My family and I are members of the Lord’s church, and we visited a congregation this morning. During the Lord’s Supper, we were bypassed and not given the opportunity to partake. One of the leaders noticed our expressions and approached us before Bible class began. He explained that we were skipped because he didn’t know us. He also mentioned that other visitors had expressed anger about the same issue and didn’t return. Additionally, he offered to sit down with us and open the Scriptures together. However, I’ve always understood that partaking of the Lord’s Supper is an individual matter. Could you provide clarification on this?<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
I don’t know any congregation that practices closed communion, though I’m sure some exist since it is a common denominational practice, and such things creep into the churches.<\/p>\n
There is a common misunderstanding of this passage: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly<\/em>” (I Corinthians 11:27-29). People have assumed Paul is saying that people who partake of the Lord’s Supper must be worthy of it, but that is not what Paul said. Paul said that partaking of the Lord’s Supper must be done in a worthy manner<\/strong>. In other words, the service must be respectful and honor our Lord, who died for us. Those who partake should look at themselves and make sure they are giving due respect to the Lord. Notice that it is the individual who examines himself. There is no command for others to examine him.<\/p>\n No passage indicates that the Lord’s Supper must only be offered to Christians. It only has meaning to Christians, but we don’t add rules that God did not give. If a non-Christian wishes to partake of the Lord’s Supper, it doesn’t change his status before the Lord.<\/p>\n\t I appreciate your response!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: My family and I are members of the Lord’s church, and we visited a congregation this morning. During the Lord’s Supper, we were bypassed and not given the opportunity to partake. One of the leaders noticed our expressions and approached us before Bible class began. He explained that we were skipped because he didn’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-82678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-lords-supper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-shouldnt-the-lords-supper-be-served-again-for-latecomers\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":0},"title":"Why shouldn’t the Lord’s Supper be served again for latecomers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In your\u00a0training, you state that you should not serve again for latecomers. What is the reason for that, given Paul's instruction to \"tarry one for another\" in I Corinthians 11:33? I am in agreement with you, but interested in your rationale. Answer: The statement in the class notes is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19866,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-partaking-of-the-lords-supper-after-dinner\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":1},"title":"What do you think about partaking of the Lord’s Supper after dinner?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: At our congregation, we take communion on the first day of each week. Our preacher has decided to have small groups meet in homes and have a potluck dinner and again partake of the Lord's Supper, calling it an agape feast. This is causing a division in the church.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54642,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-the-bread-be-broken-by-the-one-presiding-at-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":2},"title":"Must the bread be broken by the one presiding at the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I looked at your Q&A about the Lord's supper, but could not find an answer to my question.\u00a0 Is there any Bible teaching that the man who is \"presiding\" at the serving of the Lord's Supper needs to break the bread in two before serving it to the congregation?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48762,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-children-not-yet-christians-help-serve-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":3},"title":"Can children, not yet Christians, help serve the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have a small congregation. We are not under an eldership at this time.\u00a0 My question is: Who is qualified to serve communion or can anyone serve it? We have a couple of young boys aged 6 and 7 who are following the men who serve, so they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-much-time-should-be-spent-during-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":4},"title":"How much time should be spent during the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since COVID, the congregation I am attending began using the individual prepacked communion sets handed out in sandwich bags before we walk into worship. The men leading communion begin with comments, scripture, and prayer before we partake of the bread. After 30 to 15 seconds of silence, the leader\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-it-be-called-communion-or-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":82678,"position":5},"title":"Should it be called communion or Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day brother Jeffrey, I'm here to seek your advice or comments and suggestions regarding the phrase \"Lord's Supper.\" My question is: Can we still use the phrase \"Lord's Supper\" as part of the worship? Which phrase is appropriate to use: communion or Lord's Supper? 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