Open communion

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.

Open communion is the practice of Christian churches that allow individuals other than members of that church to receive Holy Communion (also called the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper). The phrasing and exact requirements in a particular local church may vary, but membership in a particular Christian community is not required.

Open communion is the opposite of closed communion, where the Eucharist is reserved for members of the particular church or others with which it is in a relationship of full communion or fellowship, or has otherwise recognized for that purpose. Closed communion may refer to either a particular denomination or an individual congregation serving Communion only to its own members.

In the United Methodist Church, open communion is referred to as the Open Table.

Affirmation

Some denominations, such as the United Methodist Church, offer communion to anyone, even the unbaptized. According to a church document, United Methodists practice "open table," inviting to Communion all "who seek to live in relationship with the triune God and with one another," it adds. "All who respond in faith to the invitation are to be welcomed. Unbaptized persons who respond by grace to the invitation are urged to be instructed in and receive baptism as soon as possible, as a sign of the conversion that has occurred in the reception of the Eucharist."

Other churches allow baptized members of other Christian denominations to receive communion, but advise non-Christians not to receive.

Generally, churches that offer open communion to other Christians do not require an explicit affirmation of Christianity from the communicant before distributing the elements; the act of receiving is an implicit affirmation. Some churches make an announcement before communion begins such as "We invite all who have professed a faith in Christ to join us at the table."

Open communion is generally practiced in churches where the elements are passed through the congregation (also called self-communication). However, it is also practiced in some churches that have a communion procession, where the congregation comes forward to receive communion in front of the altar; such is the case in the Episcopal Church and most other Anglican churches, some Lutheran and the United Methodist Church.

Supporting belief

Those practicing open communion generally believe that the invitation to receive communion is an invitation to Christ's table, and that it is not the province of human beings to interfere between an individual and Christ. Some traditions maintain that there are certain circumstances under which individuals should not present themselves for (and should voluntarily refrain from receiving) communion. However, if those individuals were to present themselves for communion, they would not be denied. In other traditions, the concept of being "unfit to receive" is unknown, and the actual refusal to distribute the elements to an individual would be considered scandalous.

Practitioners

Most Protestant Christian churches practice open communion. It is official policy in the various pentecostal groups that go by the name Church of God, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church in America,^[1] the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Metropolitan Community Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Reformed Church in America, some in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America^[2], and Seventh-day Adventists. The official policy of the Episcopal Church is to only invite baptized persons to receive communion. However, many parishes practice open communion. Amongst Gnostic churches, both the Ecclesia Gnostica and the Apostolic Johannite Church practice open communion.

Notable exceptions include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church (LCMS, WELS and many^[2] ELCA), conservative Churches of Christ, Reformed Seventh Day Adventists and some Reformed tradition churches. All these typically practice some form of closed communion.

Baptist and other churches that practice congregational polity, due to their autonomous nature, may (depending on the individual congregation) practice open or closed communion.

Within the Latter Day Saint movement, the Community of Christ practices open communion. The LDS Church, on the other hand, views its corresponding ceremony (known as the Sacrament) as having meaning only for church members (though without actually forbidding others from participating).

Position of the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church does not practise open communion, holding that reception of Holy Communion is reserved for those who are baptized.^[3] In general it permits access to its Eucharistic communion only to those who share its oneness in faith, worship and ecclesial life.^[4] For the same reasons, it also recognizes that in certain circumstances, by way of exception, and under certain conditions, access to these sacraments may be permitted, or even commended, for Christians of other Churches and ecclesial Communities.

Thus it permits Eastern Christians who are not in full communion with the Catholic Church (Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and Assyrian Church of the East) to receive Communion from Catholic ministers, if they request it of their own accord and are properly disposed, and it applies the same rule also to some Western Churches that the Holy See judges to be in a situation similar to that of Eastern Christians with regard to the sacraments.^[5]

For other baptized Christians (Anglicans and Protestants) the conditions are more severe. Only in danger of death or if, in the judgement of the local bishop, there is a grave and pressing need, may members of these Churches who cannot approach a minister of their own Church be admitted to receive the Eucharist, if they spontaneously ask for it, demonstrate that they have the catholic faith in the Eucharist, and are properly disposed.^[6]

The Catholic Church allows its own faithful to receive Communion from ministers of another Church, only if it recognizes the validity of the sacraments of that Church. Other conditions are that it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, that it is a case of real need or spiritual benefit, and that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.^[7]

References

See also

• Eucharist
• Closed communion
• Excommunication