Both Courtney and Red share Baptist roots, Courtney as an alumnus of Louisiana College (BA, 1964), and Red as an alumnus of Baylor University (BM, 1957). These words were enhanced with a musical setting by Buryl Red (1936–2015) in one of the most successful youth musicals of the last decades of the twentieth century, Celebrate Life (1972). 1941), a playwright, poet, and actor, provided a memorable paraphrase and interpretation of the Words of Institution. Ruston, Louisiana, native Ragan Courtney (b. Most liturgies base their Communion narratives on I Corinthians, which uses these words after each of the elements, giving extra weight to “remembrance.” In countless churches, Communion Tables have this sentence etched into them, making the phrase visually dominant in the ritual space, even during worship when not observing Communion.
Two of these accounts include the sentence, “Do this in remembrance of me,” found once in Luke (22:19) and twice in I Corinthians (11:24 and 25). These words are central to the observance of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or Eucharist, depending on the particular faith tradition. Four accounts of the Words of Institution appear in scripture-three in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 26:26-28 Mark 14:22-24 Luke 22:19-20) and one from the epistles (I Corinthians 11:23-25).
