Three congregations joined in a global Eucharist celebration on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 3. Montgomery Square UMC in North Wales hosted the ceremony, joined by Chalfont UMC and Christ Korean Church.

The Rev. Vicky Allen is the pastor of both Montgomery Square and Chalfont. Christ Korean, led by the Rev. Duksin Kim, is not yet chartered but shares space at Montgomery Square. The Rev. Andrew Foster III, East District Superintendent, joined those two clergy members in celebrating Holy Communion. The three wore white stoles to “signify our unity,” said Allen, along with different stoles to “represent our uniqueness.” 

Members of the three congregations had their own regular worship services and then gathered to share in the brief, multilingual Eucharist, followed by an international feast and fellowship. They celebrated first-generation citizens from nations represented among them: South Korea, Canada, Guatemala, Nigeria, Brazil and Peru.

Participants spoke in their native tongues, and the PowerPoint slides and bulletin were in English and Korean. And they sang “Jesus Loves Me” and recited “The Lord’s Prayer” in Korean, Spanish and English.

“It was indeed a special Sunday service,” said Allen. “Pastor Kim and I worked to create a service in which verbal translation was not needed. We wanted a service that we all understood regardless of language. We can say ‘This is the body of Christ’ and ‘This is the blood of Christ’ in any language and we would all understand.”  

Even more spectacular than the “Pentecost-moment” they experienced in worship, Allen recalled, was “the warm, loving fellowship amidst authentic ethnic cuisine. We had food prepared by people from Brazil, Korea, American born, and Peru. All delicious!”

Next year, she said, they might invite a Czech/Slovak school that recently began using space in Montgomery Square UMC to join them and widen the circle on this special Sunday.