The Diocesan Mission - To glorify God by proclaiming our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, so that everyone will hear his call to repent, trust and serve Christ in love, and be established in the fellowship of his disciples while they await his return.

Just how much influence did the voting choices of committed evangelical Christian and Roman Catholic voters have upon the final results in the recent Australian and US elections?

I cant account for my interest in writing. In fact, I did not publish my first book until I was over 50 (Is the New Testament History?). This event revealed a latent passion that has indeed become a passion. Not always a healthy passion.

While its significance may be lost on modern westerners, the breaking of bread with another person is a significant event with a long history. Our word 'companion means one with whom bread is shared. In ancient cultures "“ Jewish, Pagan and Christian "“ sharing a meal and breaking bread was an indication of a cultural connection. It was a form of fellowship.

Most churches agree that the chief expression of fellowship between Christian people is the Holy Communion service. Paul called it 'the Lord's supper' (I Corinthians 11:20), which indicates what it is, namely the fellowship meal of disciples, by invitation of their Lord. Instituted by Jesus himself during his last evening on earth, it has been almost universally recognized ever since as the heart of Christian worship. Luke seems to indicate that, at least in Asia Minor in AD 57, it was the churches' custom on the first day of each week to assemble in order 'to break bread' (Acts 20:7). The Lord's Day would have been incomplete without the Lord's Supper. Some churches this century have been seeking to recover its centrality by making it the main Sunday service. Others believe they can best emphasize its importance by holding a Communion service for the whole church family on one Sunday a month.

Our Prayer Book calls it The Lords Supper because that is Pauls way of referring to it (1 Corinthians 11:20). Our only window into the activity and meaning of the Lords Supper in the New Testament is First Corinthians chapters 10 and 11.

We all know the importance of food for the family, because we know it is important for ourselves that our bodies are fuelled with energy for life. While some live to eat, we all eat to live. Yet as Christians it is not only our physical nourishment that is important but our spiritual nourishment as well. That Jesus should institute a meal of remembrance for his disciples, whereby the reality of feeding on Christ was not only pictured but also conveyed, is of great significance for the family of God.

Dr James R Harrison discusses controversies over the Lords Supper after the New Testament era and reactions of first-century unbelievers to the Lords Supper.