This week in Christian history: communion on the moon; ‘Mother of Methodism’ dies; John V becomes pope

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, July 19, 2020

Buzz Aldrin takes Communion on the moon — July 20, 1969

Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin addresses the audience during the 'Cinema for Peace 2011' charity gala at the 61st Berlinale film festival in Berlin February 14, 2011. | (Photo: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz)

This week marks the anniversary of when astronaut Buzz Aldrin, as part of the historic Apollo 11 lunar module landing, observed the sacrament of Holy Communion on the moon.

Aldrin was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church, a congregation near Houston, Texas, and brought the elements with him for the famed space mission. As part of the ceremony, Aldrin read a verse from the Gospel of John: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.”

“In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup,” he later recalled.

“It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements. And of course, it’s interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon …”