Question #32
Open or Closed Communion?
Who may receive communion at a Church of Christ? More specifically, may Christian visitors partake? If not, why?
The Answer:
Over the years, the expressions “open communion” and “closed communion” have been used to describe the practice of churches in either restricting communion to members or opening communion to all. Surely the Lord’s Supper was inaugurated for those “in the kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25.) However, no congregation of the church of Christ with which I am familiar or of which I have heard has ever restricted who may partake when the Lord’s Supper is served. This is not to say that all who partake are “in the kingdom.” It is to say that that determination will be made by a study of what the Scripture requires for admission into the kingdom and not by examination around the Lord’s Table.
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