Fenced Table
In Protestant theology, a fenced table is a communion table which is open only to accredited members of the Christian community. Fencing the table is thus the opposite of open communion, where the invitation to the sacrament is extended to "all who love the Lord" and members of any denomination are welcome at their own discretion.
The phrase goes back to early Scottish Calvinism, where the communion table literally had a fence around it, with a gate at each end. The members of the congregation were allowed to pass the gate on showing their communion token, a specially minted coin which served as an admission ticket and was given only to those who were in good standing with the local congregation and could pass a test of the catechism. Examples of this kind of church furnishing are still to be seen in a very few highland churches.
The phrase "fencing the table" is also used metaphorically for other kinds of group demarcation and restrictive practices.
Read more about this topic: Closed Communion
Famous quotes containing the word table:
“The table kills more people than war does.”
—Catalan proverb, quoted in Colman Andrews, Catalan Cuisine.