CHAPTER 1: ECUMENICAL PROGRESS AND STAGNATION 59 physically partaking of the Eucharist in acts of Eucharistic hospitality, arguing that “manducare Christum, that is, ultimately, what the sacrament is all about.”153 The most recent attempt of the Dutch Council of Churches to promote dialogue about sharing the Eucharist took place in 2016 when it presented its inquiry amongst parishioners exploring how they experience and perceive the celebration of the Eucharist or Holy Supper in their respective congregations.154 However, conducted as an exploratory survey aimed at encouraging discussion amongst churchgoers, the study did not have any academic aspirations and lacked scholarly rigor. Methodologically, it actually inquired into what extent theological categories formulated by theWorld Council of Churches in the Lima Report155 have been received as proper expressions of the respondents’ beliefs, leaving little room for their own articulation of their experiences. Still, it is quite interesting to see the differences and similarities between members of the respective denominations. More importantly, as far as the current study is concerned, the Dutch Council’s inquiry sought to open a new perspective on the question: that of personal experience. The current study, then, aims to substantiate this voice in the academic debate. A voice that has not yet received sufficient attention: the voice of experience with Eucharistic sharing in the pastoral reality of the church. Although several of the above-mentioned contributions refer to the actual practice that can be encountered in the church, none of them explores this experience using empirical methods. This study hopes to contribute to this lacuna. 153 Van Eijk, 165 (italics in original). Original text in Dutch: “Want manducare Christum, dat is waar het in het sacrament uiteindelijk om gaat” (translation: FW). 154 Raad van Kerken in Nederland, Beleving eucharistie en avondmaal, Oecumenische Bezinning 50 (Amersfoort: Raad van Kerken in Nederland, 2016), https://www.raadvankerken.nl/files/2016/03/Bezinning%2050%20web.pdf. 155 Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, secs. II, 2–26. These categories are the Eucharist as a) thanksgiving to the Father, b) anamnesis or memorial of Christ, c) invocation of the Spirit, d) communion of the faithful, and e) meal of the Kingdom.
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