Who may receive holy eucharist in the episcopal church?

Answer 1

The Episcopal Church's policy is that all baptized persons may receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist regardless of whether or not you are an Episcopalian or member of any other province of the Anglican Communion.

In some parishes priest's will even knowingly administer the Sacrament to people who are not baptized, but in faith, come to the table to receive Christ's body and blood.

Few priest's I know would ever turn a person away from the table, regardless of baptized status.

Answer 2

In an Episcopal church, the only requirement for receiving Holy Eucharist is that the child be Baptised. It does not matter what age you are. If you are not Baptised, you don't put your hands out for the Holy bread; instead you as the parent or if the child is old enough, ask for just a blessing.

Answer 3

It is not who can receive communion in the Anglican Church that is important, because almost any one can. The question should read "Who should be able to receive communion in the Anglican Church."

There are 4 prerequisites to receiving communion.

1) someone who truly and earnestly repents of their sins

2) are in love and charity with your neighbor

3) intent to live a new life following the commandments of God

4) and to walk henceforth in his holy ways.

This is the invitation to communion that is given before the communion by the Priest.

Modern scholars believe anyone who is baptised should be able to come to the Lords Table including small children. However children have no idea as to what they are doing let alone why. Being confirmed and knowing the catechism for centuries was one of the major requirements, which also has fallen by the wayside.

Clergy and communicants now take the sanctity of communion more lightly than ever before in history. They recite the words yet do not digest them.

What they forget is that you separate yourself from God when you have sin. Then to come to the Table of the Lord without purging yourself of that sin, puts you at a greater separation from God then you had before.

What must be remembered is that in order to live with the Lord you have to walk in the Lord first. To do otherwise you only walk alone.

The unfortunate thing about this whole scenario is that if we truly followed the 4 prerequisites required by the church, the communion rail would be a lonely place most Sundays instead of being a place of social gathering.

Answer 4

Great question! :)

For Non-Catholics

Among other things, receiving Communion in the Catholic Church is a way not only of uniting oneself with the Real Presence of Christ, but it is also a way of explicitly declaring one's union with the Catholic Church. Back in the fourth century, St. Augustine expressed it as follows:

If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are you respond "Amen" ("yes, it is true!") and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true. (St. Augustine, Sermo 272: PL 38, 1247)

By responding Amen at Communion one is assenting to being in union, membership and agreement with all that the Catholic Church teaches concerning Communion, as well as the rest of the Faith.

Out of respect for those who desire communion, the Catholic Church asks that they refrain from Communion until they are members of the Catholic Church so that, as St. Augustine says, their Amen may be true - reflecting truthfully their union, membership and agreement with the Catholic Church.

Exceptions, of course, may be made in cases of emergency or grave necessity:

When, in the Ordinary's judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance, and Anointing of the Sick to other Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church, who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required dispositions. (CCC 1401)

For Catholics

Catholics who are not in a state of mortal sin may receive Holy Eucharist. If one has committed venial sins, they are forgiven in the Eucharist:

As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins. By giving himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him. (CCC 1394)

If, however, one is in a state of mortal sin, one must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation first:

To respond to this invitation [to the Eucharist] we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." [1 Cor 11:27-29] Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion. (CCC 1385)

REFERENCES

Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Catechism of the Catholic Church, (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994).

Answer 5

All Episcopal churches must make participation in the Eucharist available to all baptized Christians. Churches have the option of having an "open table," where anyone at all may participate in the Eucharistic rite.