"What is a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian approach to Communion?"
Friends, today as we gather around the communion table, I would like to explore a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian approach to Holy Communion, in light of our Ethos and Constitution.
Now it’s important to say from the outset that it is not easy to give a single definitive view on communion from a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian perspective. That’s not due to uncertainty or a lack of reverence, but because one of the core convictions of our church is this: the right of private judgement and individual conscience in matters of faith.
Within the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, there is room for different understandings, personal interpretations, and diverse experiences of this sacred meal. There is no single dogmatic statement that defines how each one of us must understand or approach communion.
To help us each discern for ourselves our own understandings of communion it is perhaps helpful to briefly consider how other Christian traditions view communion.
In Roman Catholicism, for instance, communion—or the Holy Mass—is seen as a literal transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ (called transubstantiation). The sacrifice of christ 2000 years ago is said to be made present in the here and now under the guise of bread and wine. Outwardly the elements may look like Bread and Wine but in truth they are now the body and blood of Christ. They would say that when Jesus instituted communion at the last supper he didn’t say: “this is a symbol of my body… this is a symbol of my blood”, but rather “this is my body” “this is my blood”. Some High Anglicans hold the same view.
But for Lutherans and some other Anglicans, there is slightly different understanding - a belief in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the elements of Bread and Wine. However, the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine but they have now been infused or energised with the Real Presence of Christ.
But still other Anglicans would hold the view of the Reformer John Calvin who believed that Christ is truly present in Communion but not connected specifically to the Bread and the Wine.
Other Reformed traditions emphasize communion simply as a memorial; a remembering—a powerful reminder of Christ's death and resurrection, a symbol of grace rather than a mystical event, an act of sacred remembering.
This would also be the view of most Unitarians. A sacred remembering. But while most traditions would emphasize the atoning death of Christ, a sacrifice for sin, Unitarians would emphasize communion as a remembering of Christ’s shared love around a table and the supreme example of his life of sacrificial love.
And then the question arises: Who can receive communion?
In the Roman Catholic Church, only those who are baptised members of the Roman Catholic Church in good standing are permitted to receive Communion – only those who have been taught to recognise that the Bread and Wine are no longer just bread and wine, but are now the actual Body and Blood of Christ under the outward form of Bread and Wine. This is in part to ensure that due reverence is paid. That is why preparing for first communion is so important in the Roman Catholic Church – to ensure that children show due reverence and have a correct understanding that the bread is no longer bread and the wine is no longer wine but rather, the actual body and blood of Christ.
Up until the ecumenical movement of the 1960’s most denominations would have had some kind of exclusionary approach to communion. Only baptised members in good standing in the denomination could receive communion. So for example only baptised Anglicans in good standing could receive communion in an Anglican Church. Only baptised Lutherans in good standing could receive in a Lutheran church. Etc... But in more recent decades that has loosened up – now many mainline Protestant churches would say you can receive communion as a visitor if you are a baptised member in good standing in your own denomination.
In many evangelical traditions there are also further restrictions; communion in Evangelical traditions also often serve as a test of worthiness, with a strong exclusionary tone—those who are not "right with God" are encouraged not to partake until they have repented or conformed to particular beliefs.
Having considered briefly how other Christian traditions might understand communion, what might a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian approach to communion be that is grounded in our ethos as enshrined in our Constitution?
Firstly, Non-Subscribers tend to focus on the teachings of Jesus over and above the teachings about Jesus. Whatever else Communion is about it should over and above everything else connect us with the teachings and the way of Jesus. If there is a conflict or discrepancy for example between the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of St Paul, our obligation is to follow Jesus.
Secondly Non-Subscribers focus on the inalienable right of private judgement—the right of each person to interpret Scripture and respond according to their own conscience. There is room for differences of opinion in understanding exactly what is happening is communion… of how Christ is present – or even not present if that is what one believes. Most non-subscribers have probably over the centuries understood Communion more along the lines of a simple memorial, but there is room in the NSPCI for those who might have a more mystical view of communion. If in Ephesians, the writer speaks Christ’s presence now filling the whole universe there is room for those who might affirm and believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and the wine. There is room for each of us to come to our own conclusions on these things. At the very least it might be said that Christ is present where two or three gather in his name and break bread to remember him. But some Unitarians who emphasize the humanity of Jesus over his divinity might question that interpretation… For unitarains it is the shared experience of love around the table that reminds us of the spirit in which Jesus lived and loved… and there is room for all of these perspectives in the NSPCI.
Thirdly Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the supremacy of love—both as a key attribute of God and as the mark of true discipleship (John 13:35). In this regard Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the boundless grace of God, as shown in the parable of the Prodigal Son – where the wayward prodigal was welcomed in and included in the celebratory meal of his return home. The older brother however has excluded himself from the celebratory meal of his brothers return and in response the Father leaves the celebratory meal to invite to urge and to encourage the older brother to join them.
Fourthly Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the call to do the will of God, not merely to profess faith with our lips (Matthew 7:21)… ‘You will know they are Christians, not by what they profess to believe, not by how well they know their Bible’s or how many verses they have memorised. Rather, you will know them by their love. Jesus said, “By this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
And so these broad principles form a kind of spiritual compass for how we might approach communion—not with fear or obligation, but with love, reflection, and a deep reverence for the teachings of Christ.
We remember that Jesus welcomed all to his table: the faithful and the faltering, the confused and the confident. He broke bread with those who would soon deny him, betray him, and abandon him – Luke’s Gospel emphasizes that the hand of the betrayer was with Jesus at the table at the Last Supper. His invitation was an act of radical grace extended to all.
It is for this reason that Non-Subscribing Presbyterians as well as Methodists together with Unitarains are among the few traditions who practice what is called an Open Table. All are invited to partake without restriction whether baptised or un-baptised, whether worthy or unworthy – for both Communion is an expression of unearned grace, of God’s love freely extended to all without exceptions.
And so we believe that communion is not a reward for the righteous, but a reminder of grace for the seeking. It is not a test of doctrinal agreement, but a shared experience of Christ’s love, and a moment of spiritual nourishment. It is not a sacrament fenced off by dogma, but a shared meal open to all who seek to walk in the spirit and love of Jesus.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we see the heart of the God whom Jesus reveals: a God who runs to meet the lost, who rejoices over their return, who throws a feast not as a prize for perfection but as a celebration of reconciliation. The lost son has come home.
At this table, no matter who we are or whatever our understanding, we too are invited to come home. To come home to love. It is here, in bread and wine, that in remembering Jesus we enact a simple truth: we are loved, we are welcome, we belong. Amen.
Friends, today as we gather around the communion table, I would like to explore a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian approach to Holy Communion, in light of our Ethos and Constitution.
Now it’s important to say from the outset that it is not easy to give a single definitive view on communion from a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian perspective. That’s not due to uncertainty or a lack of reverence, but because one of the core convictions of our church is this: the right of private judgement and individual conscience in matters of faith.
Within the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, there is room for different understandings, personal interpretations, and diverse experiences of this sacred meal. There is no single dogmatic statement that defines how each one of us must understand or approach communion.
To help us each discern for ourselves our own understandings of communion it is perhaps helpful to briefly consider how other Christian traditions view communion.
In Roman Catholicism, for instance, communion—or the Holy Mass—is seen as a literal transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ (called transubstantiation). The sacrifice of christ 2000 years ago is said to be made present in the here and now under the guise of bread and wine. Outwardly the elements may look like Bread and Wine but in truth they are now the body and blood of Christ. They would say that when Jesus instituted communion at the last supper he didn’t say: “this is a symbol of my body… this is a symbol of my blood”, but rather “this is my body” “this is my blood”. Some High Anglicans hold the same view.
But for Lutherans and some other Anglicans, there is slightly different understanding - a belief in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the elements of Bread and Wine. However, the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine but they have now been infused or energised with the Real Presence of Christ.
But still other Anglicans would hold the view of the Reformer John Calvin who believed that Christ is truly present in Communion but not connected specifically to the Bread and the Wine.
Other Reformed traditions emphasize communion simply as a memorial; a remembering—a powerful reminder of Christ's death and resurrection, a symbol of grace rather than a mystical event, an act of sacred remembering.
This would also be the view of most Unitarians. A sacred remembering. But while most traditions would emphasize the atoning death of Christ, a sacrifice for sin, Unitarians would emphasize communion as a remembering of Christ’s shared love around a table and the supreme example of his life of sacrificial love.
And then the question arises: Who can receive communion?
In the Roman Catholic Church, only those who are baptised members of the Roman Catholic Church in good standing are permitted to receive Communion – only those who have been taught to recognise that the Bread and Wine are no longer just bread and wine, but are now the actual Body and Blood of Christ under the outward form of Bread and Wine. This is in part to ensure that due reverence is paid. That is why preparing for first communion is so important in the Roman Catholic Church – to ensure that children show due reverence and have a correct understanding that the bread is no longer bread and the wine is no longer wine but rather, the actual body and blood of Christ.
Up until the ecumenical movement of the 1960’s most denominations would have had some kind of exclusionary approach to communion. Only baptised members in good standing in the denomination could receive communion. So for example only baptised Anglicans in good standing could receive communion in an Anglican Church. Only baptised Lutherans in good standing could receive in a Lutheran church. Etc... But in more recent decades that has loosened up – now many mainline Protestant churches would say you can receive communion as a visitor if you are a baptised member in good standing in your own denomination.
In many evangelical traditions there are also further restrictions; communion in Evangelical traditions also often serve as a test of worthiness, with a strong exclusionary tone—those who are not "right with God" are encouraged not to partake until they have repented or conformed to particular beliefs.
Having considered briefly how other Christian traditions might understand communion, what might a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian approach to communion be that is grounded in our ethos as enshrined in our Constitution?
Firstly, Non-Subscribers tend to focus on the teachings of Jesus over and above the teachings about Jesus. Whatever else Communion is about it should over and above everything else connect us with the teachings and the way of Jesus. If there is a conflict or discrepancy for example between the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of St Paul, our obligation is to follow Jesus.
Secondly Non-Subscribers focus on the inalienable right of private judgement—the right of each person to interpret Scripture and respond according to their own conscience. There is room for differences of opinion in understanding exactly what is happening is communion… of how Christ is present – or even not present if that is what one believes. Most non-subscribers have probably over the centuries understood Communion more along the lines of a simple memorial, but there is room in the NSPCI for those who might have a more mystical view of communion. If in Ephesians, the writer speaks Christ’s presence now filling the whole universe there is room for those who might affirm and believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and the wine. There is room for each of us to come to our own conclusions on these things. At the very least it might be said that Christ is present where two or three gather in his name and break bread to remember him. But some Unitarians who emphasize the humanity of Jesus over his divinity might question that interpretation… For unitarains it is the shared experience of love around the table that reminds us of the spirit in which Jesus lived and loved… and there is room for all of these perspectives in the NSPCI.
Thirdly Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the supremacy of love—both as a key attribute of God and as the mark of true discipleship (John 13:35). In this regard Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the boundless grace of God, as shown in the parable of the Prodigal Son – where the wayward prodigal was welcomed in and included in the celebratory meal of his return home. The older brother however has excluded himself from the celebratory meal of his brothers return and in response the Father leaves the celebratory meal to invite to urge and to encourage the older brother to join them.
Fourthly Non-Subscribers have tended to emphasize the call to do the will of God, not merely to profess faith with our lips (Matthew 7:21)… ‘You will know they are Christians, not by what they profess to believe, not by how well they know their Bible’s or how many verses they have memorised. Rather, you will know them by their love. Jesus said, “By this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
And so these broad principles form a kind of spiritual compass for how we might approach communion—not with fear or obligation, but with love, reflection, and a deep reverence for the teachings of Christ.
We remember that Jesus welcomed all to his table: the faithful and the faltering, the confused and the confident. He broke bread with those who would soon deny him, betray him, and abandon him – Luke’s Gospel emphasizes that the hand of the betrayer was with Jesus at the table at the Last Supper. His invitation was an act of radical grace extended to all.
It is for this reason that Non-Subscribing Presbyterians as well as Methodists together with Unitarains are among the few traditions who practice what is called an Open Table. All are invited to partake without restriction whether baptised or un-baptised, whether worthy or unworthy – for both Communion is an expression of unearned grace, of God’s love freely extended to all without exceptions.
And so we believe that communion is not a reward for the righteous, but a reminder of grace for the seeking. It is not a test of doctrinal agreement, but a shared experience of Christ’s love, and a moment of spiritual nourishment. It is not a sacrament fenced off by dogma, but a shared meal open to all who seek to walk in the spirit and love of Jesus.
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we see the heart of the God whom Jesus reveals: a God who runs to meet the lost, who rejoices over their return, who throws a feast not as a prize for perfection but as a celebration of reconciliation. The lost son has come home.
At this table, no matter who we are or whatever our understanding, we too are invited to come home. To come home to love. It is here, in bread and wine, that in remembering Jesus we enact a simple truth: we are loved, we are welcome, we belong. Amen.
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