Always. All Ways.
Failed, this has been on General Convention's agenda before, supported by lay delegates, I don't remember whether a clergy majority supported it, but opposed and defeated by the House of Bishops. There's no point in my guessing how it will turn out this time, but to me it is not significant, because I have practiced an open Altar, open Communion rail in every parish I have ever served, and will continue to do so no matter what General Convention rules, as in fact is done at about half the parishes around the Episcopal Church. Institutionalized wrong is best overcome by doing the right thing regardless, sometimes defiantly, sometimes quietly and peacefully. Our bishop, in giving the Invitation to come up for Communion, has a godly statement in which he declares that this is not our Table, it's God's Table, and all are invited and welcome.
No judgment of those who disagree, as many do, but our Jewish heritage is hospitality, which Jesus graciously practiced at every feeding event recorded in the gospels, and it's unthinkable to close the door against any human who would come if invited and welcomed. All are invited and welcome, no exceptions.
RSF&PTL
T
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General Convention to consider proposal to end Episcopal Church’s baptism requirement for CommunionPosted May 4, 2022 |
[Episcopal News Service] General Convention’s committees on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music heard testimony May 3 on a diverse selection of resolutions, from proposals to add the late Bishop Barbara Harris to the church’s calendar of feasts to a measure “addressing antisemitic, anti-Jewish and/or supersessionist interpretations of our lectionaries.”
The resolution that generated the most discussion, and some of the strongest opinions, was a measure proposed by the Diocese of Northern California that would repeal the Episcopal canon that requires worshipers to be baptized before receiving Communion in Episcopal churches.
Martin Heatlie testified on behalf of Episcopalians in Northern California who researched the issue. “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.
Heatlie was one of eight people who testified on Resolution C028 at the online hearing held by the bishops’ and deputies’ committees on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music. (The two committees, though distinct, typically meet together to consider resolutions.)
The Episcopal Church’s Canon I.17.7 (page 88) states: “No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church.”
The Rev. James Richardson, a priest and alternate clergy deputy in the Diocese of Northern California, noted that the diocese’s laity voted overwhelmingly in support of repealing that canon, while clergy approved it by a narrower margin.
“I think that bespeaks that this canon is about control and gatekeeping rather than an invitation to baptism,” Richardson said.
The rest of the testimony on the resolution, however, was opposed to severing the connection between the sacraments of baptism and Communion. Nathan Brown, a lay deputy in the Diocese of Washington, asserted that the two sacraments “are intrinsically linked,” while the Rev. Lee Singleton, a priest in the Diocese of Florida, called the proposal “a bridge too far.”
The Rev. Bertie Pearson, a priest in the Diocese of Texas, said that the lack of examples in the Bible is not itself justification for ending The Episcopal Church’s practice of welcoming only baptized Christians to receive Eucharist.
“I think we sometimes forget that the Bible is not a rule book for how we do church,” Pearson said. In other Christian texts going back to the early centuries of the church, baptism and Communion are clearly linked, he said. “It is always the baptized and the baptized alone who is really emphasized.”
The resolution “contradicts 2,000 years of church teaching and practice,” Kevin Miller, a Massachusetts alternate deputy, testified. “The church universal, which we claim to be a part of, has taught that baptism is the entranceway into the church.”
Miller and others opposed to the resolution underscored that The Episcopal Church can welcome all worshippers while still tying Communion to baptism. It can be an opportunity to teach about the importance of baptism in deepening a person’s Christian faith.