Common What?
FROM THE RECTOR
Before I had read the news that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had voted to draft a new policy on who may receive the Eucharist, I saw a colleague’s post on Facebook that President Biden would always be allowed to take Communion in her church. Honestly, I did not know what to feel. Should I be proud to be a part of a tradition that boasts of allowing access to the Lord’s Supper for everyone? Should I be upset that the body of Christ was again wounded by disagreements over the sacrament? Should I be disappointed that a public figure in our denomination would race for the chance to score points over it? Should I be relieved that a leader in our tradition had the freedom to make such a public stand for inclusion?
Since then, I have seen many social media posts, news articles, and clergy musings about this particular development and, more significantly, what it reminds us about the nature of the Eucharist. While I have no interest in adding to the fracas my own criticism of another Christian tradition’s approach to the sacrament, I think this is a good occasion for us to remember what we believe and proclaim about the Eucharist in order that we might seek deeper communion with Christ and with each other, even across denominational barriers.
When we participate in the Eucharist and receive the consecrated bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, what is the nature of the communion into which we are drawn? With whom and under what circumstances are we in communion? Because the death and resurrection of Jesus are integral to the Eucharist, the communion we experience is, in part, a fruit of the forgiveness that we are given through the sacrament. As the catechism states, through the Eucharist, we receive forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our union with Christ and each other (BCP p. 859-60). Thus, as forgiven people, reconciled to God and to one another, we are drawn into a holy union—a holy unity—through the Eucharist.
More than that, however, the Eucharist is also a foretaste of the perfect union with God and with each other that we will enjoy when all things are brought to their fulfillment and completion in the kingdom of God (BCP p. 860). Through Communion, we are strengthened in this life for our journey toward the next life by participating in a sacrament that reveals to us a glimpse of what awaits God’s people—the restored unity we can only fully know in heaven. Although we may debate how that foretaste is granted and through what means our sins are forgiven, regardless of one’s personal approach to sacramental theology, we can all imagine ways in which a brokenness between us and God or between us and our neighbor could undermine our ability to experience that union through the Eucharist.
When would such an unreconciled brokenness become so problematic as to undermine the entire congregation’s ability to experience unity with God and with the Christian community? In the Roman tradition, there are clearer guidelines for when such a brokenness exists. When an individual has committed a grave sin, that person must first be reconciled to God and the church through auricular confession—the Rite of Reconciliation—before receiving Communion.
Though we may not often discuss it, The Episcopal Church maintains a similar approach. The clergy are instructed that it is their duty to deny Communion to anyone whose “notoriously evil life” or whose wrong done to their neighbors or whose hatred toward another member of the congregation represents “a scandal to the other members” and that readmission to Communion shall not be granted until those involved have “given clear proof of repentance and amendment of life” (BCP p. 409). Though I have never excommunicated anyone, I have wondered a time or two whether a careful reading of the disciplinary rubrics would require it.
For similar reasons, Communion in the Catholic Church, as in many other denominations, is restricted to members of that particular tradition. The unity expressed through the sacrament, it is believed, is undermined when those gathering at the table do not share an understanding of the faith, which the sacrament is thought to strengthen. Accordingly, the foretaste of the heavenly banquet cannot be conveyed when those communing at the earthly table are not assured of their shared place at the table that awaits them.
Although we would define differently what it means to share the faith of the universal, catholic church and might recognize more readily the inclusion of all people in God’s plan of salvation, we would not expect those who have no desire to participate in the heavenly banquet to receive Communion in our church. To do so would not only cheapen our veneration of the sacrament but also diminish our respect for those who hold a different faith. Likewise, we would be scandalized if someone who publicly rejected the universal love of God in Jesus Christ and openly espoused bigotry and hatred sought Communion in our church. Though we may be hesitant to define it narrowly, there must be some shared understanding between us if Communion is to strengthen our unity.
If the Eucharist is only a gesture of hospitality and not a sacrament of forgiveness, unity, and empowerment, why is it the principal act of worship celebrated by Christ’s body, the church? Communion is not only what we do but who we are and what, with God’s help, we seek. For that reason, the canons of our church conform to the ancient tradition of not allowing Communion for those who are not baptized into the body of Christ. We no longer require those who receive to be confirmed Episcopalians, and we mean fully what we say when we declare that all people are welcome at God’s table, but that invitation is not simply to share with us in the bread and wine but in the Christian life that unites us with all disciples of Jesus.
In our own peculiar way that is a product of the English Reformation, our church understands unity of worship to take precedence over, as well as to promote, unity of doctrine. As a familiar bumper sticker declares, “Don’t ask me where I stand; ask me where I kneel.” Through the centuries, our emphasis on common prayer has enabled us to worship together—liberal and conservative, catholic and reformed, royalist and republican, evangelical and charismatic, revisionist and traditionalist.
Differences of opinion, even over hotly debated issues like abortion, have not prevented us from sharing Communion across any number of aisles. In our tradition, such disagreements do not threaten our understanding of unity, while, in other denominations, because of the way they define sacramental unity, those disputes strike much more closely to the heart of what it means to commune with each other and with God. I am thankful to be a part of this particular church, and I mourn the differences that continue to wound Christ’s body, but I celebrate the things that hold us together across denominations. To take Communion in any church is to seek unity throughout the body of Christ not only in a local congregation but in all manifestations of the Christian community. Surely Jesus has shown us that we can pursue and celebrate that unity without celebrating the divisions that hurt other members of Christ’s body.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan