These answers apply to an OPC congregation in WA state.
If you're so inclined, please answer the following questions:
-- Frequency? (Once a week, once per month)?
once per month (third Sunday every month)
We have a special schedule for the third Sunday of the month. The communion service is in the AM, a church supper follows, and the PM service moves up to 2 PM. We usually add an additional responsive reading of the Law in the PM service, which is read and commented upon by one of the elders.
-- The kind of bread and wine used? -- Small unleavened cracker/wafer? yes -- Undiluted wine? yes (I think it must be undiluted--don't laugh, it tastes very strong to me, but I have no point of comparison)
The elder's wife tells me this has been a somewhat hot issue in the church with a vocal wine-only group and a vocal grape-juice group. The pastor does have some grape juice which he will bring in at the last minute if there is a strong request or special circumstance, and the elders will make sure it reaches the right people. I have no idea how many that is or if that is every month or not.
-- Reading of 1Cor. 11 or some other text? Portions of this text are read almost every time, but there is usually another reading as well (might be from the Book of Church Order or the WCF, might be from Matt. 26 or Mark 14 or another Bible passage)--it's not exactly the same every time. The reading is accompanied by a prayer.
-- Commentary or elaboration on the bread and wine? It depends. Sometimes the pastor spends more time elaborating on the sacrament and presenting the Gospel and warning those who do not believe or who are living in unrepented sin to abstain. Sometimes it is pretty brief. Sometimes it is a separate homily.
-- Time of quiet reflection and/or prayer? Yes. The elements are passed out by the two elders usually (sometimes a deacon or another man helps if they are not available). This is a time for quiet reflection and prayer (except for the sizable number of us who are mostly trying to keep our kids quiet). -- Other?
Special attire? -- White gloves? -- Special robes? -- Other? None
Finally, what, if any, of the above are viewed as the mandatory requirements of your communion observance?
An announcement concerning the upcoming communion is placed in the bulletin the preceding week along with instructions to prepare, examine oneself. The bulletin for communion week also carries the instructions that all who are members in good standing in a Bible-believing church and are trusting in Jesus for their salvation are welcome to participate. The pastor always elaborates on this in his remarks before the sacrament is celebrated.
We have a variation each month, but the basic requirements as set forth in the Book of Church Order are always met, and usually exceeded. I'll paste those in from the OPC website for you:
C. The Lord's Supper 1. Before the administration of the Lord's Supper, the minister shall read the words of the institution of the sacrament from one of the evangelists or from I Corinthians 11. Thereupon he shall give instruction as to its institution and nature:
The Lord's Supper is an ordinance instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. Until his coming again it is to be observed for a perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death. The physical elements, representing the broken body and the shed blood of the Saviour, are received by true believers as signs and seals of all the benefits of his sacrifice upon the cross. They signify and seal remission of sins and nourishment and growth in Christ, and are a bond and pledge of communion of believers with him and with each other as members of his mystical body. As signs and seals of the covenant of grace they not only declare that God is faithful and true to fulfill the promises of the covenant but they also summon us to all the duties of the children of God, and call us to renewed consecration in gratitude for his salvation.
2. The minister shall then declare who may come to the Lord's table and who are excluded, according to the Word of God:
It is my solemn duty to warn the uninstructed, the profane, the scandalous, and those who secretly and impenitently live in any sin, not to approach the holy table lest they partake unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body, and so eat and drink condemnation to themselves. Nevertheless, this warning is not designed to keep the humble and contrite from the table of the Lord, as if the supper were for those who might be free from sin. On the contrary, we who are invited to the supper, coming as guilty and polluted sinners and without hope of eternal life apart from the grace of God in Christ, confess our dependence for pardon and cleansing upon the perfect sacrifice of Christ, base our hope of eternal life upon his perfect obedience and righteousness, and humbly resolve to deny ourselves, crucify our old natures, and follow Christ as becomes those who bear his name. Let us therefore, in accordance with the admonition of the apostle Paul, examine our minds and hearts to determine whether such discernment is ours, to the end that we may partake to the glory of God and to our growth in the grace of Christ.
3. After prayer and thanksgiving the minister shall take the bread and, having broken it, give it to the people saying:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed, having taken bread and blessed and broken it, gave it to his disciples--as I, ministering in his name, give this bread unto you--saying: "Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me." Having given the bread, the minister shall take the cup and give it to the people saying:
Our Savior also took the cup and having given thanks--as has been done in his name--he gave it to his disciples, saying: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins; drink ye all of it." After a prayer of thanksgiving, an offering may be taken for the relief of the poor or for some other sacred purpose.
A psalm or hymn should then be sung, and the congregation dismissed with the following or some other benediction:
"Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx We have, upon occasion, heard the above paragraphs read verbatim, but that is not the usual practice--maybe once a year or so.
