I will always remember the look on her face. She was holding a loaf of bread, smiling at her grandfather, and I heard her softly say, “This is the body of Christ, broken for you.”
That memory is one I will always carry with me from our 2011 Baptist Women in Ministry worship service. The young teenager was Steve Graham’s granddaughter, and she had come with him to our worship service. Little did they know that our communion that day would involve receiving and serving with each person participating as both the recipient and as the server. Steve’s granddaughter stepped out into the aisle ahead of him, and she moved into the line, receiving the bread from the person in front of her and then dipping her bread into the cup. She then took the loaf of bread and offered it to her grandfather, and I sat on the front row, watching her face.
I wish I had a picture of her sweet smile and of that moving moment, but even without a picture, I will not forget. That image is one I will keep with me.
Pam Durso is executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry, Atlanta, Georgia. (Photos courtesy of Norman Jameson of Associated Baptist Press and Emily Holladay with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship).