Invitation to Confession in Holy Communion (1928 BCP)

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Invitation to Confession in Holy Communion (1928 BCP) is the priest's summons immediately before the General Confession in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer order for Holy Communion. It follows the offertory, the offering of the bread and wine, and the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church; it precedes the confession, absolution, Comfortable Words, Sursum Corda, Sanctus, Prayer of Humble Access, consecration, and reception of Communion. The invitation is short, but it gathers the Prayer Book's doctrine of repentance, charity, amendment of life, faith, sacramental comfort, and kneeling common confession.

Prayer Book Text

The 1928 text is addressed "to those who come to receive the Holy Communion." It is therefore not a general moral reflection detached from reception, but the immediate pastoral threshold at which communicants are called to draw near in penitence and faith.

Then shall the Priest say to those who come to receive the Holy Communion, YE who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways; Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling.

[1]

The following rubric confirms that the invitation leads directly into a corporate confession by those intending to communicate. The rite is personal enough to require true repentance, but ecclesial enough that the communicants confess together.

Then shall this General Confession be made, by the Priest and all those who are minded to receive the Holy Communion, humbly kneeling.

[2]

The same qualifications are expanded in the Communion exhortation appointed for Advent I, Lent I, and Trinity Sunday. The invitation's phrases are not isolated: repentance, lively faith, amendment, and charity are the Prayer Book's ordinary description of worthy reception.

Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord; repent you truly for your sins past; have a lively and steadfast faith in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, and be in perfect charity with all men; so shall ye be meet partakers of those holy mysteries.

[3]

Scriptural Shape

The command "Draw near with faith" echoes the Epistle to the Hebrews, where access to God is grounded in Christ's priestly work and answered by a true heart, full assurance, and cleansing.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

[4]

The invitation also rests on Saint Paul's command that communicants examine themselves before eating and drinking. The Prayer Book does not use self-examination to keep penitents away from Christ; it directs a penitent person to confess, hear absolution, receive comfort from Scripture, and come to the sacrament.

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

[5]

The phrase "in love and charity with your neighbours" gives the invitation a concrete moral edge. The communicant is not invited to private religious feeling alone, but to reconciliation before offering and receiving at the Lord's Table.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

[6]

Historical Development

The same invitation is already recognizable in the first English Prayer Book. In 1549 it stood after the consecration and before the people's communion, and it still required repentance, charity, amendment, drawing near, sacramental comfort, confession, and kneeling.

YOU that do truly and earnestly repent you of your synnes to almightie God, and be in love and charitie with your neighbors, and entende to lede a newe life, folowyng the commaundementes of God, and walkyng from hencefurth in his holy wayes: drawe nere and take this holy Sacrament to your comforte, make your humble confession to almightie God, and to his holy church here gathered together in hys name, mekely knelyng upon your knees.

[7]

The 1552 book placed the invitation in the post-offertory sequence that became characteristic of the later English rite. Its spelling differs, but the theological structure is the same.

You that doe truly and earnestly repente you of youre synnes, and bee in love and charitie with your neighbours, and entende to heade a newe lyfe, folowyng the commaundments of god, and walking from henceforth in his holy waies: Drawe nere and take this holy Sacramente to youre comfort: make your humble confession to almightie god, before this congregacion here gathered together in his holy name, mekely knelyng upon your knees.

[8]

The official Church of England text of the 1662 Communion office gives the direct English predecessor of the American wording. The 1928 book retains the inherited substance while changing "Ye that" to "Ye who" and replacing "meekly kneeling upon your knees" with "devoutly kneeling."

Then shall the Priest say to them that come to receive the holy Communion, Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees.

[9]

Francis Procter and Walter Howard Frere interpret this material as part of the reformed Communion office's inherited preparation for receiving. They explain that the exhortations, invitation, confession, absolution, and Comfortable Words come from the 1548 Order of the Communion and that their arrangement, more than their substance, shifted through the revisions.

The Exhortations are a special feature of the reformed offices. They have passed through many changes, not so much in language as in arrangement.

[10]

Their rationale of the office shows why the invitation belongs precisely where it stands. After Scripture, creed, sermon, offertory, and intercession, the rite distinguishes those who will communicate and gives them immediate preparation by invitation, confession, absolution, and gospel consolation.

The preparation then proceeds to a further stage with the Offertory and Solemn Prayer; and then, distinguishing those who are to communicate from the rest, it deals with them in the Exhortation and Invitation, showing the care taken to provide fit recipients of those holy mysteries.

[11]

Percy Dearmer gives a practical liturgical interpretation of the 1662 rubric. His ceremonial directions are not binding for the 1928 American book, but they are useful historical evidence that the invitation was understood as addressed particularly to intending communicants and said audibly before their confession.

At a sung Celebration the Invitation is said in a quiet but audible voice and without a note. It is addressed only to those who intend to communicate

[12]

Theological Use

The invitation is a compressed Anglican account of worthy Communion. "Truly and earnestly repent" excludes casual or merely formal confession. "In love and charity" requires reconciliation with neighbours. "Intend to lead a new life" prevents absolution from being treated as permission to remain unchanged. "Following the commandments of God" connects the invitation with the Decalogue and Summary of the Law earlier in the rite. "Draw near with faith" directs the penitent toward Christ rather than toward self-justification. "Take this holy Sacrament to your comfort" gives the invitation its evangelical end: repentance prepares the communicant not for despair, but for sacramental consolation.

The 1928 wording also guards against two opposite errors. It does not invite people to receive automatically because Communion is offered; it names repentance, charity, amendment, commandments, faith, and confession. Yet it does not tell repentant sinners to stay away until they have become worthy in themselves. It bids them draw near with faith, confess humbly, receive absolution, hear the Comfortable Words, and come to the sacrament as Christ's gift.

The invitation should therefore be read with the whole Communion sequence. The Prayer for the Whole State of Christ's Church has just prayed for truth, unity, ministry, the congregation, the afflicted, and the departed. The invitation then narrows the address to communicants, not to privatize the rite, but to bring each receiver truthfully before God within the Church's common prayer.

Use in Worship and Catechesis

In parish worship the invitation should not be rushed as a mere transition. It is the last spoken summons before confession and absolution. Its clauses can be taught as a brief examination of conscience: repentance toward God, charity toward neighbour, amendment of life, obedience to the commandments, faith in Christ, expectation of comfort, and humble confession.

For Reformed Episcopal and classical Anglican catechesis, this text is especially useful because it joins sacramental reverence to evangelical assurance. The communicant comes as a sinner who repents, as a neighbour who seeks charity, as a disciple who intends obedience, and as a believer who receives comfort from the holy Sacrament.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion," invitation before the General Confession; Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion". Quotation compared with local source sources/justus1928/HC.htm, lines 373-379; HTML drop-cap styling and line breaks normalized.
  2. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion," rubric before the General Confession; Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion". Quotation compared with local source sources/justus1928/HC.htm, lines 380-383.
  3. ↑ Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer, Standard Book accepted in 1928, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion," exhortation at the time of celebration; Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion". Quotation compared with local source sources/justus1928/HC.htm, lines 783-791.
  4. ↑ The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, Hebrews 10:22; BibleGateway, Hebrews 10:19-25, King James Version. This Scripture quotation supports the phrase "Draw near with faith" in the 1928 invitation.
  5. ↑ The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, 1 Corinthians 11:28; BibleGateway, 1 Corinthians 11:23-32, King James Version. This Scripture quotation supports the self-examination named in the 1928 Communion exhortation and assumed in the invitation before confession.
  6. ↑ The Holy Bible, Authorized Version, Matthew 5:23-24; BibleGateway, Matthew 5:21-26, King James Version. This Scripture quotation supports the Prayer Book's requirement that communicants be "in love and charity" with their neighbours.
  7. ↑ Church of England, The Book of Common Prayer (1549), "The Supper of the Lorde and the Holy Communion, commonly called the Masse," invitation before the General Confession, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, "The Communion (1549)". Quotation checked against a local fetched copy of the source and the online text; early modern spelling retained, whitespace normalized.
  8. ↑ Church of England, The Book of Common Prayer (1552), "The Order for the Administration of the Lordes Supper, or Holy Communion," invitation before the General Confession, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, "The Communion (1552)". Quotation checked against a local fetched copy of the source and the online text; early modern spelling retained, whitespace normalized.
  9. ↑ Church of England, The Book of Common Prayer (1662), "The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion," invitation before the General Confession, official Church of England online text, The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. Quotation checked against a local fetched copy of the official text on 2026-07-18.
  10. ↑ Francis Procter, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer, with a Rationale of Its Offices, revised and rewritten by Walter Howard Frere, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1920; chapter XII, "Holy Communion," pp. 481-485 in the Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer: Chapter XII, Holy Communion. Quotation checked against the resolving Justus HTML source and the Internet Archive full text record, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer.
  11. ↑ Francis Procter, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer, with a Rationale of Its Offices, revised and rewritten by Walter Howard Frere, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1920; chapter XII, "Holy Communion," "Rationale," Society of Archbishop Justus transcription, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer: Chapter XII, Holy Communion. Quotation checked against the resolving Justus HTML source and the Internet Archive full text record, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer.
  12. ↑ Percy Dearmer, The Parson's Handbook, London: Grant Richards, 1899, chapter VI, "The Holy Communion," p. 158, Project Canterbury transcription, The Parson's Handbook, chapter VI. Quotation checked against the Project Canterbury text, lines 184-185.

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