Open communion is the practice of Christian churches that allow individuals other than members of that church to receive Holy Communion (also called the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper). The phrasing and exact requirements in a particular local church may vary, but membership in a particular Christian community is not required.
Open communion is the opposite of closed communion, where the sacrament is reserved for members of the particular church or others with which it is in a relationship of full communion or fellowship, or has otherwise recognized for that purpose. Closed communion may refer to either a particular denomination or an individual congregation serving Communion only to its own members.
In the United Methodist Church, open communion is referred to as the Open Table.
Read more about Open Communion: Affirmation, Supporting Belief, Practitioners, Position of The Roman Catholic Church
Famous quotes containing the words open and/or communion:
“In that open field
If you do not come too close, if you do not come too close,
On a summer midnight, you can hear the music
Of the weak pipe and the little drum
And see them dancing around the bonfire
The association of man and woman
In daunsinge, signifying matrimonie....”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Making love? It’s a communion with a woman. The bed is the holy table. There I find passion—and purification.”
—Omar Sharif (b. 1932)