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Eucharist & Holy Communion Resources

The collection of resources for the Eucharist and Holy Communion offer several links to sites with Communion bread recipes, history and information.  There is also a long list of book suggestions that include recipes, devotionals centered around bread, and historic background.  A small collection of images is also available.

Links   |    Books    |    Articles    |    Images

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With a few exceptions, these resources are provided free to local congregations and parishes.  For further information please consult the Copyright and Use information prior to reprinting or using these resources.

Links:

 
Altar Bread A list of sites that offer recipes for communion bread and related discussions. http://www.osb.org/liturgy/altarbread.html
Bread 101 A comprehensive help site for baking.  Offers countless tips and suggestions for baking quality bread.  http://www.baking911.com/bread/101_rise.htm
Prosphora A site dedicated to the baking of Eucharistic Bread (called Prosphora) in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.  Several recipes and step by step instructions as well as much more. http://www.prosphora.org/
Winemaking A good first site to visit for learning how to make wine.  The instructions are easily adapted to making Communion wine.  A search for "winemaking" or "wine kits" will generate numerous additional sites. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/
Safe Home Canning If your tradition prefers unfermented juice for Communion then here are general canning instructions and two recipes for grape juice.  Freezing is also an option.  Simply follow the instruction, but place the finished juice in freezer safe containers and freeze instead of following the canning instructions.  http://www.extension.umn.edu/ distribution/nutrition/DJ0516.html
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Books

Books are made available through amazon.com.  Your purchase helps to support the ongoing work of the Guild.

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Eucharistic Bread Baking as Ministry by Tony Begonja

This is a fine little book that is one of the few, if only books, available specifically on the topic of baking bread for the Eucharist.  The book offers several different recipes and techniques.  It is written specifically from a Roman Catholic perspective but is appropriate for other traditions.  Unfortunately there is less information on how this is a ministry or how to make it a ministry than I would have liked.  But the recipes are good.  This book is especially good if you are looking for a good unleavened recipe.

The Bread Book

The Bread Book by LindaCollister and Anthony Blake

There are many good cook books that focus on bread; this is one of them.  If you don't already have a bread cook book this one offers many good recipes and clear general instructions. 

Home Winemaking Step by Step by Jon Iverson

A good complete reference to making wine at home.  This a clearly written beginners book that will also serve the ore experienced person as a reference.  If you are interested in making wine for Communion, this is a good text to introduce you to the process.

From Vines to Wines

From Vines to Wines : The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine
by Jeff Cox

This text offers guidance for both growing grapes and making wine.  If you goal is to grow the grapes and make the wine, this is a fine single text that will cover it all.  Like most all-in-one books, it is not as in depth as purchasing books that focus on each aspect of the process.  But the information contained within in will more than serve all but the most serious of growers and vinters.

Wine making kit

Winemaking Kit

This kit includes everything needed to make wine.  The equipment can be used again and again with juice concentrate kits or fresh grapes.  The kit also includes a concentrate kit for a Cabernet Sovingon, a nice red wine suitable for Communion.  The kit will make 6 gallons of wine or over 30 bottles.  A nice basic instruction booklet is also included that will teach the fundamentals of winemaking and serve as a good reference.

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The Feast: Reflection on the Bread of Life by Gregory Post & Charles Turner.

A collection of short reflections that center around the topic of food and spirituality.  The book is divided into three parts: Food for the Journey, By Way of Hunger, and A Table Prepared.  It is amply seasoned with quotes from Scripture and various other literary sources.  These reflections can offer an appropriate read during the time one is baking Communion bread.

Leaven for Our Lives

Leaven for Our Lives by Alice Downs
This book is a collection of recipes and writings.  Most of the recipes are for bread, but there are few for soup as well. The writings are reflections on spirituality.  This book is weighted a bit more on the culinary side than the reflection side as compared to some of the other suggestions in this list that are very light on culinary advice and instruction.

Freash Bread

Fresh Bread and Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment by Joyce Rupp

A book of spiritual reflections that is ordered by the month of the year.  Each month contains its own reflection.  Only the introduction speaks specifically of bread, the remainder use other themes such as seeds, snowfall, and leaves.  Each reflection contains a long list of scriptures to read, a poem, prayer, short reflection, and questions for journaling.

Baking Bread

Breaking Bread: the Spiritual Significance of Food by Sara Covin Juengst

Seven chapters that look at the role food plays in our lives.  Each chapter focuses on a specific quality of spirituality such as stewardship, hospitality, and compassion.  The chapter are a bit more lengthy than some of the other books suggested here, around 11 pages.  The reflections are a bit more in depth and provide the opportunity for good reflection and thought.

Bread Upon the Waters Bread Upon the Waters by Peter Reinhart

A delightful blend of recipe and reflection, Reinhart uses the metaphor of bread baking to share his spiritual journey and challenge the reader to do the same.  The recipes are good and are certain to teach the reader something new about baking bread.  The text is challenging and engaging.  This book is designed to be read from cover to cover, but could be used over a series of weeks reading one chapter each week as a person bakes the bread for Communion.  Some but not all of the recipes would be appropriate for Communion.  Of all of the devotional books suggested, this is my personal favorite.

Bake and be Blessed Bake and Be Blessed: Bread Baking As a Metaphor for Spiritual Growth by Father  Dominic Garramone

Similar to Peter Reinhart's book suggested above but from a slightly different perspective.  Father Garramone is know by many for his television cooking show.  In this book he uses the process of bread baking to guide the reader.  This book is more practical than the above mentioned one in that each chapter has the goal of developing something specific in the reader.

The Supper of the Lamb The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon

A very different book that defies classification.  Capon is a well respected theologian with many book as well as a respected cook.  The book claims to be a cook book, but is written in narrative and is as much a discussion of contemporary culture, life, and God.  The reading is fairly demanding but quite sarcastic and humorous.  Reading this book is certain to offer you a new perspective on cooking, food, life, and world.

Words Around the Table

Words Around the Table by Gail Ramshaw

This book offers 18 reflections on the acts of Sunday worship.  Each reflection offers scripture and a five or six page meditation on that specific act of worship, offering numerous scripture reference as well.  The book is well written like of of Ramshaw's books and is simply illustrated.  It is written from a formal liturgical perspective that would be most familiar to Lutherans, Episcopals, Catholics, and some United Methodists and Presbyterians.

A Sensual Faith

A Sensual Faith: Experiencing God through Our Senses by Ian Price

This book offers "five studies for reflecting on the ways God comes to us."  Each study focuses on one of the senses and presents a way of experiencing God through that sense.  The study on smell and tastes both use bread a a part of the experience.  These studies could be combined and adapted for a group experience around baking bread.  If the goal is to focus on the role of bread in experiential spirituality, this book offers some ideas, but would require some work to change and tweak the experience.  The studies are more like class discussion experiences than worship experiences.

Feasting With God: Adventures in Table Spirituality by Maria Harris

A book of 16 Feasts - meals that present an aspect of spirituality.  In addition to the larger feasts there are also 6 shorter Interludes that offer more focused and brief experiences.  One of these interludes is entitled "Making and Baking Bread."  This interlude can be used as is for a group experience.  The suggested recipe is a poppy seed quick bread that would not be appropriate for Communion, but this could easily be replaced by an unleavened recipe or a more appropriate quick bread, such as Irish soda bread.

From Age to Age From Age to Age by Edward Foley

This is a history book on the development of worship and the Eucharist in the Church.  Each chapter looks at a given period of time and addressed various aspects of worship from the words that are spoken and the music that is used to the type of bread that was eaten.  It is a very helpful in understanding how worship has developed and changed over the centuries.  It is also helpful in remembering that worship is an ever evolving entity that continues to grow and develop even today.  Looking back over the centuries can both ground current practice and liberate it.

 

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Articles

Bread & the Eucharist - May 2005 Guild Newsletter Article.  This issue contains two articles of relevance.  The symbol of bread is discussed in the column Simb'l.  Then the question of bread for the Eucharist is discussed in a special article.
Recipe - a honey spice bread recipe for festive occations
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Images

These images are provided free of charge for use in worship in local congregations.  If you choose to use any of these images in your art, please send a copy of it back to the Guild so that others might see what is being done.

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Clicking on any of the images will open a new window with a larger image that can be saved for printing or projecting. To save right click the image and select "save picture"

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© 2005 Guild of Parish Artists

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