Open Communion redux
Open communion or communion without Baptism (CWOB,) as it is more accurately called, is in the news again. In an article "Who is worthy to receive?" Michael Paulson writes:
A quiet revolution is taking place at the altars of many churches - in the form of bread and wine.Communion, the central ritual of most Christian worship services and long a members-only sacrament, is increasingly being opened to any willing participant, including the nonbaptized, the nonbeliever, and the non-Christian.
The change is most dramatic in the Episcopal Church, particularly in liberal dioceses like Massachusetts. The denomination's rules are clear: "No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church." Yet, a recent survey by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts found that nearly three-quarters of local parishes are practicing "open Communion," inviting anyone to partake.
Paulson also notes:
The public discussion of Communion in the United States has recently been dominated by developments in the Catholic Church, which maintains a traditional view of the Eucharist, asking that only members in good standing participate in the ritual. The Church's rules preclude divorced Catholics who remarry without annulling their first marriage from receiving Communion, and the bishops next month are scheduled once again to talk about the contentious and unresolved question of whether politicians who support abortion rights should be eligible to participate.But even within the Catholic Church, there has clearly been change in practice, but coming from the pews, not the pulpit. Church officials and scholars say the percentage of people attending Mass who receive Communion has risen dramatically over the last several decades. This suggests that the number of people who see themselves as excluded by sin has dropped.
Many Catholics have clearly decided to make their own rules, from public figures, like the twice-divorced and abortion rights supporting Rudolph Giuliani, who took Communion at a papal Mass in New York, to nonfamous persons who take Communion despite having been remarried outside the church, or engaging in premarital or gay sex, or other practices the Church defines as sinful.
Comments on the article are quite interesting and diverse.
Read it all here.
Other essays and articles on Episcopal Cafe on CWOB here and here and here.
Very interesting post - and a quite interesting article on the Boston Globe website. Some of the comments there are thought-provoking (others are just rude), but this is all really well-worth a look, and some time for consideration.
There were two very interesting articles in the Anglican Theological Review 3 years ago, one by Fallows and the other by Tanner. These articles were a helpful jumping off point for a discussion of "open" communion. However, I wonder whether we really have had the discussion that we need to have in our church before changing our practice in this way?
Call me crazy, but if we want the rules to change, it seems we need to have some conversation - and also have some proposals for resolutions at General Convention to this end. If not, how can we, in good conscience depose any bishop or clergyperson for violation of canons?
There seem to be some very important ecclesiological implications if the canon about "baptism before communion" is changed.
Perhaps dioceses such as Massachussetts and Washington have engaged in dialogue on this issue, and if so, I'd love to read the reports and articles that emerged from this theological discussion.
What do others think?
Peter+
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October 21, 2008 9:27 PM