Phillip Tovey

This short book explores "extended communion" -- sharing communion following a eucharistic service -- deliberately without getting drawn into the related issues of communion for the sick, and eucharistic reservation.

Chapter 2 shows there was plenty of examples of mid-week reception from across most areas of Christendom, some of which was in the home or monastery, and this is likely to be have been carried there from the church celebrations. As early as Justin Martyr the deacons were taking communion to those who couldn't attend the gatherings (though the reasons for non-attendance were not stated).

Chapter 3 covers the "Liturgy of the Presanctified" which used to occur during Lent in Byzantine, and still often occurs on Good Friday in the Western church, carried over from Maundy Thursday.

Chapter 4 looks at Roman Catholic practice, which developed formal liturgies after Trent in 1614. The update in 1974 also presupposed no shortage of priests, but it has more recently been led by laity as it has no Eucharistic Prayer. Such services are called "Eucharistic Communions" but not the Mass, are now common in many parts of the world.

Chapter 5 covers the Anglican Communion, specifically the historic practices in the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Catholic Apostolic Church, ECUSA (with the first reservation from 1979), Canada, Australia and NZ. In South Africa it is common though not official, and it isn't present at all in Kenya, CSI or Kenya.

Chapter 6 looks at the British Isles. The Church in Wales has allowed Deacons to administer HC from the reserved sacraments from 1974. The Scottish Episcopal Church have allowed this from their 1912 revision of the BCP. England is in more of a muddle with many experiments being carried out from the 1980s, partly because of the large number of women deacons at that time.

Chapter 7 then looks at the pastoral and theological problems with extended communion. Principally it raises the issue of what constitutes the local church, if we need to see some unity in all those receiving from the same celebration. Here he suggests "Anglican tradition suggests" it's the local unit where the "eucharist is celebrated" not "where communion is administered" (42). This is also linked to what form of consecration is understood.

Tovey also includes some relevant liturgies from around the world.

It contains some very useful source material, but as it is now 20 years old, it lacks many more recent developments. The rating is lower to reflect that.… (mehr)