Buzz Aldrin was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church in the greater Houston area. Pastor Woodruff told him that, "God reveals Himself in the common elements of everyday life." That would include bread and wine, the elements of the Lord's Table, a celebration of Christ's death on behalf of sinners.
The idea of communion on the moon was Aldrin's. He writes: "I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe. For there are many of us in the NASA program who do trust that what we are doing is part of God's eternal plan for man. I spoke with Dean about the idea...and he was enthusiastic."
They decided that while Aldrin served himself communion on the moon, his church back home on earth would be participating in communion at roughly the same time.
But, even though he was an elder, would he have permission from the church to serve himself the elements? Pastor Woodruff inquired of the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly and received a swift okay.
Apollo 11 landed on the moon on the afternoon of Sunday, July 20, 1969. Astronaut Mike Collins was circling at that time, in the words of Aldrin, "in lunar orbit, unseen in the black sky above us" in the command module, while Armstrong and Aldrin were in the lunar module. Christian Today.
