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Levels of "Communion"

“Communion” – “Possession in common” (Webster)

 Communion is related to the word, “common” and speaks of a level of sharing that brings people together in community.  Communion is a rich term with a variety of levels of meaning.  What follows is a list of definitions that we believe is a hierarchy of order from the most to the least important.  There is overlap in the various orders, but prioritizing them is vital in times when communion is threatened. The vestry of Christ Church Savannah wishes to remain in communion with those in Anglicanism who uphold Scripture and the Historic Christian Faith as expressed in the following expressions of “communion”: 

SALVATIONAL COMMUNION (The level of discipleship)This is the most important element for each of us.  It begins with our justification through the blood of Jesus, continues with our sanctification through the Holy Spirit, and culminates in our glorification with the Father in Heaven (the Holy Trinity).   We are saved exclusively through the blood sacrifice of Jesus and our trust in Him.  He is our only mediator with the Father.  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6); “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 2:5). Our call within Salvational Communion is to bring as many unbelievers as possible to a saving knowledge of Christ through the testimony of an unchanging Gospel message.   

DOCTRINAL COMMUNION (The level of fellowship)Doctrinal Communion represents the “inward and spiritual” unity we share with believers at Christ Church and throughout the Anglican Communion because of our common belief in the central tenets of the Faith.  Paul sums it up well in Philippians 1:27-28 “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Then…I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.”  This is the rationale behind some of the Primates who could not, in great sorrow, join in sacramental communion with innovating Primates, because they had left the Historic Christian Faith, and to join them in sacramental communion would reflect a sense of common doctrine that was not evident.  This reflects Paul’s instruction regarding the tension between compassion and loving discipline, especially when it comes to immorality and the Eucharist:  “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.  In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler.  With such a man do not even eat.”  (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)  While this is a hard saying and the principle needs to be carefully applied, it is not a valued principle in The Episcopal Church, nor in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. 

SACRAMENTAL COMMUNION (The level of worship)Our Sacramental Communion is the common worship we share with believers at Christ Church and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion.  Our being in right relationship with the Lord and one another is paramount to our ability to enter into Sacramental Communion.  There are certain boundaries laid forth to discern the “body of Christ” that respect the dignity of the sacrament and challenge the life of the professing believer.  It distinguishes, at least at the professing level, between believers and non-believers, and it also distinguishes those who are in a season of self-examination and repentance. Believers are admonished in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.  Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”  Sacramental Communion is an important symbol of our unity in truth.  It is not, however, the means by which we achieve that unity.  It is, instead, the reflection of a unity that already exists in heart, mind, and spirit. 

PERSONAL COMMUNION (The level of relationship)The common definition of Personal Communion within TEC, The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, and our current culture seems to be to “love” everyone and to be tolerant and inclusive of everyone regardless of their behavior or beliefs.  Unity is viewed as more important than truth and schism as worse than heresy.  True Christian love “rejoices in the truth” and is built upon the greatest truth of all—that Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again to secure eternal salvation to those who put their trust in Him.  This is where the hard words of Jesus in Matthew 10:34-39 hit home: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law – a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses our unity and Personal Communion is in Christ and Scripture and the Historic Christian Faith we hold in common.  This is why Jesus can teach in Luke 14: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.  And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  (verses26,27)  The Greek word does not literally mean we should disown our closest relations, but it does mean in comparison to our love and loyalty to Christ, that these relationships look like “hate”, or fall below in order of importance.  In fact, our relationship to Jesus Christ is the foundational relationship of all, and gives meaning and context to every other relationship we have.  Therefore, putting Christ first is actually the healthiest way to pursue loving relationships with others.  Otherwise, we too easily fall into the co-dependent, manipulative, and dysfunctional relationships we so want to avoid. 

INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNION (The level of membership)

The purpose of the institution is to be an organized expression of the eternal truths we have received from God’s revelation in Christ through the Bible.  This is the element of Communion on which TEC and The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia seem to put the most importance, but the importance is on the institutional forms, not the substance of the Faith received.  Such forms are important to us only to the degree the substance of the Faith remains intact.    The Bible speaks to the fact that the leadership in the Church should be held to a higher standard.  James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”  We believe that our leaders in TEC and the Diocese of Georgia have failed to teach and hold firm to the substance of the Historic Christian Faith. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will, at times, call us to affirm a higher loyalty, even if it puts us at odds with those we would normally value in terms of relationship.  Being stewards of the Gospel and its sacraments cannot be trumped by personal relationship, no matter how precious.

See Romans 8:30, where St. Paul summarizes the call of God upon the believer:  “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

The Collect for Mission in Morning Prayer is a solid expression of this desire:  “Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched forth your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace:  So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name.  Amen.”  (1979 BCP, page 101)

Note the preface to the Book of Common Prayer:  “It is a most invaluable part of that blessed ‘liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,’ that in his worship different forms and usages may without offence be allowed, provided the substance of the Faith be kept entire…”  (1979 BCP, page 9, italics mine).