http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/sydneystories/women_win_in_lords_supper_debate/
[sydneyanglican.net] 20 Oct 2008--Sydney Synod has overwhelmingly restated its principled support for lay and diaconal administration of the Lord’s Supper.
More significantly - in what supporters said is ‘a great outcome’ for women deacons - the motion also ‘accepts’ the argument that there is no longer any legal impediment to deacons officiating at Holy Communion given the wording of The Ordination Service for Deacons Canon 1985 and the repeal of the 1662 Act of Uniformity by a recent General Synod Canon.
However the motion itself does nothing to change the legal situation.
2 comments:
Public administration of the Lord's Supper should be reserved to those ordained to the ministry of the Gospel.
It is unwise to leave so dangerous a mystery in the hands of those who have not shown by practical works their understanding of the Gospel and its meaning, nor have received sanction from the Church to administer its ordinances.
Shame on Sydney for this revisionist action.
The Sydney proposal would permit the licensing of Readers and deacons who are licensed to preach and are serving as ministers of the Gospel in a particular church or cluster of churches. These are individuals who have shown by their practical work that they DO understand the Gospel and its meaning. Under the Sydney proposal they are sanctioned by the Church, as represented by the Archbishop of Sydney, to administer the sacrament of Holy Communion. Historically, both lay persons and deacons have been valid ministers of the sacrament of Baptism in Catholic theology. It was not the Anglicans but the Puritans who discouraged lay Baptism in the Church of England. The 1549, 1552, and 1559 Books of Common Prayer all make provision for lay Baptism, following the ancient tradition.
If one examines the history of the Christian Church, one discovers that during the first five centuries of Christianity, it was not unknown for deacons to administer the sacrament of Holy Communion. However, the presbyterate, jealous of what they regarded as their perogative, took steps to suppress this practice. One also discovers that a number of monastic communities in the Western Church developed their own rites for consecrating the bread and wine for Holy Communion in the absence of a priest. So there is some precedence for the practice of lay administration of the Holy Communion.
Post a Comment