Open Communion?
The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the USA is currently considering a proposal to drop the requirement for those who receive communion to be baptized.
According to one episcopalian from northern California, Martin Heatlie:
“We could not find anything in the Bible or the Book of Common Prayer that required baptism as a prerequisite for receiving Communion,” Heatlie said. When priests say “the gifts of God for the people of God” before distributing the bread and wine, that means everyone, the diocese concluded. “We all believe that all people are God’s people, so it’s not just the gifts of God for just baptized people,” Heatlie said. “We all believe that all people are God’s people, so it’s not just the gifts of God for just baptized people,” Heatlie said. [From ENS].
The problem is that most denominations have some kind of policy whereby the eucharist or communion or the Lord’s Supper is only for believers who are baptized, either as infants or as believers. Of course, some denominations will deny communion even to members of other denominations. For example, some Baptists would not give communion to those baptized as infants. Lutherans don’t give communion to anyone who is not Lutheran! Also, denying someone communion can also be used as an instrument of discipline, to identify someone as not in fellowship with fellow church members.
In the circles I travel in, communion is normally reserved for anyone who calls Jesus “Lord,” or else, it is said that if you normally receive communion in your own church then you are welcomed to receive it in our church - or something like that.
The logic of closed communion is that the Lord’s Supper is God’s meal for the people of God, it is intended for believers, for those in good standing with their church, it is not for religious tourists, cultural Christians, or those on the fringed of faith.
It is no wonder then that several Episcopal theologians released a statement expressing concern about open communion being implemented in TEC:
Unlike Baptism, Holy Eucharist is therefore not intended for “all people” without exception, but is rather for “God’s people” understood above as a common body united by a common faith. To require such corporate faith as confessed in the Baptismal Covenant is not exclusive or inhospitable but simply what it means to receive Communion in this Church. Indeed, according to our “Commentary on Eucharistic Sharing,” in addition to being baptized, those who receive the Eucharist in The Episcopal Church must “examine their lives, repent of their sins, and be in love and charity with all people” and “shall approach the Holy Communion as an expression of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ whose sacrifice once upon the cross was sufficient for all humankind.”
Well, what should we make of this debate over open communion?
I certainly would reject handing out indiscriminate communion to anyone who shows up at church. But I think a case can reasonably be made for open-ish communion.