網上恪守主餐的可行性──一個浸信會的神學思路

The Feasibility of Online Lord’s Supper: A Baptist Theological Thread

Vincent C. P. LAU

　　The outbreak of novel coronavirus in 2019 has turned into a pandemic. Governments all over the world took various measures to prevent the spread of the virus which had far-reaching effects on all aspects of human life, inevitably including religious life and activities. In February 2022, in response to the severity of the pandemic, the Hong Kong government ordered all churches to be closed for two weeks, and access to churches was banned. Due to the prohibition, all kinds of church meetings, including Sunday worship service and fellowship, were forced to cease. In order not to give up their Sunday worship services and meetings, churches in Hong Kong continued to live stream their Sunday worship services and held online fellowship through video conferencing. Since the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist is regarded as one of the most important practices of the Christian faith, all churches tried to maintain the observance of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist by all means. However, some denominations were not able to conduct the Eucharist/Communion online during the pandemic due to their own sacramental theologies.

　　According to Baptist tradition and practice, the Lord’s Supper is usually held during Sunday worship service. The Baptist theology of the Lord’s Supper is a theology of remembrance or memorialism, so theologically it should be possible for Baptists to practice an online Lord’s Supper. Thus, during the pandemic, Baptist churches in Hong Kong conducted the Lord’s Supper online through the live broadcast of the Sunday worship service on the internet, among which some Baptist churches observed the Lord’s Supper in a manner of silent remembrance without bread and wine. The discrepant practice of the Lord’s Supper among Baptists might be derived from the ambiguity of the concept of online worship service and their unfamiliarity with the proper understanding of Baptist theology of the Lord’s Supper.

　　The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of online Lord’s Supper in Baptist churches from a Baptist theological perspective. The conclusion is that it is biblically and theologically acceptable for Baptists to observe online Lord’s Supper in Sunday worship service amid pandemic as a legitimate resolution to the dilemma. The paper consists of three parts: first, an exposition of the biblical and theological considerations of online worship; second, an analysis of the Baptist theological position on the Lord’s Supper; and finally, a discussion of the feasibility of conducting the Lord’s Supper online in the Baptist community.