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Our churches doctrine on proper administration of Holy Communion has been well established for over 150 years. Most Lutheran Church Missouri Synod follow the basic practice and doctrine for various reasons.
In our church, only communicant members of our congregation or visiting LCMS members are eligible to receive the sacrament. Children must be properly instructed, and after their official confirmation, they are eligible to receive.
Others are excluded for various reasons. Members involved in ongoing unrepentant public sin are excluded, following 1 Corin. 5.
Based on 1 Corinthians 11, we exclude all other non-members because we do not know,
1. IF they have properly been instructed that what they are receiving is the body and blood of the Lord.
2.If they have been properly instructed in the law, so that they might examine themselves.
In love we do not want these people to unknowingly taking the sacrament to their damnation.
Our communion policy is briefly stated in the church bulletin for visitors.
This policy is very similar to what was practiced in the first few centuries of the Christian church. The first half of the service was a word service, with hymns, psalms readings, prayer and teaching/preaching. Then there was a break, and the visitors and catechumens were excused and only those who were actual members would stay, and the sacrament was celebrated in the second half of the service. The doors were locked from the inside so that no one would receive it unworthily.
We take the attitude that the congregation and the pastor are responsible to try to properly administer the Lord's Supper for the benefit of all.
I'm not Lutheran but the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Synod are very similar in the practice of close communion. Normally the churches in the WELS and Missouri Synod ask visitors to speak to the pastor before coming to their altar.
I'm not Lutheran but the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Synod are very similar in the practice of close communion. Normally the churches in the WELS and Missouri Synod ask visitors to speak to the pastor before coming to their altar.
Personally I'm against closed communion because that is not what the Apostle Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 11:27-28. Paul warns believers to partake in a WORTHY manner and NOT to exclude other baptized believers.
Closed communion is wrong for two reasons in my opinion:
1. It is not biblical since those who believe in closed communion misunderstand the concept of 1 Corinthians 11:27-28.
2. Each individual must examine himself and decide whether if his heart is worthy to partake of the Lord's Supper.
That is why I am more akin to open communion to baptized believers.
Other than confessional Lutheran churches that I mentioned above that practices close communion; I do know the Catholic Church permits only baptized Catholics into receiving the Eucharist and the Orthodox Church is the same way in which only baptized Orthodox Christians are admitted to the sacrament by fasting and prayer. Those who are a Greek Orthodox Christian attending a Russian Orthodox Church, etc. are allowed to partake in the Eucharist but a Catholic or a Protestant will be excluded from the Eucharist even though they are otherwise permitted to participate in the rest of the church service.
There is a difference between "close" and "closed communion".
"Close" communion generally means that only baptize members of any church congregation of the same denomination are allowed to partake of the bread and cup. "Closed" communion can also mean that Lord's Supper is restricted to those who are in fellowship of the local congregation only. This is the practice of most Independent Baptist churches which restrict the bread and cup to those who are in good standing of that local congregation. So therefore, those from other churches, even other IFB churches are excluded from receiving the Lord's Supper.
However, I do agree that the Lord's Supper should not be given to non-believers. That goes the same for baptism.
Last edited by Jonathan Ashbeck; 12-03-2017 at 06:22 PM..
Right, the ELCA is the opposite of the Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod. They are more towards open communion like the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church and other mainline Protestant churches.
I'm not Lutheran but the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Evangelical Lutheran Synod are very similar in the practice of close communion. Normally the churches in the WELS and Missouri Synod ask visitors to speak to the pastor before coming to their altar.
Communion should not be closed. It is not the Lutheran table or the Presbyterian table, it is the Lord's table and should be open to all Christians.
This comes from our church's Sunday morning service last week. Our Pastor for the first time in 7 years decided to restrict the Lord's Supper to just official church membership, leaving about a third to half of those in attendance to watch and unable to participate.
His reasoning was that he felt God wanted him to make this change to protect the fellowship of the membership.
As background, the church has lost a lot of membership in the last few years, and is down to about a total of 36 voting members. On any given Sunday, church attendance is about 30-40 persons. Most of them are members, or newer fairly regular attenders. Maybe 20 member to 10 regular attenders.
Although he had his reasoning (protect fellowship of the church), his actions seem to be harming the fellowship by driving a wedge between members and non members. It created some animosity and hurt feelings, which are lingering.
I know many churches do restrict the Lord's Supper, so I think the surprise here is that it was a change in his policy, and he also did it during the Sunday AM service, which is most likely to have new people, hoppers, church shoppers, and regular attenders who have not officially joined.
How does your church handle it? How do you feel a church should handle it?
I can't imagine a less Christian sentiment if I tried. And the attitude of your pastor probably has something to do with your declining membership. A church is not a club. It collects tithes, voluntarily given, not dues. And if you have a church where people are visiting, yet not joining, then something about your worship likely is the reason. A church should, at all times, be open and welcoming.
Likewise, the Eucharist should be open to all baptized Christians, for is not up to a church to deny someone the grace of Christ. Yes, I know the Catholics and some others have closed baptisms, but that seems to be completely against the spirit of the entire thing.
In our church, even if you are not baptized, you are welcome to the communion rail for a blessing. Simply fold your arms on your chest.
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