Administration of Communion (1928 BCP)

Administration of Communion (1928 BCP) is the act in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer by which the consecrated Bread and Cup are received by the priest and delivered to the clergy and people in Holy Communion. It follows the Prayer of Consecration, the Lord's Prayer, and the Prayer of Humble Access, and it precedes the post-communion thanksgiving, Gloria in excelsis or hymn, and blessing.

Text in the 1928 Rite

The 1928 office treats administration as an ordered corporate action, not as a private devotion inserted after the consecration. The priest receives first, the sacred ministers receive in order if present, and the people receive the Bread and Cup kneeling and into their hands:

Then shall the Priest first receive the Holy Communion in both kinds himself, and proceed to deliver the same to the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in like manner, (if any be present,) and, after that, to the People also in order, into their hands, all devoutly kneeling. And sufficient opportunity shall be given to those present to communicate. And when he delivereth the Bread, he shall say,

THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving.

And the Minister who delivereth the Cup shall say,

THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee, and be thankful.

The wording gives each communicant the gospel personally: "for thee" is said at the rail, while "in remembrance" and "by faith" keep reception bound to Christ's once-for-all death and to the communicant's faithful participation. The rite is also explicit that Communion is normally administered in both kinds. The Bread and Cup are not interchangeable signs; both are delivered according to Christ's institution and the Church's Prayer Book order.

The next rubrics guard both completeness of Communion and reverence for what remains. If the consecrated elements are insufficient, the priest does not improvise; he consecrates more by the prescribed form. When Communion is complete, the remaining consecrated elements are returned to the Lord's Table and covered:

If the consecrated Bread or Wine be spent before all have communicated, the Priest is to consecrate more, according to the Form before prescribed; beginning at, All glory be to thee, Almighty God, and ending with these words, partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood. When all have communicated, the Priest shall return to the Lord's Table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated Elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth.

These rubrics show how the 1928 rite holds together order and pastoral care. It gives "sufficient opportunity" for those present to communicate, but it also marks the elements as consecrated by requiring additional consecration when needed and reverent handling afterward.

Scriptural Foundations

The administration words are not a free-standing formula. They apply the New Testament teaching that the Cup and Bread are communion in Christ's Blood and Body, and that communicants must receive with discernment:

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

Saint Paul's language explains why the 1928 rite administers Communion as both personal reception and ecclesial participation. The minister says "for thee" to each communicant, yet the act also manifests the one body that partakes of the one bread.

The warning of 1 Corinthians 11 stands behind the Prayer Book's confession, absolution, Comfortable Words, Prayer of Humble Access, and reverent administration:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

The Prayer Book therefore does not treat administration as automatic religious benefit. The sacrament is given under words of promise, but the communicant receives as one who has confessed sin, heard absolution and Scripture, prayed for mercy, and now feeds on Christ "in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving."

Doctrine of Reception

Article XXVIII gives the doctrinal boundary for the phrase "feed on him in thy heart by faith." It teaches real participation in Christ without transubstantiation, and it names faith as the means of reception:

The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith.

This is why the 1928 administration formula joins objective gift and faithful reception. "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee" is not reduced to a mental symbol. Yet the second sentence teaches the communicant how the gift is received: remembrance, inward feeding, faith, and thanksgiving.

Article XXX also undergirds the 1928 rubric that the priest receives and administers "in both kinds":

The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people: for both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike.

The 1928 administration rubrics are therefore not merely ceremonial. They enact Anglican doctrine: Communion is the Lord's sacrament, both Bread and Cup are to be ministered, and the faithful receive Christ after a heavenly and spiritual manner.

Historical Development

The 1928 words of administration preserve a characteristic Anglican inheritance. The 1549 Prayer Book gave a direct form for each element, emphasizing the Body and Blood of Christ given and shed for the communicant:

Then shall the Prieste firste receive the Communion in both kindes himselfe, and next deliver it to other Ministers, if any be there present, (that they may bee ready to helpe the chiefe Minister,) and after to the people.

And when he delivereth the Sacramente of the body of Christe, he shall say to every one these woordes.

The body of our Lorde Jesus Christe whiche was geven for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlasting lyfe.

And the Minister delivering the Sacrament of the bloud, and geving every one to drinke once and no more, shall say,

The bloud of our Lorde Jesus Christe which was shed for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlastyng lyfe.

The 1552 Prayer Book changed the administration words by emphasizing remembrance and faith:

Then shal the minister first receyve the Communion in both kyndes hymselfe, and next deliver it to other ministers, yf any be there present (that they may help the chief minister,) and after to the people in their handes kneling.

And when he delyvereth the bread, he shall saye.

Take and eate this, in remembraunce that Christ dyed for thee, and feede on him in thy hearte by faythe, with thankesgeving.

And the Minister that delyvereth the cup, shal saye,

Drinke this in remembraunce that Christ's bloude was shed for thee, and be thankefull.

The later Anglican settlement joined these two emphases. The official 1662 Church of England text prints the combined form: first the 1549 language of Christ's Body and Blood given for the communicant, then the 1552 language of remembrance, faith, and thanksgiving:

Then shall the Minister first receive the Communion in both kinds himself, and then proceed to deliver the same to the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in like manner, (if any be present,) and after that to the people also in order, into their hands, all meekly kneeling. And, when he delivereth the Bread to any one, he shall say,

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life: Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.

And the Minister that delivereth the Cup to any one shall say,

The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life: Drink this in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee, and be thankful.

Francis Procter and Walter Howard Frere explain the broader historical setting: the 1552 revision moved Communion immediately after consecration and introduced provisions for kneeling, while later revisions partly moderated the effects of that settlement:

The revisers thus obtained their purpose, and, by admitting no interval between consecration and communion, they minimized the danger, which there undoubtedly was at that time, of a false habit of eucharistic worship: but the reform was purchased at a very dear cost: the present position of the prayer of oblation is the main blot upon the English Liturgy, a blot which has carefully been removed in both the Scottish and the American Liturgies.

That historical interpretation helps explain the 1928 American order. The administration remains close to the 1662 words, but it follows an American eucharistic prayer that has already included memorial, oblation, and invocation. The communicant receives at the point where the rite has prayed both the doctrine of Christ's sacrifice and the petition for faithful participation in his Body and Blood.

Clause-by-Clause Reading

The opening rubric begins with the priest receiving first. This does not make Communion a clerical possession; it orders the sacramental action so that the celebrant who has consecrated also receives, and then administers the same Communion to others. "In both kinds" marks obedience to Christ's institution and to Article XXX. "To the People also in order" gives the act a corporate and ecclesial shape. "Into their hands" and "all devoutly kneeling" join bodily humility with actual reception.

The words over the Bread begin with Christ's saving gift: "The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee." They then pray for preservation of "body and soul unto everlasting life," so Communion is not reduced to inward sentiment. The command "Take and eat" requires actual reception, and the final phrase teaches the mode of faithful communion: remembrance of Christ's death, inward feeding on him, faith, and thanksgiving.

The words over the Cup parallel the Bread but sharpen the Passion language: "which was shed for thee." The communicant drinks in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed, and the final instruction, "be thankful," gives the proper eucharistic response. Gratitude is not incidental; it is the human answer to the given Body and shed Blood.

The rubric for additional consecration shows that the sacramental gift is not a generic blessing detached from the Prayer of Consecration. If more Bread or Wine is needed, the priest returns to the specified consecratory form. The rubric for remaining elements then requires reverent placement and covering. Together these directions teach a sober Anglican realism: the elements are not to be handled carelessly, but neither are the rubrics used to develop a doctrine of reservation or adoration beyond the Prayer Book's stated order.

Pastoral and Catechetical Use

For parish instruction, the administration of Communion is one of the clearest places to teach how Anglican sacramental doctrine is prayed. The Prayer Book says what is given, how it is received, who receives it, and with what disposition: the Body and Blood of Christ are administered to the people, in both kinds, by faith, with remembrance and thanksgiving.

The text also guards against opposite errors. Against a merely symbolic reading, the minister does not say only "remember"; he names the Body and Blood of the Lord given and shed for the communicant. Against a mechanical account of benefit, the words require faith and thankful remembrance. Against individualism, the people receive in order as the Church gathered at the Lord's Table. Against casual handling, the rubrics prescribe additional consecration when needed and reverent care for what remains.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• Holy Communion (1928 BCP)
• Prayer of Consecration (1928 BCP)
• Prayer of Humble Access (1928 BCP)
• Words of Institution (1928 BCP)
• Articles of Religion (1928 BCP)
• Sacraments in the 1928 BCP

External Links

• Holy Communion - The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
• Articles of Religion - The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
• The Communion (1549)
• The Communion (1552)
• The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion - The Church of England
• Procter and Frere: Holy Communion