Participation
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( n.) Distribution; division into shares.
(2): ( n.) The act or state of participating, or sharing in common with others; as, a participation in joy or sorrows.
(3): ( n.) community; fellowship; association.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
the act of sharing jointly with others in any object or benefit. "Participation" is what is meant by "communion," when applied by the apostle to the body and blood of Christ sacramentally received. The "communion" is "on the part of the receivers of that ordinance; the Greek word which is so rendered ( Κοινωνία ) not signifying Communication, as from the priest, of any benefit of which he is the dispenser, but, the partaking together, the joint enjoyment, of the spiritual benefits of which Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, has called us to be partakers." (See Communion).
