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What I Have Found
My introduction to "brethren" assemblies.*
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4. Weekly remembrance of the Lord through the breaking of bread.
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While Scripture gives no hard and fast requirement concerning the frequency of the Lord's Supper, it is clear that the practice of the New Testament Church was to observe it each Lord's Day (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17ff., etc.). Not Only so, but it was the central focus of their gathering. This was another area I began to be strongly exercised about in my conscience as I studied the New Testament pattern for the Church. Acts 2:42 lists the breaking of bread as one of four items, along with the apostles' teaching, fellowship, and prayer, to which the early Church "devoted themselves" (NASB). Of how many churches today can it be said that they devote themselves to the breaking of bread? In the church where I pastored, as well as most other churches I knew, the Scriptural phrase, "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup," had been amended, for all practical purposes, to "as seldom as ye eat this bread and drink this cup."
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When told that "brethren" assemblies follow the New Testament pattern of observing the Lord's Supper each Lord's Day, a common reaction by those who have never witnessed this observance in its Scriptural simplicity and beauty is, "I wouldn't want to have the Lord's Supper every week!" Nor would I, if it were done in the fashion common to most evangelical churches today. Such stale and staid ritual, encrusted still with remnants of Roman Catholic superstition (such as the necessity of the elements being "administered" by a "clergyman"), could hardly be expected to command the affections of the heart. Looking back on my years in the pastorate, I remember dreading even the paltry three or four times a year when the Lord's Supper was scheduled. But now, the breaking of bread has become a keen delight, to the point that I feel greatly deprived if forced by circumstances to miss it.
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