In the Breaking of the Bread

This book is for people who are new to a form of Christian worship that is centered on the weekly celebration of the Holy Communion. It will be a help to people moving from a non-liturgical church to a more liturgical church and to those contemporary Christians who are seeking an ancient-future form of Christian worship. Those who are familiar with Eucharistic worship will encounter new treasures that have been hiding in plain sight. The book follows carefully the service of Holy Communion as it is celebrated in a local congregation, describing what is done and why. The service chosen is from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Christians of other traditions will find close parallels to the way this central act of worship is celebrated in their own tradition.

""Here is a pastoral theology in the classic mode: where the practical questions of faith are tied to the person and revelation of God, and basic doctrines are unfolded in a gently accessible wisdom. Taking as his topic the heart of Christian worship as a transforming encounter with Christ the Word, Leander Harding writes in order to call forth in us a deeper devotion to the Trinity. These beautifully written pages are a gift to the Church.""
--Christopher Wells
Executive Director
The Living Church Foundation

""This simple but rich survey of Eucharistic worship will guide newcomers through the liturgical labyrinth and help long-time worshipers see the Eucharist with fresh eyes. Tenderfoot or old hand, you'll find Harding's pastoral wisdom well worth the price of this book.""
--David Neff
Editor in Chief & Vice President
Christianity Today

""This book allows the reader to dwell in Holy Communion in the company of a thoughtful and learned priest, who invites us all with love into Love. The use of the Emmaus event is rich and Professor Harding's writing is soaked with experience, like a plum pudding about to be flamed, for this is a grand celebration, a feast of history and redemption.""
--Jerome W. Berryman
Senior Fellow
Center for the Theology of Childhood
Denver, Colorado

""Father Leander Harding invites us to reflect with him upon the journey of the Eucharist--a journey marked by thanksgiving, congregational and personal response to the Word, the 'timefulness' of God's deep presence, and an effective concern for God's world. Both newcomers and those acquainted with liturgy will have their eyes and hearts opened by means of this pastor's mature wisdom and also by his infectious wonder as a worshipping child of God.""
--Edith M. Humphrey
William F. Orr Professor of New Testament
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary


Leander S. Harding, PhD, is ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. After many years of service in parish ministry he now teaches pastoral theology at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition.