"There are many references to the communion in the New Testament. At the institution, Jesus says “Do this in remembrance of me,” and in the Acts, it is plain that the early church obeyed his command, as it is stated that “they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine, prayer, and the breaking of bread.” The Mass in the Middle Ages was the most frequently attended service, although the laity normally followed their own private devotions while it was being said. At the Reformation, Morning and Evening prayer were compiled as vehicles for lengthy scripture readings, and the regular recitation of the psalms, and in course of time, the Communion came to be said quarterly, sometimes monthly, and only in a few cases, weekly. Gradually throughout England during the nineteenth century, weekly, and sometimes daily communion was restored.

The Parish Communion movement is one originating in the present century. Cutting across divisions in churchmanship, it is advocated by High and Low Churchmen alike, and is rapidly gaining ground. It aims at
• Encouraging more frequent communion by all churchmen, not only the extra pious.
• Restoring the Communion to its rightful place of priority, rather than as an optional extra.
• Giving all the worshippers a full sense of taking part. Bringing the family to church as a unit.

Most of our neighbouring parishes already have well attended parish communions. We visited St. Augustine’s, Whitton, and recommend anyone else to do the same before expressing an opinion, if they have no experience of this type of thing. The service is at 10.00 a.m. and is the main act of the day. The structure of the service is such that we are made to feel that here is something relevant to our needs, in which we are not mere spectators, but actually taking part. On entering the church, we were faced by a large offertory table, which we could not possible avoid. On this were two plaques stating that our offerings should go into the box now, as there would be no collection, and that if making our communion, we must place a wafer in the vessel provided. These were presented at the offertory as at St. James’. The congregation joined in the “Collect for Purity,” the “Prayer of Humble Access,” and the “Prayer of Thanksgiving,” thus reducing the number of parts said by the priest alone, and maintaining their attention. The service was mainly sung, but the Creed was said, presumably with the intention of bringing even the most unmusical members of the congregation into this important part. We were impressed by the fact that the whole congregation joined in, and actually seemed to be enjoying themselves throughout the entire service. The sermon lasted no longer than 10 minutes. The “Prayer for the Church” was interrupted at various points for matters of parochial, local, and national interest to be mentioned.

This form of service is capable of being adapted to the needs of St. James’. There is no reason why all the main points mentioned above should not be adopted here. Obviously a time of education will be required, and for a time the Vicar could say e.g. “We will stand and say together the Prayer of Thanksgiving” or this could even be said by someone at the back of the church. If parts of the service are sung, we should restrict ourselves to about three settings, and everyone should have a copy of the music. The offertory table should be in a more prominent position, where it cannot be missed, with instructions provided. Do we really need to use spoons? They are fiddly and cause congestion at the table.

Some of these ideas may seem revolutionary, but they should be considered and then something put into practice. We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, as it is only by returning to the Lord’s command that we can hope to make any lasting spiritual gains in the parish. We should DO this now, not merely THINK about it, and while conceding that it may be a good idea, say that it would never work here. It can work if you want it to."

Source: The Spire Magazine - 1963 October

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