How often does the bible say we are to take communion, if at all? Some churches do it every week. Some once a month. What does the bible instruct us to do?
Answer
The Bible does not instruct us how often to take the Lord’s Supper. It does give examples, as does history, of how often the early church partook of it.
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:46-47) Although this may indicate they did it daily, some would argue with good reason that the “breaking bread” here was a common meal and not the Lord’s Supper.
“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” While some might argue that this was also a common meal, the context indicates that it was probably the Lord’s Supper. This is the verse that most people who believe in weekly observance use. Historical records bear out that the early church practiced weekly, if not daily, observance of the Lord’s Supper.
Others (primarily the Jehovah’s Witnesses) say that it should be only once a year, on Passover. This is because Jesus said “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), and they say the “this” in that passage is in reference to the whole Passover meal.
Those who take the Lord’s Supper less often than weekly, but not on Passover, have no scriptures to back up their practices. That does not make it wrong. Paul said “as often as” you do it (1 Corinthians 11:26) you do it to show the Lord’s death. That could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. These people argue that weekly observance makes it too familiar, and therefore too common. Those of us who practice weekly observance disagree, based on experience. Would they say to pray once a month, just because daily prayer makes it too routine?
Because of the example of Acts 20:7 and history, I practice weekly observance. However, I do not hold that it is a disaster if you miss some weeks because of sickness or other reasons.