“Do This in Remembrance of Me”: An African Feminist Contestation of the Embodied Sacred Liturgical Space in the Celebration of Eucharist

Abstract

The Eucharist is understood as a renewal of commitment to justice for all humanity. The Christian faith makes use of the term “Eucharistic,” which took shape in ancient Greek society. Even though a Eurocentric perspective prevails, the Eucharist is also observed in African churches’ different forms of worship. For example, most mainline churches would prefer to use the word “Holy Communion”; others call it the Lord’s Table. For the sake of this chapter, l will use the words interchangeably. Liturgically, Christians are viewed as the church of God, a community of all believers, the all-inclusive body of Christ that is open to everyone. Thus, the Lord’s Table is seen as the sacred space that is meant to unite all humanity. On the other hand, the Lord’s Table can also be a gendered contested space where power dynamics are at play. Following such dynamics, this chapter hopes to answer the questions, what is the interpretation of Eucharist in the postcolonial context? To what extent have the words of Jesus, “do this in memory of me,” influenced the way in which modern society responds to the Eucharist? Who is eligible to participate at the Lord’s Table? What are the power dynamics at play in this sacred space? This chapter also aims to critically engage a feminist discourse of embodiment and disembodiment of gendered sacred space in an attempt to create an all-inclusive space for all humanity.