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Webster Presbyterian Celebrates
Lunar Communion on July 19, 2009
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Webster Presbyterian Church invites
the community to be a part of a
special Lunar Communion Worship
Service on July 19, 2009 at both the
8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship
times.
The Lunar Communion Service is
celebrated annually at Webster
Presbyterian Church on the Sunday
closest to July 20, the day forty
years ago in 1969, when two of
the Apollo XI astronauts, Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed
safely on the lunar surface as the
world eagerly and anxiously awaited
to hear the words, "Houston,
Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed."
Buzz Aldrin, the LM pilot and a
ruling elder of Webster Presbyterian
Church at the time, requested a few
moments of silence during which he
invited all who were listening to
reflect on the significance of the
lunar landing and to give thanks in
his or her own way. For Buzz
Aldrin, his act of thanksgiving was
to celebrate Holy Communion on
the surface of the moon as an
extension of the Webster
congregation, with the chalice and
communion elements given to him
by the church before he left Earth.
"Now Neil and I were sitting inside Eagle, while Mike circled in lunar orbit, unseen in the black sky above us.
In a little while, after our scheduled meal period, Neil would give the signal to step down the ladder onto the powdery
surface of the moon. So I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I put them and the scripture reading on the
little table in front of the abort guidance system computer.
Then I called back to Houston.
'Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence.
I would like to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events
of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.'
For me this meant taking communion. In the radio blackout I opened the little plastic packages which contained
bread and wine.
I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly
and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon,
and the first food eaten there, were communion elements.
And so, just before I partook of the elements, I read the words which I had chosen to indicate our trust that as man probes
into space we are in fact acting in Christ.
I sensed especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and with the Church everywhere.
I read: 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can
do nothing without me.'"
[1]
[1]
Judith Haley Allton, Patricia M. Brackett, Dana Ray.
THE LITTLE WHITE CHURCH ON NASA ROAD 1, FROM RICE FARMERS TO ASTRONAUTS,
A CENTENNIAL HISTORY, 1893-1993, WEBSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, WEBSTER TEXAS
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©2010 Webster Presbyterian Church • 201 West NASA Parkway • Webster, TX 77598 • Phone 281.332.1251 • Fax 281.557.9552
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