Open Communion - Practitioners

Practitioners

Most Protestant Christian churches practice open communion. It is official policy in groups such as the Church of the Nazarene, the Church of God, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church in America, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, the Free Methodist Church, Metropolitan Community Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Assemblies of God, the Reformed Church in America, and Seventh-day Adventists. All bodies in the Liberal Catholic Movement practice open communion as a matter of policy. The official policy of the Episcopal Church is to only invite baptized persons to receive communion. However, many parishes practice open communion. Amongst Gnostic churches, both the Ecclesia Gnostica and the Apostolic Johannite Church practice open communion. The Plymouth Brethren were founded on the basis of an open communion with any baptized Christian: today, following John Nelson Darby, Exclusive Brethren practise closed communion, and Open Brethren practise open communion on the basis of "receiving to the Lord's table those whom He has received, time being allowed for confidence to be established in our minds that those who we receive are the Lord's."

Most churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America practice their own form of open communion, offering the Eucharist to adults without receiving catechetical instruction, provided they are baptized and believe in the Real Presence.

Notable exceptions include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church (excluding most churches in the ELCA ), conservative Churches of Christ, Reformed Seventh Day Adventists and some Reformed tradition churches. All these typically practice some form of closed communion.

Assemblies of God, Baptist and other churches that practice congregational polity, due to their autonomous nature, may (depending on the individual congregation) practice open or closed communion.

Within the Latter Day Saint movement, the Community of Christ practices open communion. The LDS Church, on the other hand, views its corresponding ceremony (known as the Sacrament) as having meaning only for church members (though without actually forbidding others from participating).

In the Anglican Communion, as well as in many other traditional Christian denominations, those who are not baptized may come forward in the communion line with their arms crossed over their chest, in order to receive a blessing from the priest, in lieu of Holy Communion.