Is it possible to receive Communion online?

 (Image from the United Methodist News Service [UMNS] on Facebook.)

As this entry is being written, leaders from across The United Methodist Church (UMC) are meeting to discuss the possibly of Online Communion. Bishops, pastors, theologians, and other leaders are in Nashville, Tennessee in a meeting sponsored by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM), the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), and United Methodist Communications.

Perhaps from near the beginning of the advent of the Worldwide Web, churches and other ministries have started setting up webpages, publishing sermons online (through text, audio, video, live streaming, etc.) and doing other forms of online ministry. The Internet has also spawned “online churches” where participants “gather” wherever they are on the globe, in front of their computer monitors. Typically these Internet churches concentrate on the preaching and the teaching of the Word. Could it be that the next evolution of online ministry will involve administering the Sacraments over the Net?

I have never experienced “going to church” over the Internet. I remember in the 90’s when I visited an amateur-looking "Internet church" website where the liturgy is printed in full: hymns, responses, Scripture, homily, etc. To my surprise, the liturgy included the rite of Holy Communion! If I remember correctly, it involves reading the Eucharistic Prayer (which has been said…er, typed, by a priest) and then partaking of the elements by yourself.

I have also never participated in online Communion. But from what I’ve read so far, it seems to involve you having a piece of bread and a cup of grape wine (or juice), watching a pastor prays the Great Thanksgiving (I guess through live streaming;). As the minister invokes the power of the Holy Spirit in the epiclesis, he/she not only consecrates the elements immediately present with him/her, but also “zaps” yours as well, making your bread and wine “valid” elements for Holy Communion.

Ostensibly, the idea of online Communion is being supported by those who for one reason or another cannot come to church regularly. The Rev. Gregory S. Neal, who offers communion online, says that his ministry is for those who use it as a supplement to receiving the Sacrament from the local church.

But from the very beginning, the Church has extended Communion to those who are not able to receive it at the local church: those who are sick or homebound. The Articles of Religion of the UMC (ArticleXVIII) specifically forbids the Sacrament to be “reserved, carried about, and worshiped”. This refers to the Roman Catholic practice of “reserving” some of the hosts consecrated at the Mass for the veneration of the faithful. Instead, the UMC practices extension, where consecrated elements pastors (or trained laypersons) delivered to those who are not able to go to church.

The 2008 General Conference passed an amendment to a paragraph in The Book of Discipline (¶1117.9) which provides for the consecration of “nonperishable” elements in places where the distribution of the elements is “affected distance and time constraints”. The Judicial Council (in Decision 1109) overturned this amendment because this “creates a doctrine of the ‘reserved sacrament’” for the Church—something which forbidden by the above-mentioned Article of Religion.

It has been argued that online Communion is valid because the local church is also part of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church”. If the local church is part of the “invisible” Body of Christ, thus Christians may partake of Communion wherever they are. But this mystical Body of Christ (by this I mean the Church), has its tangible expression as a visible congregation of believers.  

Let me put it this way: A person cannot claim to be a member of the universal Church without membership to a local church. In the same way a person cannot be claim to be a member of the UMC is general without first being a member of a local UM congregation. Thus, the universal Church is not an abstract thought; it is a mystical reality which is manifested through the local congregations.

If we offer online Communion, would this mean we ought to offer online Baptism as well? This would mean that the pastor pronounces the baptismal formula (“Name, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”) online; then you will administer the water to yourself: either by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. Wouldn’t “online Sacraments” make communal acts into private, individual activities? Would not these be more contradictory to the idea of the universal Church than being agreeable to it? (By the way, we wouldn’t be the first to offer online ordination.)

The UMC has always celebrated Holy Communion in the context of the local congregation. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). It is entirely appropriate: the local church is gathered around the Real Presence of Christ as seen in the Holy Eucharist. (The UMC believes that Holy Communion is NOT a mere “symbol” or “memorial”, but as the Real Presence of Christ himself—This Holy Mystery, p. 38.)

Instead of having online Communion, our local churches should make it accessible to the people: by having it celebrated every Sunday and bringing it to the sick and the homebound—on the same day. Or better yet, have pastors celebrate Communion in homes and in hospitals when visiting the sick and the elderly.

Real Presence is better that virtual presence.

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At present, United Methodist congregations in my locality do NOT offer Communion every Sunday. This is in spite of the teachings of our founder, the Rev. John Wesley (for example, in his sermon The Duty of Constant Communion, which the Book of Discipline says is part of the official doctrine of the Church!) and of the denomination itself (as contained in the official teaching document This Holy Mystery, which is approved by the General Conference!). And I cannot understand the hardheartedness and the close-mindedness of some people I talk to on the idea of constant Communion. 

I used to celebrate Communion every Sunday in my last local church appointment, a small church in the boondocks. The church had its high and lows (mostly lows) but I think it would have disintegrated had it not for the grace imparted by the Sacrament. But since this year I opted not to have a church appointment, so now I attend a local church. So now, I receive Communion only once a month, as per custom (and not by biblical mandate or Church law).

I miss having Communion every Sunday.

Perhaps having online Communion would not be so bad after all.

Maybe it’s better than heading to nearest Catholic church.