speratus said: If the communicants have not previously discussed the meaning and purpose of the Supper with the stewards of the mysteries and examined themselves beforehand, they are unprepared and should not receive the Supper.
I agree that people who do not understand the meaning and purpose of the observance and who have not examined themselves prior to partaking of the elements are not fit to participate in it.
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speratus said: Any human prayer prior to the Supper creates the very mediatorial invocation you condemn.
No, because there is no human mediator when each man's prayers are directed to God through the mediation of Christ. But a man does play an unbiblical mediatorial role when he stands before the congregation and prays out loud on behalf of everyone as if he is a mouthpiece to God for them.
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speratus said: The elder, as steward of the mysteries, does stand in the place of Christ but not in any mediatorial sense. When the elder announces the grace of Christ in the stead and by the command of the Lord, the congregation should receive the spoken word as a voice from heaven.
If that spoken word is from the Scriptures or in accordance with the teaching of the Scriptures, then the congregation should receive it as if it is a voice from heaven. But that word does not necessarily have to be spoken by an elder because the job of the elders is to oversee the functions of the congregation, not to be the exclusive performers of any function.
