Maybe your church serves Communion on the first Sunday of the month. Then you visit a friend's church and they take it every single week. Or you grew up in a church that only did it a few times a year, and now you're wondering if you've been missing something.
It's one of the questions nobody asks out loud, because it feels like something you should already know: How often are Christians supposed to take Communion?
Here's the short answer. The Bible doesn't set a number. It says "whenever." What it does set is how we take it and why.
What Jesus and Paul actually said
On the night before the cross, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). He told us to keep doing it. He didn't say how often.
Paul repeats Jesus' words and adds this: "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). The focus is on whenever, not how often. Every time we come to the table, we're preaching the cross and looking forward to Jesus' return.
What the early church did
The first believers made the Lord's Table a regular part of their life together. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). Later, Luke writes, "On the first day of the week we came together to break bread" (Acts 20:7).
Many Christians read those verses as a pattern of weekly Communion. Others point out that "breaking bread" can also describe shared meals, so the verses describe what the church did without commanding a schedule. Faithful believers land in different places here, and that's okay.
Why churches do it differently
- Weekly. These churches follow the Acts 20:7 pattern and want the cross at the center of every gathering.
- Monthly. Many churches, including many Baptist churches, gather around the table on the first Sunday of the month. It keeps Communion regular and gives people time to prepare.
- Quarterly or a few times a year. Some churches space it out so it never feels routine.
Each one is trying to honor the same command. How often your church takes Communion is not a measure of how faithful it is. The best thing you can do is take it seriously with your own church family, on the schedule your pastors have set.
What matters more than how often
The Bible spends more time on how we come to the table than on how often. Paul warned the church in Corinth because they were treating the Lord's Supper like an ordinary meal. Some went hungry while others overate (1 Corinthians 11:20–22). His answer wasn't a schedule. It was this: "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup" (1 Corinthians 11:28).
Taken weekly or a few times a year, Communion is meant to be three things: remembering what Jesus did, examining your own heart, and proclaiming His death until He comes. If you want to understand what you're remembering, read What Is Communion? What Christians Remember at the Lord's Table.
Make the most of your church's Communion Sunday
- Mark it on your calendar. Know which Sundays your church serves it so you can come ready.
- Read 1 Corinthians 11:23–26 the night before. It takes about a minute.
- Confess before you arrive. Ask God to show you anything that needs to be made right, and receive His forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
- Take it with your church family. Communion isn't a private snack. It's a family meal. Sit with people, and look around as the bread is passed.
Keep building on the foundation
Communion and baptism are the two ordinances Jesus gave His church. If you've never been baptized, read Do You Have to Be Baptized to Be Saved?
This post comes from Lesson 3 of Foundations, "Baptism and Communion," our twelve-lesson guide to the questions nobody asks out loud. And when you're ready for your next 30 days, 30 Days to a Foundational Faith walks through these same lessons one day at a time.
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