than when
Paul's warning is not about a schedule but about readiness: those who eat and drink 'in a way unworthy of the Lord' are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and each one is to examine himself and discern the body. If we discerned ourselves, he says, we would not be judged. The Lord's Supper is for those who come in faith, confession, and love, not merely for those who show up.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.
For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
So churches celebrate often and worthily
Given the New Testament's open rhythm and early practice, churches faithfully order the Supper on their own gathered pattern, many weekly and others at intervals, all in remembrance and proclamation. The point is not to maximize frequency for its own sake but to keep doing this until He comes, in faith and love, so that the Table remains a living center where the church remembers its Savior and proclaims His death until He returns.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
What is the church?→“I also tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hadeswill not prevail against it.”What is church discipline?→““If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.”Does baptism save a person?→“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”What is the difference between baptism and the Lord's Supper?→“Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”Who may take the Lord's Supper?→“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body.”How is Christ present in the Lord's Supper?→“He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”What does a church need from its leaders?→“The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching;”What kind of authority did Jesus give church leaders?→“It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall beyour servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””What does Peter say about Peter?→“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. I also tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hadeswill not prevail against it.”Does God require His servants to stay unmarried?→“forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”What is the church's mission in the world?→“Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”Who are God's chosen people?→“and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.””Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.”
On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and continued his speech until midnight.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
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