A PARISH has to obtain authorisation from the diocesan bishop to practise Communion by Extension, which is granted in specific pastoral circumstances. It cannot be used “off the shelf” like other services.

Lay people are selected and trained to act as officiating ministers; they need to be in “good standing” with the congregation. Their task is to carry the bread and the wine, consecrated by a priest in one service, to the receiving congregation at the next. This is usually managed by arranging that services are suitably timed to follow each other.

During the first service, everything runs as usual until the beginning of the administration, when the approved ministers, usually in pairs, first receive their own communion, and then, with the words of the congregation, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,” take the consecrated elements to the receiving congregation.

At the second service, the liturgy of holy communion is the same, except for the omission of the prayer of consecration. Thus the service follows the normal pattern as far as the invitation, “Draw near with faith,” at which point reference is made to the fact that the elements have been consecrated by a priest at an earlier service. The congregation is then invited to share in a common communion, administered by the officiants from the sending congregation. The service continues according to the appropriate rite.

Preparation of both the bread and wine in suitable receptacles for their transport is important. It is also important that the lay ministers attend the first service. Ideally, the lapse of time between the first and second services should be kept to a minimum, although a time lapse does not invalidate the efficacy of the rite. Communion by Extension usually operates within a parish group or team, although this is for practical reasons only, since its validity is not limited by geographical boundaries.

Public Worship with Communion by Extension is available from Church House Publishing.