Return to Communion
We are SO excited to return to a new form of Holy Communion as we continue to navigate COVID-19.
Holy Communion will be offered on the first Sunday each month.
We will be using approved prepackaged communion elements. The sacrament will be celebrated by the pastor at the in-person services as well as during the livestream worship service.
Those attending in-person services will receive communion as part of that service. At the conclusion of the service, livestream worshippers will be invited to receive via a drive-through process.
Return to Communion FAQs
Click on the items below to see their answers.
When is the Communion Service?
We will commune on the first Sunday of each month at all of our worship services.
How do I receive communion?
those worshiping in-person will receive communion during the worship service. At the conclusion of our livestream worship service, the pastors will invite the streaming congregation to end their livestream watch experience and drive to Trinity to receive communion. Communion will be distributed via drive-up process by volunteers. Congregation members will receive communion in their vehicles.
Are gluten-free elements available?
Yes. If you need gluten-free elements, please just tell the volunteer at the first station.
What do I do when I get to Trinity?
We ask that you enter the parking lot from Forest Ave. via Rock Creek Road.
You will then proceed, in your vehicle, to the first of two stations. At the first station, you will be asked by a volunteer how many persons in your vehicle will receive the elements.
Then you will proceed to the second station.
At the second station, you will take the elements from the table.
Then you will proceed either to a parking spot, or on to your home or destination.
You may take communion after moving away from the second station.
We ask that you be mindful of the line behind you, and that you partake in communion when it is safe to do so if you are the driver of the vehicle.
We describe the process in detail and show it in the Return to Communion video.
What if I don't watch worship?
Communion is a sacrament celebrated with the body of Christ. While we can’t all be physically together at this time, we are excited to celebrate communion together via livestream. The pastors will consecrate the elements during the livestream worship experience. Those are the elements that will be distributed on communion Sundays via our drive-up process.
It is expected that those who come to receive communion have participated in the livestream service online that morning.
But I live across town ...
Communion will be available at the conclusion of the livestream worship service for 30 minutes. We anticipate that all who live in Richmond will be able to make it to Trinity in this timeframe.
But I don't live in town or in Virginia ...
I live next door, can I walk over?
In order to maintain our safety protocols, we ask that all persons receiving communion come to Trinity in a vehicle.
Do we have to be masked in our vehicles?
We ask that the driver of the vehicle wear a mask or face covering when interacting with our volunteers at the two drive-up stations.
Why can’t we just gather bread and wine in our homes and commune?
Pastor Larry answers, ‘In the midst of Covid-19 we have certainly had to adapt and do things new ways. For this very reason, we also have to carefully guard our theology and rites from inappropriate innovation.
While some churches are practicing so-called “online communion” such a practice violates the precepts of our sacramental theology, namely that communion is both incarnational (physical) and communal (the church gathered together). This is why we offer the sacrament only to those who participate in the service and why all the elements are consecrated at the chancel.
At Trinity this is as far as we can go while preserving the integrity of the sacrament.
We are also offering baptisms with groups of ten or fewer persons present. But neither will we do online baptisms.’
Can home-bound persons receive communion?
Yes. Please contact Judy Oguich and she and the care team will arrange for getting communion to those persons.