Closed Communion - Definition

Definition

A closed-communion Church is one that (perhaps with exceptions in unusual circumstances) excludes non-members from receiving communion.

The Roman Catholic Church (including all its component particular Churches, whether Latin or Eastern) practices closed communion. However, provided that "necessity requires it or true spiritual advantage suggests it" and that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, it allows those of its members who cannot approach a Catholic minister to receive the Eucharist from ministers of churches that have a valid Eucharist. It also permits properly disposed members of the Eastern churches and of churches judged to be in the same situation with regard to the sacraments to receive the Eucharist from Catholic ministers, if they seek it of their own accord. The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism warns that "due consideration should be given to the discipline of the Eastern Churches for their own faithful and any suggestion of proselytism should be avoided." Western Christians who do not share the Roman Catholic theology of the Eucharist (such as those who follow Reformed Protestant teaching on the matter) are absolutely excluded. Those who do personally share Catholic belief in the Eucharist (as the body and blood of the risen Christ, accompanied by his soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine) are permitted to receive the sacrament when there is danger of death or, in the judgement of the diocesan bishop or of the episcopal conference, some other grave necessity urges it and on condition that "the person be unable to have recourse for the sacrament to a minister of his or her own Church or ecclesial Community, ask for the sacrament of his or her own initiative, manifest Catholic faith in the sacrament and be properly disposed".

The Eastern Orthodox Church, comprising 14 or 15 autocephalous Orthodox hierarchical churches, is even more strictly a closed-communion Church. Thus, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church attending the Divine Liturgy in a Greek Orthodox Church will be allowed to receive communion and vice versa, but a Protestant or a Roman Catholic attending an Orthodox Divine Liturgy will be excluded from communion, although they may otherwise fully participate in the worship service. In the strictest sense, non-Orthodox may be present at the Divine Liturgy only up to the exclamation "The doors! The doors!" and ought to leave the church after that. However, this attitude has been relaxed in most Orthodox churches; a non-communicant may stay and participate in the Divine Liturgy but may not partake of the Eucharist. Thus, while in certain conditions the Roman Catholic Church allows its faithful who cannot approach a Catholic minister to receive the Eucharist from an Eastern Orthodox priest, the Eastern Orthodox Church does not admit Roman Catholics to its Mystery of the Eucharist. At the very end of the Divine Liturgy, all people come up to receive a little piece of bread, called Antidoron, which is blessed but not consecrated, being taken from the same loaf as the bread used in the consecration. Non-Orthodox present at the Liturgy are not only permitted but even encouraged to receive the Antidoron as an expression of Christian fellowship and love.

The Strict Baptists in the United Kingdom derive their name from the practice of closed communion. Among some Baptist churches, closed communion is the practice of restricting communion (or The Lord's Supper) to only those who hold membership in the local church that is observing the ordinance. Thus, members from other churches, even other Baptist churches, will be excluded from participating in the communion service. In the United States, this viewpoint is usually, though not exclusively, associated with Landmark ecclesiology.

Among the modern descendants of the Anabaptists, the Amish, Old Order Mennonites, Conservative Mennonites all practice what they term Close communion which restricts communion to members of a local congregation only.

Most Lutheran churches practice closed communion and require catechetical instruction for all people before receiving the Eucharist. Failing to do so is condemned by these Lutherans as the sin of unionism. This teaching comes from 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 which says, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf" and Paul's teaching of fellowship in 1 Corinthians 1:10, "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought." These Lutherans also take seriously God's threat in 1 Corinthians 11:27,29 that "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of this cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." Therefore, the belief is that, inviting those forward who have not been first instructed would be unloving on the church's part, because they would inviting people forward to sin. This is ascribed as akin to letting someone drink poison without stopping him

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran Church in America, however, practices their own form of open communion meaning the Eucharist is offered to adults without receiving the catechetical instruction, as long as they are a baptized believer in Christ's presence in the Eucharistic meal.

The Apostolic Christian Church, Church of God in Christ, Exclusive Brethren, some Mennonite, Amish, some churches in the Reformed tradition and Primitive Baptists also practice closed communion. Other groups that practice closed communion are Jehovah's Witnesses.