THE Covid lockdowns affected life in many different ways for churchgoers, a number of whom were forced suddenly to become non-churchgoers. The online, virtual world became the place where many learned to worship and express ministry in new ways.
One aspect that caused consternation and some nifty theological footwork in the early days of lockdown was what to do about holy communion. Richard Burridge’s book Holy Communion in Contagious Times: Celebrating the eucharist in the everyday and online worlds (Cascade Books) (Comment, 21 January, Books, 22 April) is a useful summary of what different churches did, and some of the theological issues with which they grappled.
Our work in the first lockdown, in 2020, sampled opinions in the Church of England about various practices that were relevant as the lockdown began (Comment, 19 March 2021). We showed that there were stark differences between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, which reflected the longstanding differences in beliefs about the eucharist in the Catholic and Reformed traditions. We also showed that the diversity of opinion was greater among clergy than among lay people.
IN OUR second survey, during the 2021 lockdown from January to July, we asked a slightly different set of questions, which reflected evolving experience in the previous 12 months. We also wanted to see how opinions of holy communion in the Church of England compared with those in other church traditions.
In all, we had responses from 2415 lay people from the Roman Catholic Church, Free Churches (Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians), and three traditions in the Church of England: Anglo-Catholics, Evangelicals, and “Broad Church” (who did not identify with either of these two traditions).
The first set of questions was about online communion in general. Only 15 per cent felt that communion should never be part of online worship, and 64 per cent said that they valued communion even if they could not receive the elements. Just over one third (36 per cent) agreed that ways needed to be found to express communion spiritually without bread and wine; and one third said that, in future, they would prefer not to share the cup in church.
The table below suggests that traditions tended to agree equally about having communion as part of online worship, but Anglican Evangelicals and Free Church members were much less enthusiastic than were Roman Catholics or Anglo-Catholics about the value of such services if they could not receive the consecrated elements.
The next set of questions referred to receiving bread and wine at home while watching online worship, something that was specifically discouraged by the Church of England. There was more agreement for doing this in live-stream (43 per cent) than in pre-recorded (36 per cent) services, while just under half (48 per cent) believed that the priest needed to be physically present for consecration to take place.
The variations between traditions within and beyond the Church of England are more apparent here (see table below): Anglo-Catholics aligned with Roman Catholics in being less enthusiastic about receiving, and Evangelicals aligned with the Free Church in having fewer qualms about this, especially for live-streamed worship.
The last two questions related to the issue of lay presidency of the eucharist, because this might be one way of allowing communities isolated in a pandemic to continue to receive communion. Fewer than one third (28 per cent) thought that all lay people should be allowed to do this, and just over one third (36 per cent) thought that this should be allowed for qualified and authorised lay people.
Again, traditions divided as we might expect, Catholic traditions being more opposed than Reformed traditions. Perhaps more surprising is that 25 per cent of the Roman Catholic sample and 31 per cent of the Anglo-Catholic sample agreed that this should be possible for properly trained lay people.
THESE results show how deep-seated historical views about the eucharist were realised in specific ways during an event that made people think hard about theology and practice. For the Church of England, we see again how our particular tradition and history mean that Anglican Catholic and Reformed traditions tend to align more closely with those beyond the denomination than with each other.
While this may disconcert us in terms of finding common understanding and practice of online communion within the denomination, it does show in stark figures how we hold such a key mediating position in the wider Christian community in the UK.
The Revd Andrew Village is Professor of Practical and Empirical Theology, and Canon Leslie J. Francis is Visiting Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, at York St John University.
More details of the two surveys can be found here