A quiet revolution is taking place at the altars of many churches - in the form of bread and wine. Communion, the central ritual of most Christian worship services and long a members-only sacrament, is increasingly being opened to any willing participant, including the nonbaptized, the nonbeliever, and the non-Christian.
The change is most dramatic in the Episcopal Church, particularly in liberal dioceses like Massachusetts.
The denomination's rules are clear: "No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church."
Yet, a recent survey by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts found that nearly three-quarters of local parishes are practicing "open Communion," inviting anyone to partake.
"Who am I to say who should be at God's table?" said the Rev. Gale Davis Morris, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Acton. "Most of Scripture is pretty clear about who the ultimate judge is, and it's not anybody that's human. And I would much rather err on the side of inclusion than exclusion."
Supporters of open Communion argue that Jesus would not have turned anyone away; defenders of closed Communion say that's a misreading of biblical history and that Communion is meant to be a sign not only of one's faith but of one's membership in the church. The debate is taking place as the number of Americans who describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated is growing, and church leaders are attempting to lure them in.
"Both sides will appeal to Scripture - those for open Communion will appeal to Jesus' practice of having meals with tax collectors and sinners, while those who want to maintain the traditional practice appeal to the Last Supper, where Jesus was eating with his disciples," said the Rev. Matthew Stewart, priest in charge at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Fall River.
Stewart led a study of Communion practices in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
Strikingly, the transformation is taking place with little public controversy, as parish by parish, Episcopal priests are making their own decisions about whom to invite to the Communion rail.
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has taken a hands-off approach.
"Episcopal Church leadership recognizes that Episcopalians have varied interpretations from Scripture and early Church practices," said the diocesan spokeswoman, Maria Plati. "At this time the decision to invite unbaptized persons to Communion is understood and accepted as a local option."
Among the many local Episcopal churches offering open Communion is Trinity Church in Copley Square, one of the largest and most prominent Episcopal parishes.
"We welcome all people to Communion at Trinity and make an intentional announcement to that effect every Sunday," said Trinity's rector, the Rev. Anne B. Bonnyman. "I should add that my policy is somewhat controversial, or at least unresolved, within the larger Church. But it works for us here."Communion has traditionally been a commemoration of the Last Supper, and critics say offering Communion to non-Christians violates historic practice and makes no sense.
"It's not that it's some sort of horrible blasphemy, but it's highly incoherent that the Eucharist would be given to people who are not Christians," argues the Rev. Ephraim Radner, a professor of historical theology at Wycliffe College in Toronto.' And it's against the consistent practice of Christians for centuries."
At Trinity Church in Concord, the rector, the Rev. Tony Buquor, invites "all who seek God" to Communion. But the associate rector, Nicholas Morris-Kliment, does not.
"I have a vivid recollection of coming to the rail, and the deacon saying, very apologetically, 'I wish I could give this to you, but I can't yet,' and rather than discourage me, that gave me the incentive to take the class I needed to take to be baptized," said Morris-Kliment.
Defenders of open Communion consider it a form of evangelism, citing a rise in the number of Americans who are not baptized.
"When you're trying to welcome people into a denomination and lower the signs that say, 'This is a club and you can't get in,' how do you say, 'The church welcomes you, and invites you to join us, but, oh, by the way, you can't come to the table?' " said Fredrica Harris Thompsett, a professor of historical theology at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.
Priests say those benefiting from open Communion include spouses, seekers, and the simply curious.
"I have one man - the Jewish spouse of a very devout Christian woman - who comes a few times a year and always receives Communion," said the Rev. Jeffrey Gill, rector of Christ Church in Andover. "I take his desire to receive as at least an implied, and perhaps inarticulate, hunger and thirst for God in his life."
Among those persuaded by that rationale is Tina Roberts, a worshiper at St. John's Episcopal Church in Westwood, who was raised as a Catholic.
"I grew up in a home where my parents were divorced, and my mom didn't take Communion, and although I was only a child, I felt bad for her," Roberts said.
Roberts and her husband left the Catholic Church over a variety of disagreements about issues such as the Church's teaching on birth control, and found their way to an Episcopal church after they had children. Roberts said that the church's open Communion "felt a little weird to me at first," and that she struggled in particular with the absence of a first Communion ritual, ultimately choosing to read a book for children about Communion to their eldest before allowing him to participate for the first time.The public discussion of Communion in the United States has recently been dominated by developments in the Catholic Church, which maintains a traditional view of the Eucharist, asking that only members in good standing participate in the ritual.
The Church's rules preclude divorced Catholics who remarry without annulling their first marriage from receiving Communion, and the bishops next month are scheduled once again to talk about the contentious and unresolved question of whether politicians who support abortion rights should be eligible to participate.
But even within the Catholic Church, there has clearly been change in practice, but coming from the pews, not the pulpit. Church officials and scholars say the percentage of people attending Mass who receive Communion has risen dramatically over the last several decades. This suggests that the number of people who see themselves as excluded by sin has dropped.
Many Catholics have clearly decided to make their own rules, from public figures, like the twice-divorced and abortion rights supporting Rudolph Giuliani, who took Communion at a papal Mass in New York, to nonfamous persons who take Communion despite having been remarried outside the church, or engaging in premarital or gay sex, or other practices the Church defines as sinful.
In addition to the Catholic Church, Orthodox Christian churches maintain closed Communion.
In Protestant churches, there are several differences from Catholic and Orthodox practice. Many denominations offer Communion monthly or quarterly, not weekly; some congregations use grape juice rather than wine; and many view the consecrated Eucharist as symbolic of Jesus, rather than as having been actually transubstantiated into his body and blood.
Increasingly, Protestant congregations, including many in the Episcopal Church, are welcoming children to Communion without requiring that they go through confirmation or anything akin to the Catholic first communion ritual.
Evangelical Protestant churches, many of which are offering Communion with greater frequency in recent years, generally do not require baptism as a prerequisite for participation, but ask that only people who profess faith in Jesus partake, according to Dennis P.
The change is greatest in mainline Protestant denominations. The United Methodist Church - the denomination of President Bush - has long had a policy called "open table," inviting anyone who "loves Christ" to participate. In the United Church of Christ - the denomination of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama - most congregations invite anyone to participate.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America restricts Communion to the baptized, but New England Synod Bishop Margaret G. Payne said, "Some pastors are wrestling with the feeling that they would like to welcome anyone to the table who wants to come as a gesture of evangelistic welcome . . . but that movement has not progressed beyond a thinking stage."
In heavily Catholic areas such as eastern Massachusetts, the open Communion practice serves a symbolic function, signaling to disenchanted Catholics that the Episcopal Church is different. Several formerly Catholic families said in interviews that the open Communion policy played a role in their switching denominations.
Karen Conley of Acton grew up Catholic, married an Episcopalian who converted to Catholicism, but ultimately the couple left the Catholic Church because, she said, "There were a lot of things I did not agree with, and I felt that I was being hypocritical being there."
"It makes me angry when someone says, 'You've been divorced, so you shouldn't receive Communion,' " Conley said. "I'm sure those people have sinned also. Who hasn't?"
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