The Peace in Anglican Eucharistic Liturgy

The Peace is a liturgical greeting exchanged in many Anglican celebrations of the Holy Communion. It gives visible expression to the reconciliation of the baptized before they offer prayer and receive the sacrament. In contemporary Anglicanism the Peace is often marked by the presider saying, "The peace of the Lord be always with you," or a similar scriptural greeting, followed by a response from the congregation and an exchange among the people. Its form is simple, but its theological meaning is closely connected with repentance, charity, and the corporate nature of eucharistic worship.

Origins and Anglican recovery

The exchange of peace has roots in ancient Christian worship, where a holy kiss or greeting of peace formed part of the assembly's preparation for the eucharistic offering. The practice reflected New Testament language about reconciliation among Christians and peace in Christ. In medieval Western rites the ceremonial kiss of peace gradually became more restricted, often passing from the altar through ministers or by means of a pax-board, rather than being exchanged broadly by the whole congregation.

The classical Book of Common Prayer tradition did not include a congregational exchange of the Peace in the same form familiar in many modern Anglican churches. The 1549 Communion order retained several features of inherited Western liturgy, but the later English prayer books simplified the rite and placed greater emphasis on confession, absolution, the Comfortable Words, and worthy reception. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer contains prayers and blessings of peace, but not a general exchange among the people during the Communion office.

The modern recovery of the Peace in Anglican liturgy was shaped by the wider liturgical movement and by renewed attention to early Christian patterns of worship. Many twentieth-century Anglican revisions restored an explicit greeting of peace in the eucharistic rite. This recovery was not merely ceremonial. It expressed a theology in which reconciliation with God and reconciliation within the Christian community belong together.

Placement and meaning

The position of the Peace varies among Anglican provinces and rites. In many contemporary services it follows the confession and absolution, showing that the congregation receives and shares the peace given by Christ. In other forms it is placed before the offertory, connecting it with Christ's teaching about being reconciled before bringing a gift to the altar. Some rites place it near the beginning of the service, where it functions as a formal greeting of the gathered church.

Theologically, the Peace is not a social interval detached from the liturgy. It is an enacted sign of communion. The congregation does not create peace by friendly exchange; rather, it acknowledges and shares the peace of the risen Christ. For this reason the words normally begin with a declaration by the celebrant or presiding minister. The response of the people makes the exchange mutual, but the source of the peace remains divine gift rather than human sentiment.

The Peace also has a moral dimension. Anglican eucharistic theology has consistently linked reception of Holy Communion with repentance, charity, and amendment of life. The Peace therefore belongs with the preparatory movement of the liturgy: confession of sin, absolution, intercession, offering, and communion. It reminds worshippers that the Eucharist is not a private devotion alone but the sacrament of the reconciled body of Christ.

Pastoral and ceremonial practice

Anglican parishes vary widely in how the Peace is exchanged. In some churches the congregation offers a brief handshake or spoken greeting to those nearby. In others, especially in more restrained ceremonial settings, the exchange may be limited to a bow or a simple verbal response. The essential act is the liturgical greeting, not the length or informality of the exchange.

Pastoral guidance often seeks to keep the Peace proportionate to the service. If extended too long, it can obscure the movement toward the offertory and eucharistic prayer. If omitted where the rite appoints it, the congregation may lose a significant sign of reconciliation. Good practice usually preserves both clarity and restraint: the Peace is shared genuinely, but it remains part of the ordered worship of the Church.

The Peace has particular significance in services involving baptism, confirmation, ordination, marriage, or reconciliation after conflict. In such settings it can embody the Church's welcome and unity. Even in ordinary Sunday worship, it marks the congregation as more than an audience. Those who exchange the Peace stand together as members of one household, preparing to receive one bread and one cup.

References

• The Book of Common Prayer, 1662.
• The Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
• The Church of England, Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, 2000.
• Paul F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship.